Tristan Osler
Aqua[culture]
UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA
FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN [L+U OPTION]
EVLU 4012 STUDIO 5
INSTRUCTOR KAMNI GILL
Aqua[culture] is an exploration of how an urban reserve could look on the Kapyong Barracks site. Through the use of water, vegetation, and built from, Aqua[culture] divides this seeming barren space into an unexpected and unique place. The main organizing feature of the site is the canal. The canal acts as the datum of the site, providing a spine in which the rest of the site responds to. Within this spine the vegetation works to create a more fine-tuned atmosphere, by responding to the canal and the streets, using scales of trees and shrubs and creating rhythm to help break the monotony of the built form. While naturalized areas on both ends of the site provide a multitude of experiences from urban to natural. The streets themselves also act to foster social interaction, by limiting vehicles, and creating dense walkable neighbourhoods full of shops and life. The canal that structures these is not only a design feature but plays a very important role in the identity and culture of the site. It acts as a series of housing ponds for an onsite urban hatchery + fishery, which will create food and help to replenish natural populations of fish around the province. The canal also provides a source of recreation, in the form of fishing and canoeing. Over time as this canal is used it will become a unique focal point not only for the Kapyong site but for the greater surrounding neighbourhood and city itself. As this identity and culture grows around the canal over time, it's not hard to imagine it being the backdrop of social gatherings, festivals, and other events. The canal not only physically ties the site together but it also ties to neighbourhood together socially and culturally, hoping to create a new identity.