The Danish architect Dorte Mandrup has won an international competition to build an institution for the preservation and celebration of Inuit culture, linked to the indigenous populations of the Arctic regions of North America. The project for the Inuit heritage facility in the Canadian territory of Nunavut is sited at the northern tip of its capital, Iqalit.

In a context that requires utmost sensitivity and regard for the landscape, the design draws inspiration from the environs and the movement of snow, evoking the patterns that are formed by wind-caused erosion of the snow-covered soil. These marks, which the Inuit call kalutoganig, have provided them with a natural wayfinding system. The building carves into the rocky hillside, adapting to the undulations of the terrain. A huge stone roof merges with the landscape in its movement, forming an open-air gathering place with unobstructed views of the vast tundra. The project shelters, embraces, the collections of ancestral belongings of the Inuit. A fissure brings in natural light. The exhibition spaces are complemented by workshops, offices, a café and a shop, among other things.