CANADA. Arctic Adaptations: Nunavut at 15

12/06/2014. Venice Biennale 2014. [VEN] Italy
metalocus, BELEN CALLEJO, SARA REBOLLO

'Arctic Adaptations: Nunavut at 15' is Canada’s national exhibition at the 14th International Architecture Exhibition - la Biennale di Venezia. It is organized and curated by Lateral Office of Toronto. The main aim was to carry out an experimental design practice that operates at the intersection of architecture, landscape, and urbanism, in Nunavut district located in the north os Canada.

CANADA. Arctic Adaptations: Nunavut at 15. Photograph © Andrea Avezzù. Courtesy of Biennale di Venezia 2014

CANADA. Arctic Adaptations: Nunavut at 15. Photograph © Andrea Avezzù. Courtesy of Biennale di Venezia 2014

CANADA. Arctic Adaptations: Nunavut at 15. Photograph © Andrea Avezzù. Courtesy of Biennale di Venezia 2014tations: Nunavut at 15. Photo © Andrea Avezzù. Courtesy of Biennale di Venezia 2014. Click above to see larger image.

CANADA. Arctic Adaptations: Nunavut at 15. Photograph © Andrea Avezzù. Courtesy of Biennale di Venezia 2014

Gordon Robertson Educational Centre, Papineau Gerin-Lajoie LeBlanc, 1973, Iqaluit, NU, Canada; courtesy Guy Gerin-Lajoie.

Map of Nunavut and its 25 Communities; Lateral Office, 2013; courtesy Lateral Office.

A series of 12 soapstone carvings by Inuit artists document key Nunavut buildings and typologies from the 20th century; courtesy Lateral Office.

Graphic representation of a series of models of the 25 communities in Nunavut; Lateral Office, 2014.

Topographic models of Nunavut communities CNC milled from Corian. Each model includes all current buildings; Lateral Office, 2014.

Arctic Bay, Nunavut; photograph by Bobby Kilabuk, 2014.

Five proposals on themes of housing, health, education, arts and recreation are represented by animated models which reveal how an Arctic architecture relates to environmental factors and social activities; Lateral Office, 2014.

Axonometric View of Canada Pavilion with Arctic Adaptations exhibition installation; Lateral Office, 2014.

Lateral Office is led by Mason White, Lola Sheppard, and Matthew Spremulli. Photograph by Bob Gundu.

Arctic Adaptations: Nunavut at 15, which means “our land”, is Canada’s newest, largest, and most northerly territory. It separated from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999 following a hard-fought land claims agreement established in 1993.

Today, there are almost 33,000 people living in 25 communities across two million square kilometers, making Nunavut one of the least densely populated regions in the world. These communities are located above the tree line and are not connecting by roads. The climate, geography, and people of Nunavut, as well as the wider Canadian Arctic, challenge the viability of a universalizing modernity.

Following the age of polar exploration in the 20th century, modern architecture encroached on this remote and vast region of Canada in the name of sovereignty, aboriginal affairs management, or trade, among others. However, the indigenous Inuit people have inhabited the Canadian Arctic for millennia as a traditionally semi-nomadic people. Inuit relations with Canada have been fraught with acts of neglect, resistance, and negotiation. Throughout the last 100 years, architecture, infrastructure, and settlements have been the tools for these acts. People have been re-located; trading posts, military infrastructure, and research stations have been built. Some have described this rapid confrontation with modernity as a transition “from igloos to internet”.

Few places exemplify the ability to adapt in the face of modernity better than Nunavut. Coinciding with the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the territory, which changed Canada’s map, Arctic Adaptations explores modernism’s legacy within the contextual particularities of the North. The exhibition documents architectural history in this remarkable but relatively unknown region of Canada, describes the contemporary realities of life in its communities, and examines a projected role for architecture moving forward.

As Nunavut celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2014, Arctic Adaptations simultaneously reflects on this rapid modernization and presents innovative architecture proposals by five design teams.

Each team’s proposal examines one theme—housing, health, education, arts, or recreation—and is rooted in Nunavut’s distinct land, climate and culture.

This unique exhibition seeks to reveal acts of architectural resistance and identify an unrecognized modern Canadian North. Proposals focus on the fundamentals of human habitation in the North and offer ideas of how architectural design can enhance daily life.

Organizer.- Lateral Office.
Collaborators.- Arctic Adaptations Creative Team.

Dates.- 07 June 2014 - 23 November 2014.
Venue.- Pavilions at Giardini. Venice, Italy.