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The $65-million Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq was designed by US architect Michael Maltzan. Maltzan was inspired by the "light, scale and vastness" of the Arctic landscape when designing this building, while also admitting being "mesmerized by the quality of light in Winnipeg," which is reflected where the scalloped exterior holds shadows and plays with the sunlight like ice on the tundra. Winnipeg's latest addition to its skyline includes a transformative $500-million dollar downtown plaza, featuring the new SuttonPlace Hotels (opening 2026), enclosed skywalks, boutiques, food hall with craft brewery, office space and green space, breathing new life into downtown. A must for architecture lovers is the "Architecture, Spies and Hidden Codes" tour of the Manitoba Legislative Building, which showcases the unique architectural mix, culminating in the unforgettable Hermetic Code Tour. The Forks is a hive of activity for today's hottest architects, who are designing striking warming huts along the Nestaweya River Trail (Anish Kapoor/Frank Gehry). Examples of Renaissance architecture abound at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, designed by Antoine Predock or the Esplanade Riel pedestrian Bridge. Saint-Boniface houses the iconic Saint-Boniface Cathedral that blends the originally built façade with the modernist design of Winnipeg architect Etienne Gaboury (walking tours available), and the St. Boniface Museum, North America's oldest wooden structure. The Exchange District boasts an astounding collection of turn-of- the-20th century cut-stone and terracotta architecture, as well as the modernist buildings of City Hall and Centennial Concert Hall, developing it into a thriving dining, shopping, and arts and culture district. Go on a self-guided Design Quarter Winnipeg Tour which celebrates Winnipeg's burgeoning architecture and design community. For those who appreciate good architecture with their meals, visit celebrity favourite—the elegantly restored 1912 mansion of 529 Wellington steakhouse. Stay in a historic property with opulent architecture at The Fort Garry Hotel, Spa and Conference Centre, or for more contemporary tastes, check into the Mere or Alt Hotel. Thermëa by Nordik Spa-Nature and Park Café at Assiniboine Park took special consideration into creating a calming, seamless environment incorporating the outdoors in their designs. Downtown's architecture ranges from the contemporary platinum LEED-certified Manitoba Hydro Building (Canada's first) and Canada Life Centre arena to the historic Dalnavert Museum to the modernist Winnipeg Art Gallery. Winnipeg Design Festival is Manitoba's largest design event, showcasing the province's boundary pushers in the fields of fashion, furniture, graphic arts, landscape, architecture, urban planning and more through various activities. WINNIPEG BY DESIGN Winnipeg's architecture scene is grabbing the attention of the global design community and beyond for its intriguing blend of old and new, with three distinct waves of development: "Chicago-style" influenced turn-of-the-20 th -century architecture, Modernist and today's "Renaissance" 21 st century architecture. Qaumajuq: Darcy Finley Downtown architecture: Salvador Maniquiz 19 Legends + Tales • Volume 10 • 2023