What is this? A center for ants?

Architectural photography has a problem. Buildings are designed for people, yet a majority of architectural photographs do not have any in them. Commercial interior designers have been a lot better at this in the last few years, as restaurants and offices are often shown with people in them. It humanizes the space and from a messaging perspective, tells your potential clients that you actually care about the people living, working and playing in the buildings you design.

I have also worked for clients who would specifically request that I shoot their latest restaurant between midnight and 6 am because they didn't want to have any people in the pictures. Aside from the fact that I tend to like to sleep at night (it's good for my skin), it also sends the message that you care more about the design of shiny objects than you do about whether your project actually helps solve your clients’ problems.

©2019 rvltr - Yale Center for British Art by L. Kahn - Arch. photography in the age of social distancing.

Occasionally, people will come up with a crazy idea and style their 60s office reno Mad-Men style or stage a birthday party undermined by a jealous brother (image below), but most architecture firms go for bland and safe, which makes it a lot harder to differentiate from the rest, even when the design is really good.

Why? Because contrary to what I've heard time and time again, your work doesn't speak for itself. You have to actively tell its story and interesting and playful photographs are the best way to break through the noise and stand out. Aren't pictures worth a thousand words after all? I think a great picture is worth 10,000.

©2015 rvltr - Architect: Dank Architectes

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Sandboxes aren't just for kids

Play is well known to have wide-ranging benefits for our mental well-being as well as enabling the creative juices to flow and many creatives do play in private. However, that messy, process-heavy work is rarely seen in public, for fear of showing the world "unfinished stuff". Not to mention that too many architecture firms show a very austere facade that can border on dull at times. Yes, very sharp looking, but a bit dull.

This blog post got me thinking. What if we showed our messy, sometimes unfinished and unpolished work and shared at the same time the thinking that goes behind it? Obviously, you wouldn't want to mix it in a polished portfolio of curated work, but what if you had a sandbox area on your website (or a separate social media account, for those inclined to do that), that is clearly defined and where unstructured magic can happen.

Often, we catch a glimpse of that when architects show sketches or a process model, but too often the context in which it is shared is too constricted and polished. I want to hear the story of your disaster of a model shop, with all the clutter that comes with it. To me, that's much more exciting as it's where I get to enter a creative’s world and understand it better.

Who's with me?

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Get the bully out of the sandbox

In the current so-called housing "crisis" that is hitting many major cities around the world, it often seems that capitalism is to blame for all those ills. I think this is a short-sighted view that fails to address a few issues:

1. There are major cities around the world where this is not nearly as much of an issue. Tokyo has found a solution to its housing problem by adopting much-relaxed zoning regulations for housing, that allows for it to go up quickly without red tape.

2. We have an incentive problem: politicians are elected by city residents. When in a country like Canada, nearly 70% of households own their homes, they have every incentive to fight tooth and nail against increased density, most of the time based on unfounded fears about the negative impact of such developments. Since politicians are cowardly re-election plotting rent-seekers, they tend to not go against the majority in their constituencies, when it comes to make courageous urban planning decisions and allow future residents (who have no say because they don't yet live in the city) a shot at having decent life opportunities. Margaret A., I thought you'd be smarter than that.

3. We have an urban planning problem: in a city like Toronto, it is absolutely mind-blowing that it is considered normal to have entire neighbourhoods of single-family houses in the downtown core, which were suburban 100+ years ago when they were built, yet do no correspond to the needs of the city anymore.

It's a bit ironic that Canada is founded on the values of acceptance, openness and multi-culturalism and yet, it seems that these principles don't apply at the scale of the block, where it's more like a sandbox to which the local bully won't give you access and cry to his parents that it's unfair he can't play alone anymore when all you want to do is jump him and help him make a sandcastle.

The problem is not the lack of solutions, as we've demonstrated, it's that the culture needs to shift. Maybe if we adopted the "you can't say you can't play" mantra, we might just change that culture.

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Suburban Poetry

Last summer, I had the pleasure to work with Kevin Weiss on the photography of his latest project: a washroom pavilion in an Etobicoke park. While you may think to yourself, I don't want to read about no stinkin' pavilion in a suburb, before you pinch your nose and look away, hear me out.

