Dorte Mandrup Unveils Vision for Inuit Heritage Center in Northern Canada

Dorte Mandrup, the winner of a global design contest, was commissioned to develop the new Inuit Heritage Center for the Canadian region of Nunavut. The new center will be designed by Guy Architects, LEES+Associates, Adjeleian Allen Rubeli, EXP, Pageau Morel, Altus Group, and homegrown specialists Kirt Ejesiak and Alexander Flaherty. It hopes to serve as an emblem of social harmony and preserve Inuit norms, principles, and beliefs.

“We are incredibly honored and grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the groundbreaking of the Nunavut Inuit Heritage Center. Working here calls for a high level of awareness of the terrain and respect for its relevance to society. Long and hard, the community has been trying to provide a space where Inuit may come together to exchange their invaluable cultural history and the rare, niche expertise that is vital for the next generation but is in grave danger of being lost forever. We can’t wait to take in the information and serve as the conduit between ideas and physical manifestations.” Dorte Mandrup, founder and creative director, puts it this way.

The New Inuit Heritage Center

The suggested structure adapts to the area’s topographical features and related Inuit folklore. The building’s design was inspired by the patterns created in snowdrifts by the predominant winds, which the Inuit have long used as an organic navigational system they call “Kalutoqaniq.” The building’s layout is based on the contours of the rocky slope and the natural lines in the landscape.

The structure’s sloping eaves serve as a natural outdoor meeting spot with panoramic views of the surrounding tundra. The roof’s natural stone and grass covering makes the transition between structure and landscape seem less sudden.
Carved into the sturdy rock, the Inuit Heritage Center provides a haven for the priceless artifacts on display. In addition, a small opening lets you make a bright, daylit area for parties and other social occasions. There will be plenty of outdoor space for cultural activities like sculpting, kayak building, tool making, and berry picking, as well as a café, workshop spaces, conservation lab, daycare center, guesthouse, offices, shops, and more.

Nunavut’s Inuit Heritage Center promotes preserving and presentation of artistic creations while also fostering the continuation of Inuit linguistics and culture. It is set to be in the city’s northern outskirts of Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, Canada’s most prominent and northernmost territory, spanning the Canadian Arctic region and legally split off from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999. In the native Inuktitut tongue of the Inuit people, the word Nunavut signifies “Our land.”

Dorte Mandrup, an architect, established her firm in Copenhagen in 1999 under the name Studio Dorte Mandrup. The studio’s projects are featured in the touring exhibition PLACE, which aims to investigate the significance of location in the search for environmentally responsible and aesthetically fitting architectural alternatives.