Winnipeg Architecture Foundation

06/08/2026

Thank you for joining us at the launch of our newest publication. Here is a recoding if you missed it.

Gail Perry presents an illustrated talk and book signing in celebra...

06/04/2026

Join the Winnipeg Architecture Foundation at Dalnavert Museum and Visitors' Centre for an illustrated talk with author Gail Perry about Winnipeg architect John D Atchison.

In just 18 years (1905-23), John Danley Atchison, one of Winnipeg’s most prolific and accomplished early twentieth century architects, built the backdrop to the city. Ms. Perry has recently completed a new book entitled John D Atchison, his works and life, published by the Winnipeg Architecture Foundation. This first Atchison monograph collects and considers his life’s work in historical context, including his early influences in and around Chicago and, in later years, his design direction in California.

Tickets are free but make sure to reserve your spot using the Winnipeg Heritage Foundation's Website!

06/04/2026

Join WAF and author Gail Perry for an illustrated talk and book signing in celebration of the launch of the new publication, John D Atchison, architect: his works and times.

6 June 2026 at 7 pm
McNally Robinson Booksellers
1120 Grant Avenue, Winnipeg

For more information about please visit: visitwinnipegarchitecture.ca/events

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday for this special event.

06/03/2026

Join author Gail Perry for an illustrated talk and book signing in celebration of the launch of John D Atchison Architect: His Works & Times (Winnipeg Architecture Foundation).

06/01/2026

Happy Pride! 🌈

This Pride Month, explore Winnipeg’s q***r history through the places and spaces that have shaped our city and its ongoing journey towards equality and acceptance.

Curated by researcher and writer Devin Slippert, this tour examines sites connected to Winnipeg’s LGBTQ communities, revealing stories of resilience, visibility and belonging.

The tour is available as a free WAF digital resource.

Visit winnipegarchitecture.ca/guides to explore the tour. 🏳️‍🌈

***rhistory ***rhistorytour

05/31/2026

The CBC/MHS series Abandoned Manitoba for 31 May 2026: a conversation with historian Gail Perry about her new book on architect John D. Atchison from the Winnipeg Architecture Foundation

Hear our conversation about Atchison and the many buildings he designed (including the Boyd Building on Portage Avenue in Winnipeg, shown below) at https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/abandoned/20260531.mp3

The book is available at the WAF website (https://shop.winnipegarchitecture.ca) and at McNally Robinson Booksellers. It wll launch at the latter on Saturday, 6 June, 7 PM.

An interactive map showing over 50 Manitoba buildings designed by Atchison is at http://www.mb1870.org/mhs-map/map?string1=Atchison

A free audio archive of past episodes of Abandoned Manitoba is at https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/abandoned.shtml

Next week, the 2026 recipients of the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Historical Preservation and Promotion.

05/30/2026

A landmark of Winnipeg’s Main Street and a cornerstone of Banker’s Row, the Union Tower Building at 191 Lombard Avenue remains one of the city’s most striking early skyscrapers. This design represents a pivotal moment in Winnipeg’s architectural landscape.

Designed by John D Atchison for Toronto’s Union Trust Company, the 12-storey tower reflects the influence of the Chicago School at a time when modern skyscraper technology was transforming Canada’s civic spaces. Its distinctive trapezoidal footprint anchors the intersection of Main Street and Lombard Avenue, while its steel-and-concrete structure is clad in grey Kootenay marble from British Columbia and white terracotta from Chicago.

The original terracotta cornice was removed in 1953. It was replaced with the current, simpler cornice in 1985. Constructed from glass fibre-reinforced concrete, the replacement cornice was cast from the cornice moulds used for the restoration of the Robert Fletcher Building at 1181 Portage Avenue.

More than a century later, the tower remains a defining feature of Winnipeg’s historic city centre skyline.

To learn more, on 6 June 2026, WAF is releasing its 24th publication, John D Atchison, architect: his works and times, by Gail Perry. The new book explores the life, career and legacy of one of Winnipeg’s most influential architects and is now available for pre-order through the WAF Shop, including a limited number of signed copies.

Join us at McNally Robinson Booksellers for the book launch, featuring an illustrated talk by Ms Perry followed by a book signing, exploring the life and works of Mr Atchison.

📌 1120 Grant Ave

05/30/2026

Read more in the Winnipeg Free Press, previewing our newest publication, 'John D Atchison architect: his works and times' by Gail Perry, set for release 6 June 2026.

This monograph is WAF's 24th publication and one of our largest to date.

The new book by Ms Perry explores the life, career and legacy of one of Winnipeg’s most influential architects and is now available for pre-order through the WAF Shop (link in bio), including a limited number of signed copies.

Join us at McNally Robinson Booksellers on Saturday, 6 June for the book launch event, featuring an illustrated talk by Ms Perry followed by a book signing, exploring the life and works of Mr Atchison.

05/29/2026

Where in Winnipeg?

A close-up of glazed terracotta ornamentation from one of Canada's most significant early skyscrapers. Can you identify the building?

Share your guess in the comments below.

Hint: today's soundtrack may offer an important clue.

10/24/2025

Project Deep Dive presented by Anna Thurmayr and Dietmar Straub

DESIGNING THROUGH DIALOGUE 
The Shared Path as a Model for Community-Grounded Landscape Architecture
 
🗓️ October 30, 2025
⏰ 12:00 pm
📍 Centre Space, John A. Russell Building
 
The reserve lies on the northeast shore of the south basin of Lake Manitoba. Since 2018, members of the Lake Manitoba Health Centre have been working collaboratively with Dietmar Straub and Anna Thurmayr from the Department of Landscape Architecture, as well as with contributors from the College of Rehabilitation Sciences, to develop healthy and accessible outdoor environments on and around the Health Centre grounds. In 2021, this collaboration resulted in the creation of the Zaagaate Garden.
 
The Shared Path is a second collaborative initiative that connects to the beautifully inhabited Zaagaate Garden. The project aims to develop a walking path for the elders of the community, supporting their ability to age in place. Dietmar and Anna’s work with Indigenous communities calls for intercultural sensibility. It approaches design as a process in which the designer engages with the communities with whom and for whom the design takes place, in a shared aspiration to shape a meaningful and livable environment.
Anna Thurmayr and Dietmar Straub, approach landscape architecture less as a matter of monumental authorship and more as a form of quiet insurgency. Their practice resists spectacle, embracing instead small yet resonant gestures, collective processes, and deep attentiveness to context.
 
Both professors at the University of Manitoba, they work at the intersection of teaching, research, and community engagement, cultivating doubt and humour as tools of design. Dietmar and Anna like to reflect on how gardens —modest and improvised—can become potent acts of resistance and hope, subverting our beliefs about how things should be (Urška Škerl, Landezine).
 
For more information: https://landezine.com/straub-thurmayr-horizon-of-understanding/