WINNIPEG: A brief stroll downtown

[BrickJunkie]

Here's a few I snapped today as I was walkin' around the Portage Avenue area of Winnipeg. It was after rush hour and things were slowing down, which was nice because it was a bit cooler out and was host to less crowds, but this also meant there was a lot of sun glare. At any rate, here's a taste of Winnipeg in late May:

South Portage:
[IMG]128 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Home of the Winnipeg Jets:
[IMG]127 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

The edge of the Exchange District:
[IMG]124 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

....and I'm done. My flickr account is fucking up hardcore right now, and I can't seem to post any more photos. Sorry for the tease. This is exceedingly frustrating, but as soon as the glitches are worked out on their end I do have 40 or 50 more photographs I'd like to add to this thread and share.

I'll post 'em when I can. Thanks for understanding. Word.

[downtownpdx]

Nice start! Sorry about flickr crapping on your thread, I really don't like it so much ever since they became "powered by aviary" or whatever. It's slower and you can no longer adjust photo angles. I reeeeallly need that tool, I always seem to take crooked shots. Anyway look forward to the rest!

[BrickJunkie]

Hopefully this works. A while ago flickr was tellin' me I didn't have permission to share my own photos....

P.S. - If anyone could tell me how to get rid of the annoying text towards the bottom of my pictures I'd greatly appreciate it. I haven't been able to figure out how to post properly since flickr changed its format again last time. Thanks!

201 Portage:
[IMG]123 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Main Street:
[IMG]122 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Yep:
[IMG]119 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

The old Bank of Montreal building. True story:
[IMG]118 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Glass:
[IMG]117 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Flags:
[IMG]116 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

My house next to a hotel. I like nice things:
[IMG]115 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

My guest house:
[IMG]114 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Here's a thing:
[IMG]113 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

North Portage:
[IMG]110 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]
Always nice to see some new development:
[IMG]109 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

The splendid Paris Building:
[IMG]108 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

This shot isn't blurry. You're probably just drunk:
[IMG]107 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

My favourite in the city, the Electric Railway Chambers:
[IMG]106 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Groovy:
[IMG]105 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Far out:
[IMG]102 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Nothing to do with lemurs:
[IMG]100 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Old:
[IMG]099 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

It would be cool if this happened. This probably won't happen:
[IMG]097 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

I like to call this frame "Narcoleptic Air Traffic Controller:"
[IMG]095 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Apparently a bunch of these are going up around the core. They're called "Funnelators." I shit you not. Funnelator:
[IMG]094 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

The images change on the inner screen, as you can no doubt tell by my flawless photography:
[IMG]093 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Erect. This sucker has always reminded me of Baltimore:
[IMG]092 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Some doin's a happenin':
[IMG]090 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Old and new. How bloody artistic:
[IMG]089 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Random urbanity:
[IMG]088 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Where I was inappropriately touched by an angel:
[IMG]086 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

The building in the background is a re-clad from a few years back:
[IMG]085 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

A photo to prove I was there:
[IMG]084 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Glass II:
[IMG]083 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Boxes:
[IMG]082 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Some of Winnipeg's skywalks are quite wide, and host various small businesses
and coffee joints:
[IMG]081 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Yeah, the angle's a bit fucked up. I blame society:
[IMG]077 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Lookin' down Portage, yo. Check it:
[IMG]076 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Little SW corner pocket of downtown:
[IMG]075 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

More sexy skywalk action, if you're into that sort of thing:
[IMG]074 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

New Flyer Buses, built right here in Winnipeg:
[IMG]073 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Monument to my Gold Medal at the 1996 International Basket Weaving Competition:
[IMG]072 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

The flagship Bay store. The Hudson Bay Company was by some definitions the world's first multinational corporation:
[IMG]071 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

The Winnipeg Art Gallery:
[IMG]070 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

This is also a thing:
[IMG]069 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

What do you do when life hands you lemurs?
[IMG]068 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Furthermore, how DOES one solve a problem like Maria?
[IMG]065 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

The Royal Conservatory of Robocop:
[IMG]063 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

More Portage Avenue, dude bro. Totally:
[IMG]062 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Don't judge me because I'm beautiful:
[IMG]060 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Local rickshaw service is subsidized and convenient:
[IMG]058 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Some different eras and styles:
[IMG]056 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Old and new redux:
[IMG]052 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

This exists:
[IMG]051 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Cluster:
[IMG]022 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]

Heading west away from downtown:
[IMG]011 by Brick Junkie, on Flickr[/IMG]


I hope you enjoyed this brief lil' tour. If not, you weren't trying hard enough. You may as well get scurvy and fall into lava.

[Black Star]

Really good tour thanks.


I will not get scurvy and fall into Lava now

[SignalHillHiker]

Nice pictures!

One thing I've never understood about Winnipeg... so many buildings have no windows on one, two, or - less commonly - even three sides. How is that legal?

How does a building like this ever get built:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5564/...2a54cd0a_c.jpg

I don't understand it at all. And there sometimes seems to be more buildings with that design than without.

[BrickJunkie]

Thanks for looking, folks.

I believe the answer to the window question is partially connected to proposed neighbouring developments that never materialized. I suspect a lot of these structures were left with a windowless face because another building was intended to be slammed onto one side of it down the road. This is true for some of the older buildings in the Exchange District.

The example you posted, however, is of a newer government building clearly built next to an older existing structure on Portage Avenue, so for that particular building I have no idea why they would leave a concrete face like that. Perhaps at the time of the highrise construction they had intended to eventually demolish the old building beside it and replace it with another tower and this never came into fruition?

Funny enough, just this week in a Winnipeg forum folks were discussing that particular highrise you re-posted (I believe it's a government development called the Kensington Building) and wondering what to do with the drab grey siding. If you're curious, check out the discussion on the Winnipeg Alt Tower / Glasshouse thread and perhaps people there can explain this particularly strange example of a windowless side.

Again, thanks for looking. Hope my little amateur window explanation sufficed.