The Most Successful Religion

Revelateur Studio July 2, 2020

If you judge this piece by the title only, you should rationally think "Christianity" which has about 2.4 Billion devotees.

Think again. Facebook has now more monthly active users than that (at last count, although it has been argued that as much as half of the accounts are fake). And users they are, as this beast is like the worst of drugs.

What's more worrying is that Facebook's moral foundation is non-existent and its founder, is known to be borderline sociopathic. At least the religions preach long-evolved morals and keep their followers in line by shaming the deviants.

Facebook seems to do the opposite by calling out our worst, most self-destructive instincts and rewarding us for it.

I'm not a very religious guy, but I'll take Catholic guilt over Facebook any day.

If you like what you see, click “>>subscribe” at the top left of this page, to get our daily (or weekly) updates straight into your inbox. You can also write me a little love note here. I truly enjoy having conversations with you about what I write.

Hambly House on Atomic Ranch

Revelateur Studio July 1, 2020

As the years go by, memory tends to fade away and we remember less of the details of our lives, save for the most engaging, emotional and meaningful experiences. A trip to an exotic location, a long-lost friend or once-in-a-lifetime events are but the few kinds of things we remember.

I've been shooting architecture long enough now, projects and locations tend to all blur into one another, often being accidentally mixed-up in the process. There are a few gems, however, that stand out and no matter how much time has passed, the details remain vivid.

Hambly House is one such example. Even though it was completed 5 years ago and I photographed it in 2015, it still remains one of my favourite projects to date, even before it got published everywhere, culminating with the cover of Canadian Architect in the spring of 2016.

This house, with such a rich history, was an interesting building, to begin with, owing to its uniqueness in the Canadian landscape. In addition, the DPAI-led renovation masterfully took the essence of a derelict Art Moderne home, digested it and reinvented it for 21st-century living. 5 years later, the project is still being talked about in the press. To me, it's a testament to its quality and timelessness. Be sure to read the whole linked article for the full story.

That's what architecture is all about, taking in what's there and transforming it to serve its current purpose in the best possible way. That's when it truly serves humanity for the better, be it a private home or something more public, and not that McMansion nonsense, that eviscerates architecture of all meaning in the name of a quick buck, but that's a conversation for another day.

Victory Soy Mills site re-use proposal, image courtesy of Smart Density

Naama Blonder on Quayside's Future

Revelateur Studio June 30, 2020

Smart Density is a Toronto-based architecture and planning firm advocating for more sensible urban living. We interviewed, Naama Blonder, principal, to get her own take on what to do with Quayside, now that Sidewalk Labs has thrown in the towel on Toronto. Here are her answers:

Revelateur Studio: What was your take on Sidewalk Labs Proposal?

Naama Blonder: I'm not a data collection expert, but I can speak about it from an architectural point of view and I was excited to see their vision. I was excited about the opportunities that it could bring to this area. When I first moved to Toronto, I was looking forward to seeing the waterfront and I was very disappointed to see how this great asset is being so underutilized and what a missed opportunity it is. Everyone knows that it needs to be redesigned.

RS: What opportunities do you see for the site now that it can be rethought from scratch and how do we make this opportunity the best it can be for Toronto's current and future residents?

NM: I was reviewing the master plan for this area, and I was very disappointed to see that there are actually not that many areas that are planned to be mixed-use with retail frontage facing the water. I think retail is obviously just one component and we still need to develop and design a very welcoming and pleasant public space that has a promenade, that allows you to walk along the lake from one end to the other, you will be able to do so and you will be able to stroll, walk, jog and do whatever you want to do. Right now the waterfront doesn't really give you any reason to visit it.

RS: Why is it important to get this right?

NM: I visited Vancouver and I noticed that it was one of the few North American cities that doesn't have a highway cutting through the city as we have here with the Gardiner. Every time I walk to the water, there's this psychological barrier that's like "Okay, I need to pass the Gardiner". I think right now when you pass the Gardiner there isn't enough going on. It's not a destination on its own yet. Another lesson from Vancouver is how they treat their waterfront. Everything is facing the water: offices, F&B, gyms... lots of gyms.

RS: Are there similar examples elsewhere that we could learn from?

NM: Scandinavian cities, for example, Copenhagen, whose waterfront is definitely an amazing project. There is also Chicago, whose river was polluted due to its industrial past and the city turned its back to it for decades. Now, [After being redesigned] it is like a European level of a public realm. You go there, this is a destination. It is a place to be and enjoy. And it was really well done. So it's important because Toronto is not using its absolute greatest asset. And every time that I'm there, I notice that.

RS: What do those cities who get their waterfront rights get from it?

NM: I think it's this sense of place. It's the identity and character that the city gets and also the financial benefits of attracting tourists and successful local businesses. But these are obvious, these are the things that I don't even need to mention. But when you think of Toronto, I want people to think of its lake. I want to think of how wonderful it is. They say that water in the public realm makes people relax and enjoy life. It's definitely what Toronto should aspire to. And right now in the redesign of the waterfront, there's more that could be done. This is not yet the global city that Toronto should aspire to be.

RS: Any parting thoughts?

