Saskatoon nails top 20 spot in Architectural Digest's list of places to go in 2019

If you live in Saskatchewan, you don't have to travel far to get to one of ArchitecturalDigest's top places to visit in 2019.

Saskatoon made a list of top20 places to visit for design lovers on the strength of new builds like theRemaiModern. The list also featuresgrand historic centres like Copenhagen and Berlin.

Saskatoon's architecture isdefinedby a shift toward modern sensibilities in a province where thetallest buildings were historically grain elevators, according to local architect LouisAussant.

"Those have slowly disappeared over the last 20, 25 years, since I was much younger," saidAussant, principal architect and CEO of Saskatoon's aodbt architecture and interior design.

"To see that being replaced with concrete and steel and glass structures in a city in the middle of what some people say is nowhere is quite impressive."

The Remai keeps generating buzz, but the other River Landing office towers and condo projects next door are also going to be stunning in terms ofsheer magnitude, he said.

"It's going to reshape and redefine Saskatoon's skyline, which has been fairly understated for the last two or three decades," said Aussant.

Saskatoon isn't just defined by projects near its river valley, he said. He pointed to new builds like the Merlis Belsher arena that opened at the University of Saskatchewan campus this falland the future children's hospital, with its stunning view and ambitionto be a health care centre of excellence.

Building density

Aussant stressed the need for density. He pointed to a mixed-use development project in Broadway as a project he hoped to see approved by city council in the new year. When it comes to infill, Aussant wants to see builders and the city challenge height limitations, even though this has raised some concern in the past.

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"We really do need to keep growing upwards as opposed to outwards," he said.

On the further edge of the city, Wanuskewin is currently undergoing a renewal project Aussant calls "massive," one that he believes will make it an internationally renownedWorld Heritage site.

"It's in such a beautiful landscape and it does a lot in a way of bringing us together as far as in the age of reconciliation," he said. A plan to bring bison to Wanuskewin will take that project to yet another level, he said.

Aussant said the city has come along in leaps and bounds, leading the way to making it an architectural destination.

"It's amazing just how much has happened."

with files from Saskatoon Morning