Kevin has a knack for finding poetry in the most pedestrian of projects, while always coming up with clever and cost-effective ways to solve seemingly intractable problems. He is in my mind one of the most talented Canadian architects, if not completely overlooked.

©2019, Revelateur Studio. Post-production by Korab Image.

In this project, he was able to satisfy his self-admitted brick fetish (hint: it's not the only brick building in his portfolio), in the form of a park's public washroom, that is as functional as it is inviting. While this building is as utilitarian as they get, it is by employing the right type of brick (ironically imported from England) and carefully playing with the brickwork, that the pavilion takes on a new life from the outside as sunlight continually changes the expression of the texture through the interplay of light and shadows.

It is intended to become the standard for the city of Toronto park washroom facilities. If that's the case I can't wait to see them popping up in the parks across the city.

It’s a breath of fresh air in an otherwise bland and depressing suburb.

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Curated recos for isolated souls

I'm lucky to be surrounded by amazing friends. When I asked them on our last group zoom what they recommended to stay sane during the isolation period, this is what they suggested:

Health and exercise: meditation (x2), jaywalking (go figure), daily walks (x2, because SCIENCE!), yoga, Wim Hof method, hip hop HIIT, trampoline, sleep.

Movie / TV Shows: Samsara (trailer), The Phantom Carriage, Unorthodox, Twilight Zone, Tales From The Loop, Ozark, Love, Last Black Man in San Francisco, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Tiger King, Covert Affairs, Cobra Kai, Graveyard Shift.

If you're not sure where to find any of these, this might help.

Music / Podcasts: The Happiness Lab, Seriously... , Spotify, Gaby Grice, Rage Becomes Her, Pivot, Wim Hof method "Iceman", Nicolas Jaar's Cenizas, The Happiness Advantage, Tiesto Show, RFK Tapes, Flowzus.

Enjoy!

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Reality As it Is

Ever since I've seen Don Hoffman's TED talk (and read his book) on how we perceive reality a few years ago, his ideas on human's perception of reality have regularly come back to haunt me when I have too much time on my hands to think about the future.

Yesterday's piece and George Hotz's idea that we might live in a simulation (similar to The Matrix) and that it could be fun to try and crack the code in order to peek behind the curtain brought me back to Hoffman's thesis: what if Hoffman's "reality" is just a simulation and his "reality as it is" is the world outside our simulation that we have not yet access to?

What if "god", e.g. the creator of the simulation is just about to let us ruin almost everything and then saves us, a literal deus-ex-machina, from ourselves and the destruction of our planet? I'm not advocating to ruin the planet so bad that we can't come out of it, but it's an interesting thought experiment.

I also wonder what buildings look like in the "reality as it is"?

By the way, did you know that there is a 4th installment of The Matrix coming out next year?

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Silicon Valley Culture Needs To Die

These are the words of George Hotz, more precisely: "Silicon Valley and Technology are not synonymous, Silicon Valley culture needs to die and technology will live on" in this video interview on Reason about the state of self-driving cars.

While the entire video is a fascinating account of the state of that industry, what is really interesting is his take on the use of technology as a tool to explore and learn more about nature and the world we live in. His open-source, ultra-transparent approach to putting out valuable products on the market is the best way to technological development.

It runs counter to big tech's modus operandi of centralizing everything under proprietary technologies, which invariably leads to abuse, scandals and sometimes the death of unwitting bystanders. Ultimately, technology and the businesses that employ it are only as good as the moral foundation its creators bake into it.

When I see young, bright, brash and independent thinkers like Hotz make a splash it makes me hopeful for the future.

What's interesting is that Architecture, being more of a guild-like trade is by and large open-source. While there is an intellectual property on an architect's creation, the methods of construction and manufacture of buildings are free for the taking and I think it makes the profession stronger as a whole.

Let's make sure it's not turned into a closed, proprietary world by the misuse and misapplication of technology.

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When Architecture Plays Nice

Yale has one of the most amazing "campuses" I've ever seen. It's a dreamy blend of traditional, gothic-inspired architecture mixed in with some of the most incredible modernist buildings in the world, all the while, being seamlessly integrated into the urban fabric. There is no discernible campus to speak of, as academic and non-academic buildings share the same blocks, although the outsize influence of the university on the city is palpable at every street corner.

