Next Architecture technologist designs for function and aesthetics
It’s not often that someone earns praise for “throwing shade,” that subtle but public display of contempt. But when a prairie heatwave has the pavement primed for frying eggs, anyone able to provide real relief from the heat is worthy of appreciation.
As is the case with the annual KDays design competition, they may even warrant an award. Among this year’s recipients is Aiden Schurek (Architectural Technology ’23), a technologist with Edmonton’s Next Architecture. With fellow tech Albert Parfonov, Schurek designed “Parallax,” a unique structure that offers festival attendees a break from the sun.
Part pergola, part tunnel, Parallax is 3.5 metres tall, 3.5 across and 5 metres long. Four versions were built of wood with the help of industrial designer and fabricator onetwosix and Entuitive consulting engineers, each one painted in festival colours – either pink, yellow, orange or blue – and scattered across the KDays grounds. The top prize for the competition was $25,000.
For Schurek, answering Next’s call for staff to participate was a chance to develop a skill set. As a tech, he turns an architect’s vision into construction models or drawings. Producing Parallax “was a really great opportunity [to contribute to] the design side of things, which I don't get as much of a hand in,” he says.
We caught up with Schurek in the midst of a historic heatwave to talk about the inspiration and impact of a design that may be described as not only innovative but caring and kind, precisely because of all the shade it throws.
What does an architectural technologist do?
Modern design rooted in history
The K in KDays once stood for Klondike, part of the Yukon that lured thousands of prospectors in the late 1800s, some of whom used Edmonton as a staging ground for the journey.
“We were looking at the heritage of Canada going back to the gold rush,” says Schurek. “They had a lot of pretty simple-shaped wood structures, like boxes – you might get a hip roof [sloping at each side] from time to time.”
While he and Parfonov wanted to honour history, they didn’t want to replicate it. “A box is pretty plain,” they thought, says Schurek. “What else can we do?”
The twist was, well, a twist. The pair added an undulation to the roof, inviting the name parallax, or an object or structure that looks as if it has shifted position depending on the perspective from which it’s viewed – a nod to creativity rather than the gold rush.
“Sometimes you do something just because it looks cool,” admits Schurek.
Simple but not so simple
Despite being a single-file phalanx of wooden arches, Parallax “was not as simple to construct as we had hoped,” says Schurek. Instead, it was an invaluable lesson in the impact, and necessity, of collaboration.
At first, Schurek thought they’d basically string a series of 2-by-12s along a rod. “We went to the structural engineer and pretty quickly realized that it was going to be a little bit more involved,” he adds with a laugh.
After working with the engineer and fabricator toward achieving a sturdy structure that KDays organizers could take apart and rebuild as desired, Schurek was pleased with the result.
“It was really rewarding to get a final result that actually kept a lot of the simplicity that we had originally designed.”
Figuring it out, with friends
Taking Parallax from a cool concept to an actual fairgrounds feature put Schurek, in a sense, on the hot seat. Rather than stopping at creating and handing off build instructions, he was part of a team responsible for every aspect of progress.
“I got handed a problem and it wasn't like, ‘Go talk to a project lead about it,’” Schurek says. “It was, ‘OK, what do I do to figure it out?’”
That involved everything from critical thinking and problem solving to project management and contracting. But he and Parfanov had the benefit of being part of what Schurek sees as Edmonton’s close-knit community of designers, engineers and builders.
In addition to consultation help, for example, the lumber for Parallax was donated by the Alberta chapter of WoodWorks, a national program advocating for greater usage of wood in construction.
“It was super neat to see everybody step up and make this design a reality,” says Schurek.
A sunny outlook
Parallax is an early win in a career that officially began just over a year ago, when Schurek joined Next full time. It’s reinforced his confidence to prepare to light out on a journey of his own, hoping to eventually add a masters in architecture to his diploma.
“At the end of the day, it was probably one of the most rewarding projects I've worked on so far,” says Schurek. “I think it will always be one of those projects that I will look back on in the future that kick started a lot for me.”