Science news | Revisiting the Inuit home

An article by Valérie Levée, science journalist

In 1958, everyone in Salluit lived in an igloo," recalls André Casault, a professor at the School of Architecture at Laval University. In only two generations, the Inuit had to learn to live in immobile houses imported from the south. 

The Inuit have gone through a huge cultural clash in a very short space of time,' says André Casault. 

In an attempt to put things right, the Living in Northern Quebec team at Université Laval's School of Architecture has been conducting collaborative research since 2015 to understand the Inuit vision of habitat.   

From one day to the next, and without any say in the matter, the Inuit had to come to terms with these houses, which were at odds with their way of life. The research team set itself a threefold goal. To understand the Inuit vision of living space, to give the Inuit back the power to design their own living space, and to introduce architecture students to the culture of these communities. The aim of our work is to promote autonomy in decision-making in design and construction and to encourage local ingenuity,' explains Geneviève Vachon, professor at the School of Architecture. As part of a collaborative approach to research and knowledge co-production, the team met with Inuit residents to ask them questions about their houses, translate the concepts they heard into drawings, check that they were properly understood and suggest new ones. In this iterative loop, the drawings become a means of communication to refine mutual knowledge. 

The house and the land 

In the popular imagination, the traditional Inuit dwelling is an igloo, but it should not be forgotten that outside winter they lived in tents or small dwellings made of stones, peat and skins. They built their homes according to the seasons and the materials available locally. There was a strong link between the house and the land, whereas today the village is seen as being at odds with the land," says Myrtille Bayle, who wrote her master's thesis on the Inuit concept of the house. The houses that have come down from the south are cut off from the land, with no transition space between inside and outside like the igloo tunnel. Placed on jacks, they are detached from the ground, which contributes not only to their instability but also to their detachment from the land. The way houses and villages are laid out is very impervious to the Inuit way of thinking about the land," says Pierre-Olivier Demeule, who wrote his master's thesis on the cabins that the Inuit build today. He explains that it is through these cabins that the Inuit maintain their link with the land. They serve as relays for traditional activities such as fishing and hunting, even if other modern activities have been added. Most Inuit talk about wanting to go to their cabin because it is their link to the land and their culture,' says Pierre-Olivier Demeule. Life is organised around the cabin, with a place to meet, play, cut meat, dry fish... 

From the igloo to the cabin 

As Pierre-Olivier Demeule discovered in Salluit, the cabins were based on the spatial organisation of igloos. These consisted of a tunnel with storage areas around the edges, a dome with an oil lamp in the centre and a snow platform at the bottom for sleeping. Sometimes secondary domes, connected by tunnels, were added to accommodate other members of the family. The same sequence can be found in the cabin, with a vestibule, a central room with a source of heat, a cooking area and, at the back, the platform with the bunks,' explains Pierre-Olivier Demeule. Above all, he says, "the cabin is not a finished product. It's always in a state of flux. The Inuit use recycled materials to build and extend their cabins, perpetuating a cultural know-how. When they built their kayaks from driftwood, they understood the intrinsic properties of wood and how to use it. They entered into a dialogue with the material. Today, because they have recycled materials that aren't always perfect, they have to reinvest this ability to find solutions with what they have,' says Pierre-Olivier Demeule. 

The adaptable house 

In the village, the houses no longer resemble traditional dwellings. The Inuit knew how to work the land and use it to build their homes. They could extend them as needed. That's not the case today,' says Myrtille Bayle. There used to be this communal space where families gathered, where hunting stories were told and where knowledge was passed on. Nowadays, however, 'houses are full of walls and there is no place to get together,' says Geneviève Vachon. And despite the lack of space in today's houses, the Inuit continue to carry out certain traditional activities, such as cutting up and sharing game on the ground. This shows that housing needs to be redesigned to reflect local lifestyles,' adds Myrtille Bayle. The research group is looking at ways of redesigning houses to make them more flexible and adaptable to changing activities or growing families. Myrtille Blais cites the example of the mezzanine, which makes it possible to carry out separate activities while maintaining social links. On the other hand, corridors that encourage isolation are undesirable. 

An Atlas for better building 

All this collaborative research is captured in the Atlas of Ideas to Plan, Dwell, Build a Sustainable Nunavik - with Inuit realities, aspirations and values in mind. It is the sum of seven years of collaborative work and looks at the habitat from the perspective of the village, the house and the building,' explains Geneviève Vachon. It summarises the keys to understanding the Inuit habitat and proposes strategies for change and innovation developed through the students' research and design projects. A compendium of ideas for Inuit and southerners alike. 

To find out more 

Atlas : https://www.doingthingsdifferently.ca/

Video library : https://www.youtube.com/c/HabiterleNordquebecois 

Digital publications : https://issuu.com/hlnq.linq  

• Bayle, M. (2023). Réflexions pour une architecture significative : univers symbolique et matériel de la maison chez les Inuit du Nunavik. Mémoire de maitrise, Université Laval, Québec. URI : http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11794/113943 
• Demeule, P.-O. (2021). Cabanes et campements du fjord de Salluit : Une lecture des savoir-faire locaux et des pratiques d'autoconstruction dans la toundra. Mémoire de maitrise, Université Laval. URI : http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11794/71108 
• Ikey, O. (2020). Speaking Out : Housing Issues for Youth in Nunavik. Études Inuit Studies 44 (1-2), pp. 261-267. https://doi.org/10.7202/1081805ar 
• Mangiok, T. (2022). The right space for a bit of everything. Habiter le Nord Québécois. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjfKmmhBAgw 
• Snowball, H. & McDonald, M.-P. (2020). Protecting Nunavik’s Cultural Landscape. Revue ARQ Architecture and design Québec, 190 : 11-15. https://issuu.com/hlnq.linq/docs/arq190-habiterlenord 
• Vachon, G., Avarello, M., Landry, J. & St-Jean, L. (2021). Territorialities and Urbanities Transform: A Scenario-Based Approach to Local Planning and Decision Making in Inukjuak and Salluit, Nunavik. Études Inuit Studies 44 (1-2), pp. 207-236. https://doi.org/10.7202/1081803ar