Kroon Hall, completed about 10 years ago is a high-tech building designed by Hopkins and Centerbrook (the latter I had the pleasure to work with on these images). Hopkins is probably the lesser-know of the British "high-tech" firms that emerged in the late 60s and 70s, including the likes of Grimshaw, Foster and Rogers.

©2019 by Revelateur Studio

From an urban planning perspective, the building is sited in a way that integrates well with the surrounding blocks, its massing and envelope materials make it feel like it's always been there, as it hints at its gothic neighbours via interesting stone detailing.

At first glance, the only giveaway that it's a recent building is its decidedly contemporarily-shaped roof, which is covered in photovoltaic panels on the south side. In my opinion, it's a very elegant and quietly deferent design that isn't meant to stand out and scream for attention, but rather does its job and does it well. I have a lot of respect for that.

©2019 by Revelateur Studio

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The Future of Humanity

If you haven't read Homo Deus yet, that's the next book you need to put on your list. It's an incredible journey into what the future of humanity could be and while it is no more than an exercise in trying to predict the future, it does so in a truly thought-provoking manner.

While some of its predictions are terrifying, to be forewarned is to be forearmed and knowing some of the dangers that breakneck progress can bring about, allows us to be more deliberate about our choices and that can affect our future.

It completely changed my perspective on the use of AI as a way to help us make better decisions, but I remain a skeptic on what we do with our personal data, as I discussed previously here. I think we should still be more deliberate about how much control we have over it and how it is used.

What do you think?

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{VIDEO} Seagram Building (1958)

Built in NYC in 1958, the Seagram was the first of Mies' well-known international style office towers, found most notably in New York, Chicago and Toronto. While 60+ years after completion it may not seem that these fine towers were so groundbreaking, but at the time, there were few examples of unapologetic international-style buildings and most of them were designed by SOM: the Lever house, Inland steel and the United Nations Headquarters.

So in 1958, when the building was completed, it was a major breakthrough, especially in the way Mies gave back to the city a well-proportioned public space by siting his tower all the way at the back of its lot.

I've been there several times and it never fails to impress. Granted, I'm a devoted Miesian (I was lucky to study in Crown Hall), but Mies had an unparalleled ability to not design exquisite buildings, owing to his obsessive detailing, but also surround them with serene, pleasant and perfectly functional public spaces (OK maybe not in the dead of winter).

Last time I went I had the pleasure to experiment with video and showcase the building in my own way, sadly I wasn't allowed to film inside. Check out the video above.

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The lindy effect

The lindy effect is a theory that states that the life expectancy of non-perishable artifacts, such as works of arts, technologies or academic output is proportional to the amount of time they've been in existence.

This partially explains why some cultural products or traditions have been around for a long time, as the longer they "live" the longer they are expected to stick around. Wine, meditation and yoga are great examples of this.

This is also why we should as a culture, approach the newest app, technology or gizmo with a healthy dose of skepticism. Ultimately, we are better off observing how a new artifact fares in the cultural landscape for a while and gauge its potential for survival accordingly instead of taking its creator word on the fact that it's the "next big thing".

It is very evident in children's toys: most of them are seasonal fads that are nothing but a short-term attempt at making a lot of cash before letting it die. Conversely a few toys have been around for comparatively long times, like Jenga or Lego. I'd bet that since Legos have been around for 70+ years, we can expect to see them around for another 70+ years. That can't be said for fidget spinners, one of the most useless inventions known to man.

This is why I am personally much more inclined to listen to a meditation teacher telling me to meditate 2 hours a day in order to maintain my mental sanity, than listen to a doctor prescribing me a drug that was just approved by the FDA and is the supposed ultimate cure for anxiety and depression. The meditation practice has been around for 2,500 years, so it is likely that it will still be around in 2,500 or maybe even 5,000 years, which is difficult to imagine for the drug.

It's a good life heuristic to deal only in old things as much as one can. What do you think? How would that apply to the architecture discipline?

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The value of heuristics

We live in a world that is far too complex to be grasped by a single mind. That's why I'm a big fan of Heuristics to make decisions. We all employ them all the time, without paying much attention to them, but they're a powerful way to make quick, imperfect yet "good enough" decisions day to day without having to overanalyze things and spend too much understanding things that don't matter that much.

For example, I know from experience that the news is a source of uncontrollable anxiety that makes me less productive and cause undue stress. As a result, I tend to avoid every and any possible source of information that could cause that. Another example is when I write these blog posts for your enjoyment, there are 4 rules I follow: a minimum of 150 words per piece (to make the pieces digestible for the reader while fulfilling my quota of 3000 published words a month), writing in plain language that can be intelligible to the non-initiated (so that I don't bore you within 3 sentences), keeping the subject matter at least tangentially if only tenuously relevant to my work as a communicator and lastly keeping the tone light and fun (so that I don't get bored writing these). I don’t worry about much else as these rules ensure that the work is fulfilling its goal most of the time.

All of these intuitive, empirical decisions that are made aren't perfect and don't work 100% of the time, but they work well enough to not fret over their imperfection.

In the design process, heuristics can be very useful to reach certain goals without fretting over every single detail.

What might be some heuristics that you employ in your work?

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The 30 day experiment

I recently completed a 30-day experiment, where I logged off of twitter and instagram for a month to gauge how much value these services actually brought to my life. I had already permanently deleted my facebook account last year as it had become very clear that it was nothing more than a FOMO-inducing, anxiety generating tool that didn't serve me, yet exploited the data I willingly gave away for profit (if you're not aware, just google "facebook privacy scandal" to see the extent of the abuse we’re all subject to without even realizing it). While facebook had zero business value to me, I was a little more hesitant to suddenly leave twitter and instagram as they had become a consequential part of my marketing activities over the years.

It's not until my recent encounter with Deep Work by Cal Newport that I was able to get clarity on what I should do with these accounts, given how frustrating and anxiety-generating they had become. In it, Newport suggests to log off any social media account without fanfare or big announcement for 30 days, to gauge the amount of value they bring into our lives. The heuristic for deciding whether to permanently quit or not is quite simple: if during the 30 days you're gone, you don't miss it and no one asks you why you're no longer active, it's a pretty good indication that these platforms don't bring anything more than shallow interactions into our lives. While the dopamine hit may feel good, and the addiction soon has us frantically refreshing for likes, it is nothing but a distraction from meaningful, deep work.

While this change in my approach to social media may seem to be a skin-deep contrarian approach to marketing (run in the other direction while everybody is rushing to be on those platforms), there is a tangible benefit to my doing so and it can be quantified as follows: I wrote 16028 words (twice as much as my historic production), edited and published 2 new podcast episodes (which had been dormant for 7 months due to -ahem- "lack of time"), hosted 2 in-person event with friends and colleagues in the industry, edited 16 new videos of personal work and started meditating 2 hours a day. Most of this comes from the time I no longer waste spending on social media.

A really smart friend of mine recently described social media as a mile wide and a millimetre deep. I have come to personally find narrow and deep endeavours much more rewarding, whether we're talking substituting a text exchange for a 1-hour coffee conversation with someone interesting where we both lose track of time, or spending a few hours editing and learning about video, instead of watching puppy videos on instagram. How many Jiff Pom videos are too many anyway?

I have and will continue to dedicate this newfound time to develop new areas of practice and experiment with new ways of helping my clients promote their businesses. Look out for it via my newsletter. This will be from now on where the good stuff is.

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Branding for pirates

The Ontario Professionals Planners Institute (OPPI) is the regulating body for Ontario's planners, much like the OAA or AIA are to architects. In a chance encounter with the organization, I was confronted with their logo, pictured above.

I must have been a pirate in a former life because all I can see is a stylized skull. To confirm my assumptions and make sure that it wasn't just my deviant mind playing tricks on me, I asked a few others to take a look and tell me what they think. From phallic forms to artificial insemination, this logo evokes just about every conceivable bad idea, but that of urban planning. Unless the organization is trying to take over cities Crimson Permanent Assurance style it is a very confusing attempt at visual identity.

Ultimately, branding is reflected in everything an organization does, down to the little details like a logo, that gives people unfamiliar with it, an idea of what that group of people does, if only at the subconscious level. If artificial insemination and piracy are the first things that come to mind for an organization that regulates urban planners, then the logo is an epic fail. If that were a design for a 1960's high-modernist incarnation of the Punisher at sea, then the logo would be perfect.

