The Old Market Square Stage in Winnipeg by 5468796 Architecture
Wallpaper* Architects Directory favourite 5468796 Architecture has put the finishing touches to its Old Market Square Stage, a new structure located in the heart of Winnipeg's Exchange District and designed to be an open air performance venue for the summer festival season.
Some four years in the making, the OMS Stage - or The Cube, as it is known - exemplifies the local firm's fascination with material and texture, searching out new ways of working with metals. The OMS provides a particular environmental problem - it'll only be in use during the summer months, leaving the prospect of a forlorn and empty structure marooned in the park during the cold, dark winters. To counter this inevitable annual abandonment, the architects have come up with a structure that's designed as a functional sculpture, glowing from within even when there's nothing scheduled on stage.
A perfect cube set at a slight angle to the road at the edge of the Square, the structure is formed from raw concrete enclosed by a wraparound aluminium screen, ingeniously formed from 20,000 hollow aluminium tubes, all of which have been cut and twisted to form a repeat pattern across a flexible façade. Mounted on aircraft cabling, the screen can be drawn back like a futuristic curtain, exposing the interior stage, shifting the pattern of light and changing the acoustic properties of the space. Inside, a projector system has been rigged up to add another layer of imagery to the outer surface.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.
-
Corfu hotel Domes Miramare redefines beachfront bliss
Make like Jackie O at Corfu hotel Domes Miramare, a property with contemporary luxury and echoes of 1960s glamour in spades
By Bridget Downing Published
-
Art Basel Hong Kong 2024: what to see
Art Basel Hong Kong 2024 sees the fair back bigger and better than ever. Navigate the highlights with our guide
By Lauren Ho Published
-
This office interior by Faye Toogood is a communal space that encourages collaboration
The new Hato Studio London offices by Faye Toogood encourage IRL collaboration through a tactile environment
By Rosa Bertoli Published
-
Promenade Samuel-de Champlain is a riverside boulevard championing urban green
Promenade Samuel-de Champlain in Quebec gives the city’s river back to its community, transforming a previously neglected urban space
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Chez Léon is a contemporary Canadian retreat in the Quebec countryside
This Canadian retreat, an elegant update of the classic cabin in the woods, is part ski lodge, part tree house, combining traditional materials and stunning views with a light footprint
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
House in High Park is a Toronto home to be discovered slowly
House in High Park by Ian MacDonald Architect is a new-build home in Toronto that takes a problematic plot and transforms it into an exhilarating, contemporary residence
By Ellen Himelfarb Published
-
This Québec school evokes a calming atmosphere in tune with nature
This redesigned Québec school inspires a new paradigm in its architecture genre by creating a welcoming, home-like and nature-inspired environment
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Canvas House’s wavy brick façade stands out in its suburban Toronto context
Canvas House by Partisans brings a wavy brick façade to its sleepy Toronto suburban neighbourhood
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Discover Dyde House, a lesser known Arthur Erickson gem
Dyde House by modernist architect Arthur Erickson is celebrated in a new film, premiered in Canada
By Hadani Ditmars Published
-
A retreat in Canada's Cherry Valley celebrates its idyllic green setting
Cherry Valley by StudioAC offers nature-inspired minimalism to a rural Canadian setting
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Liminal House is a balance of threshold moments in West Vancouver
Liminal House, a cantilevered concrete dwelling on the shores of West Vancouver designed by local firm McLeod Bovell, offers a series of threshold moments
By Ellen Himelfarb Published