The Forks names 6 winning designs for new warming huts on the Nestaweya River Trail

People travelling along the Nestaweya River Trail in Winnipeg will have six new warming huts to escape to this winter, including ones in the shape of a giant eagle, a catfish and a wintery take on Stonehenge.

This season's huts will be built by design teams from near and far following an annual design competition hosted by The Forks. Warming Huts v.2023: An Arts + Architecture Competition on Ice received close to 200 submissions from around the world. 

A jury selected three designs from an open-submission process, while a school was selected through the competition's school program. 

As in other years, one hut will also be built by U of M architecture students while another will be built by an invited artist team. 

"At the heart of it all though, is our focus on being community oriented. These huts are designed and built by people for people," Sara Stasiuk, CEO of The Forks, said at a news conference Thursday. 

"They're plunked down on the rivers to be explored, admired and enjoyed by anyone and everyone."

The three winners from the open-submission process are:

• Murky Waters, designed by Christopher Loofs, Jordan Loofs, and Kaci Marshall (Oklahoma City, Okla., U.S.).
• Spinning Dim Sum, by Verena Nelles Kempf (Zurich, Switzerland) and Ilga Nelles (Hamburg, Germany).
• Sublimation designed by Francisco Silva and Barbara Stallone (Paris, France) and Alexander Pollard (London, England).

Built in the shape of a catfish, Murky Waters includes two long benches — one inside the hut and one outside at the end of the catfish's "tail" — for people to sit and take a break. 

"The presence of the catfish brought to the river surface seeks to not only shelter visitors from the wind, but also provide a place to reflect on the ecologies humans interact with throughout our different cultures and contexts," the artists said in a news release. 

Spinning Dim Sum comprises three mini-warming shelters built with five overlapping strips of material that visitors can stretch and open up to enter. 

Sublimation is a pavilion composed of a single pole that supports pleated fabric made from recycled fishing net.

"As snow falls, gusts blow, and temperatures fluctuate, the pavilion adapts dynamically, its transparent walls gradually transforming into ice, offering a shelter for contemplation and protection," its designers said in a press release from The Forks. 

Father-and-son team Wayne Jordan and Jordan Stranger from Peguis First Nation are this year's invited artist team. Their Circling Above Us is warming hut in the shape of a giant eagle. 

The eagle's wing's will be crafted from cedar, protecting visitors from the elements while seated around a fire pit. 

Jordan Stranger says he wanted the design to give people a place to connect and share. 

"I wanted to make sure people had something other than the structure to lend to their experience, and just to make them feel more welcome," he said. 

"You know, that's exactly where I feel welcome, is around the fire, especially surrounded by love, which is that wonderful teaching."

The winner of the school competition is École St. Avila School in Winnipeg for a hut designed by students and staff they call Amisk, which is Cree for beaver. 

The designers say they chose the beaver because of its importance in Manitoba's history as well as to Indigenous teachings. 

The University of Manitoba's faculty of architecture submission is Ice Henge, a wintery take on Stonehenge that will be carved out of ice.