Ten years ago, the thriving market in oil, gas and potash led to a ?Saskaboom,? which brought along plenty of work for architects. The economy has declined significantly since then. But with relatively few architects in the province?about 110 in all?there is still enough work to go around. ?Firms seem to be adapting to the new normal, where the work is slow but steady,? says James Youck of Regina-based P3Architecture Partnership (P3A).
For a small community of practice, Saskatchewan architects are behind some impressively progressive ideas. Indigeneity has been a topic of conversation in the provincial association?s last three annual conferences. It?s a pressing matter in a province where sixteen percent of the population identifies as Aboriginal. The Gordon Oakes Red Bear Student Centre at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, designed by Douglas Cardinal to provide resources to Indigenous students and opened in 2016, occupies a prime spot on the main academic quadrangle. Moreover, ?firms are looking at how truth and reconciliation can affect not just aesthetics, but the process by which projects are delivered,? says Youck. ?How do you work in that space of reconciliation, without being yourself Indigenous"? asks Jim Siemens of Oxbow Architecture, who is also the current SAA president. The answer: very carefully. ?There are many practitioners here carrying on and striving to do just that,? he says.
One manifestation of this approach might be seen at the mâmawÃ...