I made my way to Fogo Island off the North coast of Newfoundland in Atlantic Canada this summer (celebrity Gwyneth Paltrow just beat me to it); here are some of my thoughts and photos from the trip.
This small Canadian island of 2,500 inhabitants is creating quite a stir the past few years. And much of the hoopla is around this stunning structure, built partly on stilts. The Fogo Island Inn was designed by Newfoundland-born, Norway-based architect Todd Saunders. The five-star, 29-room, luxury ‘journey’s end’ has generated lots of jobs for locals and garnered international attention. It features a rooftop spa, library, high-end personal service, and luxe décor based on local traditions. Two words: book early.
Behind a growing initiative to make Fogo a geotourism destination is Zita Cobb, a dot-com entrepreneur who retired early after making her fortune abroad and for the last decade has been dedicated to helping rebuild the island she left when she was 16. To encourage people to stay, she established the Shorefast Foundation – an organization committed to preserving the Islanders’ traditions and aims at rejuvenating the Island through the arts and culture.
Cobb is the client behind the now world-famous inn and a series of six artists’ studios (also by Saunders) scattered across the Island. These unique, self-sustaining, off-the-grid pavilions perched on the edge of the Atlantic provide visiting international writers and artists time and space to do their work.
Residents are appreciative of the attention and the business, which has made a real difference to Fogo. It is helping to sustain, so far, a very particular and special social fabric. Frayed and weathered, it may be, but the colourful, vibrant and resilient communities of the Island continue to make their mark.
Saunders Architecture has a portfolio of contemporary northern projects set against dramatic landscapes: simple villas and lookout points over Nordic fjords, e.g. Aurland Lookout. His work on Fogo is getting a lot of coverage: books, global film screenings, TEDx talks, and earning similar commissions, including new rural retreat homes in the western Canadian wilderness and seven small architectural ‘objects’ strung along a nature trail in Sweden. Perhaps for a next trek…
The new app ‘DUET’ for the iPad features a 2 min video interview about what motivates Architect Todd Saunders and how it informs his design process:
A 1-minute teaser for the film: Strange and Familiar: Architecture on Fogo Island.
STEPHANIE E. CALVET 