Yesterday was Take Your Son To Work (Just As Long As He Doesn’t Touch Anything And Takes Some Pictures) Day for my father, which is cool, because yesterday also happened to be the day he was flying to northern Quebec to visit a site he is working on. His company has been providing project management for a number of construction projects for a new Cree First Nations community called Oujé-Bougoumou. The major project right now is the Aanischaaukamikw Cultural Institute (AKA the Cree Cultural Institute), designed by superstar Canadian architect Douglas Cardinal.
The pretense of my being able to come along for the ride was that I was to take pictures to document the progress of the project and have some nice pictures all the companies can use for promotional material. Most of the pictures aren’t terribly interesting, but I have posted some of the good ones online to my flickr photostream.
The building will house office space for a number of Cree organizations, workshops for craftspeople, historical archives, a gathering hall and exhibition space all relating to Cree history and culture. The design is based on the traditional Cree shaptuwan, a space for feasts and gatherings and being inside feels like you are under a giant canoe.
Click here to see a few more images.
Samuel Benoit 
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