Human rights museum in Winnipeg wins tourism award, makes best-looking buildings list
Winnipeg's temporary restaurant, RAW: almond, also wins Canadian recognition
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights was honoured on Wednesday at the Canadian Tourism Awards, and it didn't stop there — on the same day, Traveller, a website that posts travel advice for Australians, named the museum one of Canada's best-looking buildings.
The museum won the National Cultural Tourism Award in Ottawa, making president and CEO John Young and his team proud.
"Canada's new national museum is contributing to the transformation of Winnipeg into an international tourist destination and hub of human rights education," he said in a press release Thursday.
"Our first year of operation — in a building that's already become a Canadian architectural landmark — has been a truly amazing experience for everyone."
Best architecture in Canada
On the same day it received the award in Ottawa, the human rights museum was named one of seven best-looking buildings in Canada by Traveller.
The museum was the first location listed, and the write-up praised the museum's appearance inside and out.
"A swirl of glass, stone, steel and concrete is faintly reminiscent of folded dove wings, while the 100-metre-high Tower of Hope, which is illuminated at night, stands as a symbol of enlightenment," it said.
"Yet it's the interior experience that's truly awe-inspiring: climbing the walkways of the museum that opened in the Manitoba capital in 2014 is designed as a poignant journey from darkness to light."
Habitat 67 in Montreal, Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario, Vancouver's Marine Building, Montebello, Quebec's Fairmont Le Château, the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa and St. John's Jellybean Row made the list, too.
Winnipeg restaurant also awarded
RAW: almond, a temporary restaurant framed by tarp and metal where patrons can walk or skate to their seats, won the Brewster Travel Canada Innovator of the Year Award in Ottawa on Wednesday.
The award, and the one taken home by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, has Manitoba Tourism, Culture and Heritage Minister Ron Lemieux inviting those who live outside the city to come and see what all the fuss is about.
"Manitoba's tourism opportunities are extraordinary and unique, and these honorees are a shining example of how our province truly is where Canada's heart beats," he is quoted as saying in the press release.
"We want the world to come and experience the province with us, and it's great to see our tourism industry receives this kind of recognition."