NM: Toronto made its waterfront industrial back in the day because no one wanted to be there. So it was perfect for industrial use. Now that things have changed and we are looking to the future, we need to find a way to incorporate its history of the past into the new design, I think that's something people would be interested in. It is about celebrating its industrial past because I think it's so interesting that waterfronts used to be industrial spaces and how this asset evolved over the years, how it has changed form and can be repurposed, without erasing its industrial past.

"How We Built This" w/ Giannone Petricone

Revelateur Studio June 29, 2020

The indefatigable Naama Blonder has been organizing webinars with city builders to talk about their careers and how they’ve become leaders in their field.

Although I haven’t personally attended these webinars, knowing who’s behind them is enough for me to share this with you.

I also had a recent interview with Naama about her take on Quayside and what could be done with it now that Sidewalk Labs is gone. Stay tuned!

Photo by Javier Aguilera — Photo by Javier Aguilera

How Harley Davidson killed itself

Revelateur Studio June 26, 2020

In this amazingly produced short documentary by our friends at Fortnine (whose content is always the perfect mix of informative, entertaining and funny), we learn that HD is dying a slow death, that might have been precipitated by COVID.

After decades of ignoring an ever-changing marketplace and stubbornly refusing to engage new audiences, the company now finds itself with a dwindling customer base and no other demographic interested in their products.

The lesson is this: markets change all the time and seemingly at a constantly increasing rate. For any company that wants to be in it for the long haul (yes, that include architects and designers) one would be well advised to pay attention to where the market is going and follow it, or better yet, try to predict where it will go and get there ahead of the surge in demand.

We can help you with that, especially in these times of ongoing crisis.

30K people & 25 front doors

Revelateur Studio June 25, 2020

Cityplace has about thirty thousand residents spread out among 25 or so buildings. With the social distancing in full force, cave condo dwellers are finding themselves stuck in units the size of a shoebox, with little to no outdoor space to speak of and constant fear of being sneezed on by a contagious neighbour.

While the suburban model isn't much better for different reasons, there's yet another opportunity to question how we build a city like Toronto, not only for current needs but also for the needs of future residents. Naama Blonder has a very interesting take on the matter. I've come to the exact same conclusion as she did when I first moved to Toronto 15 years ago, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

What does it mean for us to stop thinking about the city in terms of its current needs, but rather of the future residents who are on their way and don't have anyone advocating for them yet?

Hat tip to Anthony Provenzano for the original idea for the article.

Well, you know, that's just like, mmh, an empty billboard, man.

Revelateur Studio June 24, 2020

On a recent morning walk, I stumbled on an empty billboard, sitting across the Gardiner expressway. In 8 years of living in this hood, I've never seen these billboards sitting empty.

While one may speculate as to the reason for this (death of capitalism, anyone?), empty billboards instantly struck me as a blank canvas to try new things, much like empty streets beg for new uses of the public domain.

My little brain conjured up ideas of a new kind of outdoor theatre (mocked-up above), where the movie would be projected on one such billboard and the soundtrack could be streamed live via the internet. Imagine watching The Big Lebowski on a giant screen from the comfort of your condo balcony, although Jesus Quintana up close and personal is a somewhat scary thought.

Some other ideas (not necessarily good I might add):

A blank canvas for graffiti art
Shadow puppet theatre
Community art project
Green/living wall
Giant painting
Lightbombing
Climbing wall
Video installation

What do you think? Send us your ideas to re-use these billboards. Anything is better than another Fallsview ad (and no I don't endorse the commentary in the linked video).

Sidewalk Labs is gone... What now?

Revelateur Studio June 23, 2020

Sidewalk Labs has left the city and while some have lamented their departure, I for one, am delighted that after much debate over the extent of Alphabet's reach, through their subsidiary Sidewalk Labs, they have decided to leave, using the COVID-19 crisis as a lame attempt to hide the fact that the opposition they were facing was growing by the day.

I wrote about the issue before and explained why it was a dangerous proposition to leave a company like google in charge of such a large project and with insufficient accountability regarding the collection and usage of private data.

This is an amazing opportunity for the city to go back to the drawing board and rethink their whole approach to city building and at the same time make sure that the whole process is more democratic.

We often hear about governments abusing their powers and wasting taxpayers money, but a worrying trend over the past few years has emerged from the "capitalist" -in name only- side of the aisle where too many tech companies are slowly but surely turning into surveillance apparatuses that would give Jeremy Bentham wet dreams if he were still alive.

This is not a problem that is going to be solved overnight, so stay tuned for more articles where we discuss this issue with experts on city-building, starting with Naama Blonder and Howard Tam.

[PODCAST] Truth is Golden Ep. 306 - Not Just Numbers w/ 5468796 Architecture

Revelateur Studio June 22, 2020

I had the pleasure to interview Saša Radulovic, Johanna Hurme and Colin Neufeld, the partners at 5468796 Architecture as part of our Truth is Golden series. I was impressed to discover, in the course of my research for this interview and after talking to the 3 partners how approachable, genuine and friendly they were, on top of being some of the most innovative and creative architects alive today.

