Type of project:
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Landscape, urban design and infrastructure projects
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Start of construction:
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May 2012
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Main author:
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Mason White & Lola Sheppard, Lateral Office, Toronto, ON, Canada
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Further authors:
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Nikole Bouchard, Fionn Byrne, Ali Fard and Matthew Spremulli, Lateral Office, Toronto, ON, Canada |
Winners of the Holcim Awards Gold 2011 North America for “Regional food-gathering nodes and logistics network, Iqaluit, NU, Canada” (l-r): Lola Sheppard, Nikole Bouchard, Fionn Byrne and Mason White, Lateral Office, Toronto, Canada
Project description
This socio-architectural project to create an Arctic Food Network (AFN) in Canada’s high arctic territory of Nunavut is a model to overcome the dependence of the Inuit community on expensive processed food products imported from the south. These foods have compromised the traditional diet centered on hunting and gathering of food provided by nature across a yearly cycle. The project responds to thorough research on the poor living conditions and health of the Inuit, and on the calendars, regional ecologies and transportation networks that are highly influenced by nature and tradition in these specific and extreme climatic and geographical conditions. The project intends to secure mobility between the scattered Inuit communities, allow a better distribution of local foods and serve as a series of bases for the reinforcement of traditional hunting – while also establishing new foundations for a sustainable, more independent economy.
Snowmobiles using their pre-existing trails provide the only feasible form of ground connection. To accomplish this network, a series of small hub facilities is introduced along the tracks, acknowledging the Inuit tradition of temporary enclosure in a cold climate. These multi-functional structures provide shelter but also act as data transmission centers, ecological management stations, and cultural centers which help to integrate the Inuit community internally and externally. The modest structures respond to local conditions, whether the site is on land, water/ice or the tidal fringe. Construction is based upon easy-to-assemble modules that also utilize abundant materials on site: rock aggregate and snow/ice.
Comment of the Holcim Awards jury North America
The jury praised the project for bringing an overlooked issue to the table, and providing a stunning solution with an impressive value-added return on the resources invested. An attentive contextual response is demonstrated in all dimensions of the project, based upon thorough research and the participation of the community.
The entire strategy up to the design responds to the landscape, climatic and site conditions, and includes purposeful interventions which are integrated without any grand gestures or expensive structures. Instead they bridge between the traditions of the Inuit and the expectations of the young generation thereby providing an opportunity to create an improved future. The project is also highly transferable to other arctic regions, and its basis in terms of overall attitude and mood has even broader applicability.
Image gallery
Regional food-gathering nodes and logistics network, Iqaluit, NU, Canada
The project images and photographs shown below can be downloaded immediately in high-resolution format. To download an image, click on the link next to  below any picture. Images may be used for media and academic purposes and must include a photo credit: Photos© Holcim Foundation. For further enquiries please contact info@holcimfoundation.org.
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Regional food-gathering nodes and logistics network, Iqaluit, NU, Canada
Regional scale – Inuit trails, food security and shelter in Canada’s high arctic.
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Regional food-gathering nodes and logistics network, Iqaluit, NU, Canada
Regional ecologies/networked ecologies.
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Regional food-gathering nodes and logistics network, Iqaluit, NU, Canada
Project calendar.
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Regional food-gathering nodes and logistics network, Iqaluit, NU, Canada
Existing conditions.
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Regional food-gathering nodes and logistics network, Iqaluit, NU, Canada
Project components.
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Regional food-gathering nodes and logistics network, Iqaluit, NU, Canada
Type A – Water sites: with floating fishing shacks and data transmission towers.
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Regional food-gathering nodes and logistics network, Iqaluit, NU, Canada
Type B – Land/water sites.
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Regional food-gathering nodes and logistics network, Iqaluit, NU, Canada
Type C – Land sites.
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Regional food-gathering nodes and logistics network, Iqaluit, NU, Canada
AFN – Winter – Land/water sites.
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Regional food-gathering nodes and logistics network, Iqaluit, NU, Canada
AFN – Summer – Land/water sites.
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Regional food-gathering nodes and logistics network, Iqaluit, NU, Canada
Team picture.
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