[Wpg_Guy]

The winning submission of a design competition to commemorate the Winnipeg general strike of 1919 incorporates both sides of the violent event which crippled much of the city’s services for 40 days and reverberated throughout the North American labour community, says its designer.

The winning submission was selected over 13 others by the City of Winnipeg. It is a 40-foot wide by about 25-foot high "billboard" comprised of weathered steel supported on iron columns forming the numbers 1919.

The monument is called the 1919 Marquee.

The marquee will feature 21 letters that form words relevant to the strike.

"It’s almost like a mash-up — a kind of word puzzle," says Monteyne. "It allows for interpretation."

One of the words will be Vulcan, a tribute to the Vulcan Iron and Engineering Works foundry and its workers who walked off the job during the strike. Also in three-foot square letters will be the word crucible — a monument in the form of a cross and a reference to a container used to melt iron materials, explains the architect.

Holes or perforations in the giant steel billboard will form the number 1919 "to create light effects that people will notice" as the setting sun’s rays pour through the perforations.

Monteyne says his design aims to be part of "a welcoming urban space."

The billboard will be on a small plaza surrounded by theatres and the Centennial Concert Hall in the Exchange District. It is located on the site where many of the strikers, mounted police and others engaged in violent melees during the labour protest.

The strike had a significant impact on the labour movement in Canada and even the U.S. At stake were wages and working conditions. About 30,000 workers walked off of their jobs and two people died in the Winnipeg protests.

http://www.mont-arc.com/projects/dis...uee-a-monument


Andre Lavallee (@a.l.styles) on Instagram