Strategically located at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, Winnipeg was a centre for trading, transportation and communication long before its incorporation as a city in 1873. The arrival of the transcontinental railway in 1885 spurred the growth of a booming city which would become the wholesale, administrative, and financial centre of the West. Culturally, the stage was set by 1911 with the arrival of waves of European immigrants. By 1914, the prosperity of Winnipeg peaked only to fall into recession.

Luckily, however, the city still boasts many brilliant examples of banking and warehouse architecture from this prosperous time which serve to remind us why our city was once called "The Chicago of the North."

Winnipeg is Manitoba's largest city and the provincial capital, has a population of 700,000. The city has a thriving art community offering a wealth of literature, music, art, film, education, ethnic organisations and sports. We are home to the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, The Manitoba Theatre Centre and other cultural arts groups. Heritage and culture are celebrated throughout the year with major celebrations such as La Festival du Voyageur and Folklorama. Summer months are noted for an abundance of festivals.

The open prairie that surrounds the city constitutes a very subtle landscape offering lessons about ecology and the effects of human habitation. Beyond the prairie landscape lies the vast Canadian Shield and northern Canada where planning and design issues take on a unique flavour. From Winnipeg, one can easily access a variety of provincial and national parks. Within a few hours it is possible to visit the Canadian Shield, the Interlake Region or the desert hills of Spruce Woods.

The unique geographic, cultural and historic setting of Winnipeg provides a fascinating backdrop for the prairie's oldest school of architecture.