Winnipeg’s annual celebration of winter-themed architecture is in full swing.

The Forks announced this year’s winners of the Warming Huts v2018 competition, which are set to hit the River Trail the third week of January.

“Every single project is unique,” Paul Jordan, CEO of The Forks said. “That’s why I really dig this overall project, you get to see how someone else – either local or international – looks at us and it’s really interesting to see how they react to this environment.”

This year, three winners were selected from a record number 180 submissions. Those winners include “Golden Bison”, designed by David Alberto Arroyo Tafolla from Morelia Michoac an, Mexico; “Totem”, designed by Architecture Office b210 from Tallinn, Estonia; and “The Trunk”, designed by Camille Bianchi and Ryder Thalheimer from Vancouver, BC.

These winners will join a submission from the University of Manitoba, a submission from the Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute and a submission called “Temple of Lost Things” by Winnipeg-based filmmaker Guy Maddin.

The U of M and MBCI are still in the process of designing their huts.

“It’s hard to compare years, I mean last year we had Anish Kapoor, who might be one of the greatest artists working today,” Jordan said. “We’re really excited to have Guy Maddin’s participation and these entries from Mexico and Estonia really give us a chance to see how the rest of the world looks at us.”

“They think of Winnipeg as a very exotic place, which I think a lot of Winnipeggers will roll their eyes at, but they do. We’re really excited to bring them to Winnipeg in the coldest part of January.”

Jordan says combined with winners from previous years there will be approximately 20-25 huts on the river in 2018.

In addition to The Forks announcing the warming hut winners today, Raw:almond announced they’ll be making stops in Gimli (Dec. 29-Jan. 7) and Churchill (March 2-10) in addition to their restaurant on the River Trail in Winnipeg.  

For more information on this year’s Warming Huts v2018 winners, visit theforks.com.