WINNIPEG, April 15 /CNW/ - Amidst a thousand cheering supporters in Winnipeg's Centennial Concert Hall, Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights Inc. today announced Antoine Predock as the winner of the International Architectural Design Competition for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights...

Chosen by an international Architectural Review Committee (ARC) comprising architects, distinguished Canadian public servants and representatives of Friends of Canadian Museum for Human Rights Inc., the design was seen by the committee as one that "could fulfill the objectives for an inspirational building that achieves a complexity relating to the diversity of human experience."

Antoine Predock graduated with a Masters degree in architecture from Columbia University in 1962, and in 2001, he was conferred honorary doctoral degrees by the University of Minnesota as well as the University of New Mexico. He has taught in numerous prestigious universities in Italy, Argentina as well as Harvard University, Southern California Institute of Architecture and UCLA in the United States. Antoine Predock has won many awards for his work, including the Rome Prize of the American Academy in Rome, National Honor Awards from the American Institute of Architecture (AIA), international design awards as well as the Gran Premio Internacional de Arquitectura de Buenos Aires. Antoine Predock Architect was recently announced the competition winner for the new National Palace Museum in Taiwan.

Smith Carter Chosen as Architect of Record Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights Inc. also announced today that Smith Carter Architects and Engineers Incorporated, upon finalization of contract details, will be the Architect of Record for the construction of the Museum. Smith Carter has been responsible for myriad large scale projects for governments, institutions and private-sector organizations across Canada, throughout the USA as well as in Europe, Japan and China. The Architect of Record will act as the Prime Consultant; responsible for the management and coordination of all architectural, interior design, and engineering components; through all the design, contract documents and contract administration phases of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Today's announcements, coincided with the anniversary of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms (April 17) and featured speeches by the Honourable Reg Alcock, President of the Treasury Board and Minister Responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board; the Honourable Gary Doer, Premier of Manitoba; Honourable Stephen Owen, Minister of Western Economic Diversification and Minister of State (Sport); and His Worship Mayor Sam Katz, Mayor of Winnipeg.

The announcement culminates an international design competition launched in 2003 to which 62 firms from 21 countries and 5 continents responded. After an extensive review process that included the input of an independent technical review committee, the Predock design was chosen from three finalists including Dan Hanganu & the Arcop Group and Saucier + Perrotte Architectes. According to the Architectural Review Committee, the winning design was seen as "a symbolic statement of both the rootedness and the upward struggle for human rights." The committee went on to describe the Predock Design as one that "exhibits the substantial presence of an iconic building...yet retains a human scale." Predock presented his idea as "an architecture of dualities: light and shadow, ephemera and stone, gravity and weightlessness, reflection and opacity, earth and sky."

Mrs. Babs Asper, spouse of the late Dr. Israel Asper (founder of The Asper Foundation and CanWest Global Communications Corp.) whose vision for a human rights centre in Canada led to the launch of the design competition, announced the winning design. "This is a moment Israel dreamed of as he appealed to all of Canada to look beyond ourselves, and our parochial
interests, to reach for the stars and create an iconic structure that would symbolize Canada's commitment to human rights," she said.

While the vision may have begun with Dr. Asper, it has quickly ignited the passion of people across Canada. Today, nearly two years to the day of the public launch of the Museum, the project has the support of over 30 ethno cultural groups representing thousands of Canadians; a National Advisory Council comprising prominent and distinguished Canadians from across the country; all three levels of government; and nearly 1,000 individual, corporate and labour organization donors. The Museum has received an initial investment of $30 million from the Government of Canada through the Department of Western Diversification, $20 million from the Province of Manitoba and $20 million from the City of Winnipeg. In addition, the Museum has received nearly $40 million from individual, corporate and labour organization donors.

Today's announcement featured a preliminary glimpse into the proposed Museum master plan by world-renowned exhibit designer Ralph Appelbaum and Associates. Although specific content decisions will not be made until an extensive public consultation process has been completed, the master plan outlined the visitor's potential experience via a multi-sensory mix of drama, technology, visual and audio presentation, engagement and dialogue opportunities that will appeal to the preferences of individual visitors.

Charlie Coffey, Chair of the Museum's National Advisory Council, said, "This Museum, through the telling of our human rights history and stories will honour Canada's human rights heroes and help us to better understand our human rights journey. Most importantly, however, it will enable tens of thousands of high school students - through a special endowment program - to participate in a life-changing experience and become human rights leaders and advocates in their own communities."

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights will be a national and international destination - a centre of learning and history where Canadians and people from other countries can experience Canada's human rights journey, engage in dialogue about human rights worldwide and take action to combat the forces of hate, repression and intolerance. Located at the historic Forks site in Winnipeg, the cross roads of Canada, this unique community initiative will be the largest human rights centre in the world with a special focus on equipping and educating young people as human rights leaders and advocates.