Colonising
unfamiliar territories has often been a driving force for the development of
prefabricated building systems. In pressing conditions, whether political,
geographic or climatic, it is important to erect shelters rapidly for
protection and reassurance. A vast unexplored and sometimes contested
expanse, the Arctic has been the subject of a type of prototypical colonizing
architectural development since the early 1950's.
The North American
DEW line (Distant Early Warning), a series of radars erected along the 69th parallel from Alaska to the easternmost point of the
Canadian Arctic was established for enemy detection. This high arctic
development activated and argued for a type of colonization that would
construct friendly and vibrant communities from newly «sendentarized» Inuit
establishments. Canada’s Indian and Northern Affairs Ministry development of an
experimental town at Frobisher Bay (1959) (now Iqaluit in Nunavut, Canada) epitomized
this type of colonization ideal as it proposed an arctic town planned from
post-war mass housing paradigms.
Canada’s
relationship with its Inuit communities in the High Arctic is characteristic of
this type of communal scheme, which seldom sought to recognize the Inuits' way
of life. Swedish architect Ralph Erskine’s uncompleted proposal for Resolute
Bay (Nunavut, Canada) in the early 1970s constructed a walled settlement for a
relocated Inuit community. Beyond the medieval feature of enclosure the
wall encompassed group dwelling units. The wall partially surrounded individual
dwellings creating a wind barrier and an opening facing the protected direction.
The individual lunar lander type dwellings were to be erected in the horseshoe
plan’s centre on «spider leg» stilts limiting heat transfer with the permafrost
keeping the ground stable.
Sitting on the
stilts, two different sized octagonal shaped prisms were stacked concentrically
and skewered together by a vertical core. This core space for storage, fuel,
cooking and hygiene functions, organizes the composition. The smaller prism supported a larger one
above for living functions. The stacking defines a covered edge at ground
level, a type of canopy, covering a semi-private adaptable space. The
ground floor level placed about 0.5 meters above the ground relates to its
surroundings while the upper level, the living spaces, seems completely
detached from its context. Both the wall and dwellings seemed unfit for the Inuit
lifestyle, which is contingent to a close-knit symbiotic relationship with its surroundings.
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| Left Above: Experimental town at Frobisher Bay; Left Below: Resolute Bay (Ralph Erskine); Right: Prototype arctic dwelling (Ralph Erskine) |
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