The concept for Arctic Food Network by Lateral Office / InfraNet Lab was awarded with the North American Holcim Awards Gold 2011.
The Holcim Awards Gold 2011 for North America was awarded to the Arctic Food Network regional food-gathering nodes and logistics infrastructure for the scattered Inuit communities in Iqaluit, NU, Northern Canada designed by Lateral Office / InfraNet Lab.
The socio-architectural project by the Toronto and Princeton based Lateral Office / InfraNet Lab aims to create an Arctic Food Network in Canada’s high arctic territory of Nunavut to overcome the dependence of the Inuit community on expensively imported, processed food.
The intention of the architects is design the network to provide a better distribution of local foods, to serve as a series of bases for the reinforcement of traditional hunting, and to establish new foundations for a sustainable, more independent economy in this remote region.
To create this network, Lateral Office / InfraNet Lab proposes to construct a series of small hub facilities along the tracks, in the Inuit tradition of temporary enclosure in a cold climate. These multi-functional structures are to provide shelter but also to act as data transmission centers, ecological management stations, and cultural centers which help to integrate the Inuit community internally and externally. The construction of these facilities is to allow their placement on site that are on land, water/ice or the tidal fringe and is to be based on easy-to-assemble modules that utilize rock aggregate and snow/ice, i.e. material that are abundant on site.
The Holcim Awards is an international competition that recognizes innovative projects and future-oriented concepts on regional and global levels. It is competition is designed to encourage architects, planners, engineers and project owners to go beyond conventional notions of sustainable construction in their work and to harmonize ecological, social and economic concerns.
The Holcim Awards Gold 2011 for North America is accompanied by a funding of 100.000 US for the project.
More information on the Holcim Awards:
www.holcimfoundation.org
