Here is the Winnipeg Architecture Foundation page about the building:
https://winnipegarchitecture.ca/centre-village/
Here is the infamous Guardian article trashing the building's design:
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...using-winnipeg
And here is the architect's response to the article:
https://www.archdaily.com/781246/546...ousing-project
Personally, as someone who has been involved with designing projects in central Winnipeg, it is insane that someone would design a courtyard-style development with no extra security features in such a high-crime area. People talk about the suites being an awkward shape and size, which was an issue, but really the bigger issue was that the development wasn't safe to live in. The building has a central courtyard, hidden from the street, with no fence around the property. Like obviously sketchy people are going to hang out somewhere where they can be hidden from the street, especially if there is no property manager on-site to kick them out. The architects claim that the crime isn't their fault, which it isn't, but that's not an excuse to design a complex that will so obviously be susceptible to crime. Central Park is one of the poorest and highest crime neighbourhoods in Canada, anyone with common sense would put building security as a top priority during the design phase. There are many other social housing projects in Central Park which didn't fail after only 10 years. What was the difference? The buildings were more secure.
It drives me crazy that public money was wasted on such a terrible design. It is so hard to get public housing built nowadays due to lack of funding. Every project counts, every apartment counts, every dollar counts. I think the waitlist to get into Manitoba Housing is still around 5000 households long.
Go and read the project description from the Winnipeg Architectural Foundation that I posted. Here is a short excerpt:
"As implied in the project’s moniker, the structure has a village-like aspect, one accentuated by its courtyard, exterior staircases, balconies and alleyways. On the one hand, with its irregularity (in plan and elevation) and materiality, this appearance recalls vernacular arrangements such as historic mediterranean Greek settlements and even urban complexes found in Africa and the Middle East. On the other, Centre Village also looks something like the early modernist constructions such as the Stuttgart housing project the Weissenhof Estate, thrown in a blender. As at Stuttgart – and in Greece – the use of humble stucco here is a gesture to economic necessity, but this choice is also aestheticised. The neo-modernist irregular design also recalls the divergent modernism of post-war architects such as Aldo van Eyck, even as a core functionalism echoes more closely modern practices of the interwar period. The use of orange as a punctuation mark and the unusual array of windows also speaks to contemporary trends and practices, paralleling Los Angeles condominium development Habitat 15 by Predock Frane Architects, winner of a 2009 American Institute of Architects Design Award."
Yeah maybe the building kind of looks like a Greek Village or has some weird colours that are similar to some random project in Los Angeles. But maybe if you're designing a social housing complex in a high-crime neighbourhood you should add some extra security features (even just a fence around the property) so that the residents feel safe.
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