Unknown Weathers

Winnipeg is a city that endures. In 1997, its community came together to face the “Flood of the Century”. Thirty years on, our pavilion marks that collective effort, turning the language of flood defence into a place of refuge on the Nestaweya River Trail.

We kept it simple, tangible and honest: four structures made from galvanised buckets and sandbags, sourced within Manitoba. There are no toxic fillers, mastics or permanent joints, and gravity does much of the work. Building it takes manpower, but no power. Afterwards, the pavilion can be dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere, or its parts can find a new life of their own.

On the river, the taller structure turns its back to the north, sheltering the seating from the harshest winter weather, while the lower volume welcomes the southerly sun. South-facing buckets reflect the low winter light to add a little warmth. At dusk, solar-powered LEDs light the gaps between them, turning the pavilion into a glowing refuge and a beacon in the dark.

Everyday objects and tools of flood recovery become something otherworldly in the winter landscape: a place to get warm, to shelter, and to remember what a community can do together.