Mayo Replacement School (2002), Mayo,Yukon. 63°north. Attention to the complexity of day lighting is a key factor in all KZA projects. Mayo is an example of controlled southern exposure, combining a connection to the landscape with naturally lit surfaces and spaces. Balanced light is achieved with light entering spaces from more than one direction. Glare and heat gain are mitigated by exterior sun screens. The 3,300 m2 wood frame school serves an isolated community of 500, home to the Na Cho Nyak Dun First Nation, 400 km north of Whitehorse.The design became a focus for the community, with an arm of Yukon College and a community-funded enlargement of the gymnasium incorporated into the program. The entry and central space of the school parallel Centre Street, both a view and gesture towards the banks of the Stewart River. It is the functional and symbolic centre of the community.
top: sunshade details of the Mayo Replacement School
middle: fish trap, picture from the Dawson archives
bottom: Tr’ondek Hwech’in Cultural Centre on the banks of the Yukon River
Tr’ondek Hwech’in Cultural Centre (1998), Florian Maurer Architect. Dawson City,Yukon. 64°north. The Tr’ondek Hwech’in Cultural Centre is made culturally significant through its materiality. Small scale texture, most often in wood, recalls the human hands that built it.Vernacular shed roofs refer to pre-settlement structures; fish drying frames, caches and lean-to shelters. Maurer comments,‘We wanted to translate the fleeting structures of a nomadic people into a permanent, contemporary buildng without being literal. We studied these artifacts, then forgot them, letting their spirit come out freely in the design’. Constructed on piles, the grade is ramped up to the entry, technically eliminating a concealed space between the insulated floor and natural grade, while also providing a natural transition between inside and out. Theatre seating slopes with the natural grade of the dyke. Siting of the building on the bank of the Yukon River acknowledges a people historically depen- dent on the river for transport and food. It links historic Dawson City to the river, disconnected since the late 1990s by the construction of a river dyke.The contrast of the building’s image and siting to the fabric of historic Dawson emphasizes its connection to the land and the traditional values of the Han people.
On Site review 11
47
Spring 2004
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator