In the seemingly lifeless winter landscape of the Assiniboine Credit Union River Trail, the Sampling Hut will reveal life is, in fact, abundant.
The Sampling Hut is a place where samples (such as river ice and snow) from the Winnipeg area are collected and displayed at the River Trail. The structure will reveal that in every drop of water is a myriad of life. Far from desolate, the landscape reveals a host of dormant organisms beyond our natural sensory reach. But understanding what microorganisms make this place their home could help secure the biodiversity of the region for the future. Especially as we currently loose three species per hour on a global scale, mainly due to human influences on the environment.
The construction of the sampling hut creates a place to celebrate, experience and learn about the hidden life in stasis that surrounds the Sampling Hut structure.
We hope to discover what microorganisms arc living in the area. Sampling is a participatory activity with the local public and tourists. Initially we will collect samples to install in the hut with participants. The vision of the Sampling Hut is to be a participatory research tool for science, as well as an art piece connecting art, science and the wider public.
At the end of the season, we will invite scientists from the University- of Manitoba, in such areas as microbial ecology and plant science to look at our samples and identify what is contained, hoping that they can discover unforeseen species.
Future
A long-term aim is to make the findings of the Sampling Hut publicly available online.
The hut form evokes the vernacular language of research stations in frozen regions around the globe but plays on this everyday form to engage people about its mysterious content.
The traditional hut construction of framed panels is subverted by dematerialising o viewing aspect of the structure. Faced in translucent polycarbonate extruded sheet will provide sicle and top illumination to the physical info-scape of the frozen saml: displayed inside. The other elevations and roof of laminate-veneered marine-ply on stud are smooth continuous opaque panel surfaces that create a contrasting backdr to the samples and alert the public to the urgency of projects' environmental questions.
The hut is dimensioned to fit neatly within the sied volume for construction at the Forks. Once in situ each sample of collected water/ice held within a transparent sampling balloon and suspended in a net bag will be hung from a soffit mounted h, on an deformable hanger. This arrangement creates the variable surface of the installation due to differing mass of the samples gathered in the first participatory project phase. The result is a grotto of ice forms in stark contrast to the traditional taxonomy of scientific records. The luminous orange color deployed on the surface a universal expression of exploration and warning, thus the hut reveals the urgency its contents and the importance of the micro-species that have been collected for display and future analysis.
(From competitor's text)
11 scanned / 9 viewable
- Presentation Panel
- Presentation Panel
- Perspective
- Site Plan
- Elevation
- Section
- Conceptual Sketch
- Drawing
- Diagram
