"The City of Winnipeg has some of the most diverse styles of architecture in Canada", says Daniel Guenther, Researcher and Curator for the Winnipeg Architecture Foundation, which has put on the exhibit at Union Station.

As he explains to U-Cultural's reporter, the Exhibit features the changing building styles during Queen Elizabeth's reign from the time of her coronation in he early 1950s until her death recently. There is shown everything from the modern style of the Fifties and Sixties, the post-modern style of the 1980s and many more recent examples of fantastic buildings and today's 'green' buildings. Many have been designed and built by local architects who went to the architecture school of the University of Manitoba.

The Queen had a special relationship to Winnipeg and came several times. Queen Elizabeth granted the first Royal designation of her reign to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in 1953 and one of her last to the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada in 2014. Her Majesty's fondness for Winnipeg went beyond royal tours or designations, and her connections to the city and its people remain. 

On a tour of the exhibit, you will see a vast array of different buildings ranging from the Manitoba Centennial Concert Centre, to the "Gateway to the West" arts and cultural centre, the Human Rights Museum, and the "green' Manitoba Hydro building and more. Guenther points out too, that Queen Elizabeth was the first person to land at the Winnipeg's new airport in 2014, also featured.

The Winnipeg Architecture Foundation is a registered non-profit dedicated to creating appreciation and understanding of the City's architecture.

Contact Zuher Almusre, our civic journalist, to share your story and explore civic issues at zuheralmusre@u-channel.ca. 

Stay tuned for more Civic discussions on Civic Platform.  

The project is funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage and administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS).