Meet Monica Giesbrecht, landscape architect and one of six partners at HTFC Planning and Design. Monica and HTFC provide landscape architecture, land planning, urban design, community planning, and interpretive design services—underpinned by inclusive processes and resilient, natural design—to clients across North America’s prairie, boreal forest, arctic regions, and beyond.
HTFC led the master planning and implementation of the 30-acre outdoor Gardens at The Leaf in the heart of Assiniboine Park, collaborating with local Indigenous designers to create Assiniboine Park’s first Indigenous People’s Garden, and was responsible for the vision and realization of four interior landscape biomes inside The Leaf.
The Leaf creates a rich mosaic of nature-centric experiences designed to keep visitors coming back year-round as they gather to celebrate and share the multicultural diversity of Winnipeg through their relationships with plants and the land.
We asked Monica a few questions about winter and the panel she will be participating in with the multidisciplinary team that brought The Leaf to life. Here’s what she had to say:
What do you love about living in a Winter City?
I am a nature lover who has always lived in a place with four distinct seasons. Winnipeg’s pronounced seasons bring variety to my annual trip around the sun. Living in a city that embraces winter allows me to enjoy some of my favourite sub-zero activities, such as ice skating on a frozen river, snowshoeing in a woodland park reserve, cross-country skiing on groomed golf course trails, and soaking up the winter wonderland at a Nordic spa. I love winter-focused social events like Festival Du Voyageur, RAW:Almond, The Festival of Lights at the Assiniboine Park Zoo, one of the world’s largest Snow Mazes, and the Warming Huts Art Installations at The Forks—all made possible by Winnipeggers really leaning into the joy of being from Winterpeg.
Who should attend your session? What should they look forward to learning about?
Anyone interested in exploring the concepts, design features, and programs behind a world-class, all-season botanical and cultural destination should come to our session. Attendees will learn about The Leaf, a state-of-the-art living building built on biomimicry principles. I’ll be talking about the features of four distinct interior environments that serve as warm oases during cold winter months, and five unique exterior landscapes celebrating local ecology, horticulture, and culture, activated in every season—especially winter.
Finally, do you have any favourite memories of Manitoba in the winter?
When I immigrated to Canada at the age of nine, I was arriving from a communist country with only a few days of snow every winter, an electricity curfew, and very little light at night. When we landed in Winnipeg on a very cold winter evening on December 24, 1983, my first glimpse of the city I now love as we drove to our new home was pure magic—fluttering giant snowflakes, a deep glittering crystal blanket of snow on everything, and glimmering lights of all shapes and colours everywhere. I have had many amazing winter experiences all over Manitoba since that moment, but it will forever be my favourite memory of Manitoba in Winter.
Join us on February 17th at 1:30 PM to tour The Leaf with Monica, then head outside for a bit of tobogganing—Register Now!
Find Monica and HFTC on:
Twitter: @PlacemakerChick/@HTFC_Winnipeg
Meet Monica Giesbrecht, landscape architect and one of six partners at HTFC Planning and Design. Monica and HTFC provide landscape architecture, land planning, urban design, community planning, and interpretive design services—underpinned by inclusive processes and resilient, natural design—to clients across North America’s prairie, boreal forest, arctic regions, and beyond.
HTFC led the master planning and implementation of the 30-acre outdoor Gardens at The Leaf in the heart of Assiniboine Park, collaborating with local Indigenous designers to create Assiniboine Park’s first Indigenous People’s Garden, and was responsible for the vision and realization of four interior landscape biomes inside The Leaf.
The Leaf creates a rich mosaic of nature-centric experiences designed to keep visitors coming back year-round as they gather to celebrate and share the multicultural diversity of Winnipeg through their relationships with plants and the land.
We asked Monica a few questions about winter and the panel she will be participating in with the multidisciplinary team that brought The Leaf to life. Here’s what she had to say:
What do you love about living in a Winter City?
I am a nature lover who has always lived in a place with four distinct seasons. Winnipeg’s pronounced seasons bring variety to my annual trip around the sun. Living in a city that embraces winter allows me to enjoy some of my favourite sub-zero activities, such as ice skating on a frozen river, snowshoeing in a woodland park reserve, cross-country skiing on groomed golf course trails, and soaking up the winter wonderland at a Nordic spa. I love winter-focused social events like Festival Du Voyageur, RAW:Almond, The Festival of Lights at the Assiniboine Park Zoo, one of the world’s largest Snow Mazes, and the Warming Huts Art Installations at The Forks—all made possible by Winnipeggers really leaning into the joy of being from Winterpeg.
Who should attend your session? What should they look forward to learning about?
Anyone interested in exploring the concepts, design features, and programs behind a world-class, all-season botanical and cultural destination should come to our session. Attendees will learn about The Leaf, a state-of-the-art living building built on biomimicry principles. I’ll be talking about the features of four distinct interior environments that serve as warm oases during cold winter months, and five unique exterior landscapes celebrating local ecology, horticulture, and culture, activated in every season—especially winter.
Finally, do you have any favourite memories of Manitoba in the winter?
When I immigrated to Canada at the age of nine, I was arriving from a communist country with only a few days of snow every winter, an electricity curfew, and very little light at night. When we landed in Winnipeg on a very cold winter evening on December 24, 1983, my first glimpse of the city I now love as we drove to our new home was pure magic—fluttering giant snowflakes, a deep glittering crystal blanket of snow on everything, and glimmering lights of all shapes and colours everywhere. I have had many amazing winter experiences all over Manitoba since that moment, but it will forever be my favourite memory of Manitoba in Winter.
Join us on February 17th at 1:30 PM to tour The Leaf with Monica, then head outside for a bit of tobogganing—Register Now!
Find Monica and HFTC on:
Twitter: @PlacemakerChick/@HTFC_Winnipeg
Instagram: @Monimac/@HTFCWpg
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