architect: Richard Kroeker
location: Pictou Landing, Nova Scotia
project function: community center and health facility
year of completion: 2008
materials: This building was constructed by members of the Pictou community using locally harvested spruce poles. The spruce poles are bent and then strapped using stainless steel to give the building its unique shape. Pictou Landing owes its form "not to an attempt to mimic traditional forms, but to the bending capacity of the wooden truss system"(architect Richard Kroeker); it is an example of a material informing form rather than the shape of the building determining the material.
interesting fact: Dalhousie University School of Architecture tested the strength of the trusses to decide how they should be connected. After the students struggled to decide on a system, a passerby suggested the metal that was eventually used to lash the poles together.
interesting fact: Dalhousie University School of Architecture tested the strength of the trusses to decide how they should be connected. After the students struggled to decide on a system, a passerby suggested the metal that was eventually used to lash the poles together.
more information:
http://www.architectureweek.com/2009/0114/building_1-1.html
