freezeway

Pattern Scale: City

Description of the Pattern:

The Freezeway, an ice-skating corridor for recreation and commuting in Edmonton, was conceived in 2013 and explores how to create a thriving outdoor civic culture in city that is on-average below freezing for five months a year. The Freezeway's vision is to create an iconic and vibrant city that forges its identity from embracing its climatic setting. Utilizing Edmonton's uniquely cold climate and it aspires to create communities and a culture that longs for the winter season with excitement and anticipation. The 11km year-round greenway, combats the typical sedentary nature of the season by creating a winter skating lane that allows you to skate to work, the Oilers arena, or simply just to have fun. Furthermore in a changing climate, land-based skating (vs pond-based), is more resilient in an unpredictable climate. With a thinner ice surface required, as soon as it's cold enough, the ice it can be up and running. It is an urban design intervention that addresses the need to promote winter programming, active lifestyles, sustainable forms of transportation, social activity, an iconic identity.

More Information: The Freezeway

Who Submitted this Pattern: Kevin Kask, Biophilic Cities