Let that be a cautionary tale for people who are thinking about a new visual identity. Because you don't see a problem with it, it doesn't mean it won't be perceived differently by people with a different perspective.

It's all about context and there is an easy fix: All they have to do is to change their name to The Ontario Professional Pirates Institute, add a couple of stylized bones, et voila! You're welcome OPPI.

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Putting your money where your mouth is

Bob Hoffman is an example of integrity. Not only he relentlessly calls out big tech businesses on their bad behaviour, but he also has the uncanny ability to be disarmingly transparent. In his latest newsletter (scroll down to the "Mea Culpa" section), he calls himself out in front of his audience for not being able to use a newsletter service that doesn't track the recipients of his newsletter.

While some, and that would certainly include me (at least up until now), would shrug at it and say "well there is nothing I can really do about it", Bob, being a man of integrity, invites his followers who may not like to be tracked, to unsubscribe.

I find this ballsy because it means integrity is more important to bob than the health of his business and shows us how to not cut corners, as a powerful way to maintain the hard-earned trust that he's built with his following.

That's a powerful message sent through his actions, not his words. I'm personally inspired to follow his lead.

Are you?

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On Nissans and architecture

In a recent conversation with Andrew Waugh (to be released soon-ish in an upcoming podcast), our attention turned to cars (it turns out us both like them) and how architecture in the traditional sense is the exact opposite of cars in the way they manufactured.

Cars are the epitome of mass-customizable products: they're all based on a common platform, but the end-user can specify them to their liking, in some cases down to the colour of the seats' piping, often at a reasonable cost. It's pretty crazy to think that the cheapest brand new car that one can buy costs less than $10,000 and yet still offers a reasonable amount of customization. Carmakers have truly become masters at reducing costs thru extreme rationalization and yet still make the consumer feel like their car is special. It's been said that Nissan only produces a vehicle of the exact same specs every 7 years! Given that 7-8 years is the normal lifespan of a given model, it means that there are only a couple of cars in the world of the exact same specs, down to the smallest bolt, as your shiny new 2020 Tesla Model Y.

If we apply the same thinking to architecture, most buildings are the equivalent of a hand-built, custom-designed car, assembled in a driveway with imprecise tools by a pretty crafty person who has to figure out how to fit all the different parts together. It takes a long time to design, even longer to build and there is no predictability as to the cost of construction as too many variables are unknown when the process starts. I won't even mention the regulatory hurdles of getting approvals just to get a building permit.

It's no wonder that architecture has remained a service that only comparatively wealthy people and institutions can afford.

What if we turned that idea on its head and start thinking of architecture as a mass-produced, mass-customizable product that can be designed more effectively, customized easily, manufactured in plants and assembled quickly on-site? Prefabrication has been around for decades, yet it has miserably failed to live up to its promised potential.

Why is that and how can architecture be mass-democratized?

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The Madonna Ethos

Yesterday, I wrote about why blindly reacting to COVID-19 is a bad idea. We are, if not literally, at least figuratively at war with an enemy that we can't see, replicates at a ridiculous clip and against which the only defence we know, is to go against our genetically ingrained desire to be social. While I'm not a big fan of military and war-time analogies, I think it's useful to think of this pandemic like a war, much like our grandparents did during WWII. While we're in no immediate danger of being bombed by the Krauts, we are very much in a war-like situation, will all the adjustments to life that this entails.

What we do in these times is up to us. Some will wallow in their own self-pity, throw their hands up in the air and prey that they come out unscathed. Others will rise to the challenge and find a way to make it work in both the short and the long term. This is a time of tremendous opportunity to embrace quick change. People who will come out of this on top are those that manage uncertainty the best.

Always take care of yourself first and do what you have to to ensure long-term survival. If that's not an issue to you, then now is a great opportunity to reinvent yourself or your business, in order to adapt to a new, yet completely unknown reality that is about to be unleashed upon us.

Find new markets to get into, go after clients who really need what you have to offer, or use all the downtime to revisit your positioning and BD processes, so that you're prepared for when things go back to normal, whatever that means. Reinvention is the source of great innovation. We'd all benefit to be a little more like Madonna by destroying what we're comfortable with and rebuilding it better.

