Lead Organization: McGill University, Minimum Cost Housing/Hackathon Group
Completion: September 2017
Client: The Northern Village of Kuujjuaq, Nunavik
Over five days, 60 residents of the Northern Village of Kuujjauq and designers from southern Quebec repurposed materials from the village dump to design and build an outdoor sports pavilion. The pavilion sits between a skating rink and a baseball field and provides bleachers, a shelter, a performance stage, and a tower with a searchlight that announces public events. The project explored a DIY up-cycling approach that reduces landfill waste and energy consumption, validates the design/build culture of the region, and produced an engaging public structure.
Photo: David Harlander
Photo: Marie-Pierre McDonald
Photo: David Harlander
Photo: Louis Babin-St-Jean
Photo: Susane Havelka
“The Nunavik Hackathon profiles a resourceful approach to creating key public spaces. The modest scope of the project raises the question of what could be achieved if this approach to revitalization of remote communities was properly funded and resourced. Clearly, this is not an antidote to impoverished living standards, but it is an inspired manifestation of dignified public space, especially where youth is concerned.”