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A Thrill in the Chill

Posted by iceculture on January 23, 2012

An opportunity to work with architectural drawings from famed, Canadian-born, Los Angeles-based architect, Frank Gehry, is a major thrill. Ice construction has its challenges anyway you look at it, but given an accurate technical brief from a renowned architect makes things far more acceptable.

Frank Gehry has been labeled ‘the most important architect of our age’ by Vanity Fair and in the 2010 World Architecture Survey his works were cited as being among the most important works of contemporary architecture.

His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions. His works include the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain; the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown, Los Angeles; the Dancing House in Prague in the Czech Republic; the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, Canada; and the Cinematheque francaise in Paris.

Our project was a warming hut, yes, a warming hut – one of those shelters you see on a frozen lake or alongside a skating trail. Our structure was to be placed on the Assiniboine River in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It did not compare to Gehry’s larger works, nevertheless, it had all the characteristics one might expect in a Gehry design.

Frank Gehry was invited to participate in the second Art + Architecture Competition On Ice staged at The Forks in downtown Winnipeg at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. The intersection of the two rivers has become a popular meeting place and has developed into a designation for tourists and locals alike.

The competition, brainchild of Winnipeg Architect, Peter Hargraves three years ago attracts architects from around the world and from the 50 or more entries this year, only five were selected for showing. Money is definitely not the motivation for taking part, but the honor of being selected carries a lot of prestige. In the previous year, more than 130 entries were received 

Our main challenge was the typical Winnipeg winter – in the four days of the build, the temperature never went above minus 40 degrees and with wind chill, dipped to minus 51 degrees! The need to keep from freezing up altogether was vitally important – no time to step back and admire your workmanship - and fusing the blocks in those temperatures called for a lot of patience.

The Gehry design was an abstracted igloo comprising ice blocks which were stacked in a sculptural casual way. The interior space, intended to contrast the exterior, provided a sense of warmth through the use of a Douglas Fir timber, timber benches as well as a central fire pit. 

Fusing was a problem also and too much water between blocks resulted in severe cracking. Handling blocks at heights up to 12 ft or more challenged the team as well, but a skilled Bobcat operator was able to take the pressure off the lifting process. 

‘Cold temperatures or not, the opportunity of working on a Gehry design in ice doesn’t come along very often and we were just happy to be part of it’, said Julian Bayley.