HILDERMAN
THOMAS
FRANK
CRAM
Oodena Celebration Circle
The Forks, Winnipeg, Manitoba 1993 - Present
Once in his life a man ought to concentrate
his mind upon the remembered earth, I
believe. He ought to give himself up to a
particular landscape in his experience, to
look at it from as many angles as he can, to
wonder about it, to dwell upon it. He ought
to imagine that he touches it with his hands
at every season and listens to the sounds
that are made upon it. He ought to imagine
the creatures there and all the faintest
motions of the wind. He ought to recollect
the glare of noon and all the colours of the
dawn and dusk.
N. Scott Momaday,
The Way to Rainy Mountain (1969)
Published in “Crossings”
The Forks, situated at the junction of waterbased travel routes that bisect the continent
in all compass directions, has been a
gathering place for thousands of years. It is
perhaps the most important historic site in
Western Canada. In late 1992, The Forks
Renewal Corporation called for proposals
to design a ‘spiritual heart’ among the
commercial and recreational developments
proliferating there. Now called Oodena
Celebration Circle, after the Ojibwa word
meaning “heart of the city”, this new site
was to be a rallying place, identifiable as the
centre of The Forks development, and
invoking the spirit that has drawn people
here for the past eight millennia.
Located on a windswept wedge of land
commercial and recreational activity. One
between the newly renovated Manitoba
aspect of the challenge was the diversity of
Children’s Museum and the Johnston
cultural groups that had a stake in the
Terminal retail and office complex, the site
heritage of The Forks. Early in the design
is a hub connecting several existing and
process,
proposed
destinations.
The
Hilderman
Thomas
Frank
technical
Cram gathered archaeologists, historians,
requirements for the project included flood
aboriginal representatives, designers and
protection measures, provision for loading
administrators in a workshop to discuss the
access to the historic buildings, short term
source of spirituality in the landscape. The
parking, a school bus lay-by and a transit
forces of nature, celestial patterns and
loop. The program also required a gathering
mythologies were common themes running
space for ceremonies and presentations to
through the discussion.
be located near the riverbank at the junction
of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers.
Oodena Celebration Circle was, therefore,
conceived as an opportunity to demonstrate
The design challenge was to identify
our reverence for the long cultural history of
appropriate uses for the site and imbue a
the site, and to put us back in touch with
sense of spirituality within the burgeoning
the natural elements of earth, fire, water and
sky. The 3 metre deep excavation unearthed
what archaeologists call “the archaic
horizon” – a 3,000 year old layer of soil rich
in artefacts. The resulting “bowl” became a
gathering place that evokes spirituality
without
reference
to
culture-specific
symbols, by directing our attention to the
beauty of the sun on the horizon, the wonder
of starry nights, the serenity of winter
bonfires and the drama of spring flooding –
experiences, and presumably responses,
which we share and thus, experiences which
unite us as human beings.
SIGHTS FOR
STAR ALIGNMENTS
ARMATURE
MOUNTED ON MONOLITH
INTERPRETIVE PANEL
GRAPHICS INSCRIBED ON INSIDE
FACES OF MONOLITH PAIRS
SPEAKER ENCLOSURE
The gaps between the monoliths align with solstice and equinox sunrises and sunsets. Steel
armatures mounted on the monoliths define precise sightlines for visitors to view specific
stars. Stories and images from various cultures are presented on interpretive panels and
sandblasted into the monoliths.
Rigel
N
10°
350°
340°
brightest
stars
20°
Spica
330°
30°
Capella
Deneb
40°
320°
Sirius
°
310°
30
40
300°
20
50°
Vega
Castor
Pollux
Pleiades
Arcturus
Aldebaran
°
60°
°
Polaris altitude 50 .0
(constant)
50
°
290°
°
70
70°
60
°
80°
280°
80
°
W
E
260°
Regulus
Altair
Betelgeus
Procyon
100°
ce
th
Sun pa
250°
summer
solsti
110°
Sirius
240°
120°
h
Sun pat
equinox
230°
Typical
interpretive
panel,
layered
130°
140°
ter
h win
Sun pat
ce
solsti
220°
210°
stainless steel, bronze and copper.
150°
200°
160°
190°
170°
S
Site Plan of Oodena Celebration Circle
Manitoba Children’s
Museum
serpent fence
sandstone cobble mounds
with astronomical sighting
structures
grass bowl
mosaic stage and
winter fire pit
cobblestone bus
cul-de-sac
future ramp connection
to riverside promenade
Johnston Terminal
Rigel
Spica
Antares
Adhara
Fomalhaut