More Stories About Ports and Polar Bears: A Future for Churchill, Manitoba

In the summer of 2016, the only arctic seaport of Canada in Churchill, Manitoba, faced a controversial and complete closure of operations. Currently, the port’s vacant grain elevators tower over the coastal tundra landscape as a landmark to the town’s existence as a former outpost of northern prosperity shaped by the railway and past technological advancements and scientific ambitions. This project imagines a re-appropriation of the Churchill sea port and its infrastructure through themes of nature and technology. A narrative of the relationship between human and nature is explored through the advent of an optimistically changing climate and the effects on buildings. This thesis substantiates a reconsideration for how climate change might influence long term decisions for the built environment in northern Canada.