Embrace the Madonna ethos and you might see great things come your way. If you don't like Madonna, then be more like Bowie. Everybody likes Bowie.

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Why giving into fear won't help

We are creatures of habit. It's very easy and comfortable for humans to get into a groove and coast, this goes both for our personal and professional lives. And it makes sense, having a routine is valuable in many ways, as it removes a significant amount of decision making from our lives. The less we have to decide, the more we can get done, as decision fatigue is a real thing that overworked humans suffer from.

In normal times, following a strict routine makes a lot of sense and is often a sensible way to go about one's day. In times of crisis, like we are living through now, these routines are upended for myriad reasons, which can be very unsettling. I've seen too many people in my direct entourage respond to this by panicking and making decisions that could have serious adverse effects on them, all the while, changing their minds every 5 minutes. It's not pretty and it doesn't help anyone.

Now is the perfect time to slow down, defer important decisions and just do what you can to survive. Giving in to fear of things we cannot control is counterproductive. More than ever, we need a sense of community and virtual ones are popping up everywhere.

It's up to us to decide how we respond to the crisis. Check back tomorrow to read about the opportunities that this new reality presents. Also, check yesterday's blog to see a bunch of examples of people rising to the challenge and creating entire communities from scratch.

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Roundup of COVID-19 creative inspiration

I've been amazed by the sheer number of people that have selflessly put more of themselves out there during this pandemic. There seems to be a surge of creative ideas making it into the world. It's truly a beautiful thing to witness. Here's what I've come across in the last week or two:

• Adobe is offering 2 months of subscription to creative cloud for FREE. If you have a subscription, follow the instructions here.

• Akimbo has set up a virtual coworking space for creatives to not feel so alone and exchange ideas.

• A viral kindness postcard designed to help the most vulnerable.

• Tips to organize virtual meeting and conferences on Zoom, here and here.

• Some "design" board game ideas to keep the kids occupied.

• All of Gary Hustwit's movies released for free in the next few weeks.

• Some great tips on what to do to ensure your business survives, courtesy of Blair Enns.

• My lawyer told me that banks are offering relief on mortgages and other forms of credit. Call your banker to see what you're eligible for.

As I walk up and down Roncesvalles and see most businesses completely shut down, I can't help but feel their pain. Retail is one of the hardest-hit industries in all this. It's strange to live in a ghost town. While we can no longer hang out at the café or go have a meal at the restaurant, we have to do what we can to support them and shop local.

And remember, be kind to one another.

If I can help you navigate the marketing, sales and business development challenges up ahead, book a free brainstorming call here.

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If you landed here by chance or accident, don’t leave yet! We have tons of great content, such as blogs, podcasts and other forbidden experiments coming out daily. Click “>>subscribe” at the top left of this page, we’d love to have you as part of our tribe.

If you have questions about this piece, rvltr or want to chat about your strategy and communications, you can leave a comment, share with a friend, or reach us at hello{at}rvltr.studio.

Building for 400 years

Recently, I touched on the social cause embodied in the Baha'i temple of south America by Siamak Hariri.

When his firm was commissioned, he was given the mandate to build a structure that would last 400 years. While it is very likely that we will all be long dead 400 years hence, it is incredible to come across an institution that is so forward-thinking.

Building for this long a life span is nowadays incredibly complex and expensive, as buildings have become so complex and regulations so stringent, that there is a not-insignificant cost to this. It begs the question: cathedral builders did it over a thousand years ago and with great expense of human capital (a single cathedral would take hundreds of years to complete), but they built structures that were quite simple in their construction methods, albeit very innovative for the time.

These are buildings that were extremely robust because composed of simple materials assembled in straightforward ways, which explain why they very often still stand today, 1000+ years after completion.

Some are calling for a de-complexification of architecture and a return to simpler (but not simplistic), more robust construction methods.

Have we strayed so far from the path that we don't even see that the complexity we deal with is the cause of many problems? Taleb seems to think so. What do you think?

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If you landed here by chance or accident, don’t leave yet! We have tons of great content, such as blogs, podcasts and other experiments coming out daily. Click “>>subscribe” at the top left of this page, we’d love to have you as part of our tribe.

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