After doing the interview, I had the pleasure to meet Saša and Johanna by chance while they were in town and they proved to be just as nice in person over a drink.

If you want to know where the future of Canadian Architecture is headed, do yourself a favour and listen to the interview below.

About the podcast: The intent behind our podcast series "Truth Is Golden" is to look at renowned creatives and their work with a critical eye. We aim to ask deep questions in order to peel back the layers of marketing, clever one-liners and sexy branding. We want to show the world what it truly takes for genuinely creative forces to find their own voice build a career on what is very often nothing more than a drive to do things differently. We want to hear about the successes, the failures, the inspirational stories and the lessons gleaned from all of it. We want the truth, so that we can inspire other people to fulfill their own creative aspirations and in the process contribute to making the world a better place.

Taking a break

Revelateur Studio June 8, 2020

Sometimes it’s too tempting to always want to do one extra thing before going on vacation. In that spirit, I was fully intent on continuing to publish articles while I take this week off. But life got in the way, so I decided to take a break, including from daily blogging, until I return next Monday.

If you had projects you wanted to discuss with us, please contact me here and I’ll respond upon my return.

In the meantime, be well, go hug your loved ones and be kind to someone you don’t know.

See you next week!

Photo by Helena Lopes — Photo by Helena Lopes

How meat can save the world

Revelateur Studio June 5, 2020

You may ask, "what does meat production have to do with design" and you'd be right to ponder the question, at least on the surface.

We live in a world where things are flown halfway across the world overnight from Japan, an amazing feat of logistics if there is one, yet we never pause to think about the implications of such amazingly complex supply-chains, unless there is a crisis that brings everything to a stop like we are living now.

We convenience-addicts in the west, think nothing of buying a fat steak that was slaughtered a couple of days ago on the other side of the continent and trucked overnight in a refrigerated rig, yet we bitch and moan when steak prices go up at the supermarket because a couple of slaughterhouses that process the large majority of the continent’s meat supply have shut down due to the pandemic and its associated risks of contamination.

At the same time, producers who act as good stewards of the earth continue to be able to produce and deliver their locally raised, grass-fed meat despite more and more people lining up to buy their goods, because they’re the only ones left with a reliable supply.

This affects how we move around the city, the way we get our food all the way to how essential products make it into our homes. What if most of what we ate was produced locally following standards of quality and sustainability that the industrial producers cannot match?

I think nothing of regenerative agriculture and have long been buying my meat straight from the farm. I know that the locally-produced food has the potential to solve many of the ills of monoculture if only governments would get out of the way and stop subsidizing cultures that contribute to pollution and global warming (farm subsidies, anyone?).

I know the person who raises my beef by name and I have all the confidence in the world that he will continue to deliver the highest quality product week after week and I think it's a more robust model in terms of supply reliability, all the while also being better for the environment.

The question is: are you ready to vote with your dollars and change your habits for better health and a better future?

What are we waiting for to start a good streetfight?

Revelateur Studio June 4, 2020

A decade + ago, Janette Sadik-Khan the former NYC commissioner of transportation under Bloomberg, embarked on a radical, fast-paced and innovative transformation of New York, by developing a comprehensive rethink of how people moved about the city. In her book, Streetfight, she details how she went about it, sometimes in a sudden and sneaky way to make the city better. There is no grand plan, no expensive (at least not at first) infrastructure to be built, as she was held accountable for the immediate efficacy of her measures.

While NYC went through this transformation without an ongoing crisis to trigger these changes, I think there is a number of lessons in there about the often perceived sluggishness of our governments and their endless cycles of consultations, approvals and funding efforts. Given the appropriate tools, she was able to implement her ideas at silicon valley speeds, without breaking things while moving fast.

I'm a bit baffled that we haven't taken advantage of the deserted streets to take them over from cars, guerrilla-style and try new things. Right now, much more sidewalk space is needed to conform to social distancing rules and with the much-awaited return of the nice weather, more and more people are going to be tempted to enjoy the outdoors. If nothing gets done, it could put many people at risk and waste a beautiful opportunity to be creative.

If the powers that be do nothing, that's a good enough reason to throw rotten tomatoes at them, don't you think?

Monopolies and network effect

Revelateur Studio June 3, 2020

This recent piece by Seth Godin masterfully manages to summarize a lot of the things I've been having nightmares about of late.

As I mentioned in another recent piece about silicon valley culture, tech in the wrong hands is only as good as the use we make of it. Google, facebook and others refuse to be transparent about their practices and that leads to massive issues that negatively affect their users. So much for google's "don't be evil" bullshit mantra.

It is up to us to push back when dealing with companies that misbehave. Bob Hoffman whom you'll be able to hear from in an upcoming podcast, relentlessly talks about this in his weekly newsletter. I highly recommend it.

Let's support the businesses and endeavours that are peer-to-peer, autonomous and not for profit. Bonus points if it's open-source, as is the amazing work done by Helpful Engineering, which recently emerged spontaneously from a desire to make the world a better place.

Don't think that because we're part of the design industry this doesn't affect us. It does because we use these platforms every day to work and communicate what we do and they influence us in insidious ways without us noticing, like a frog being slowly brought to ebullition.

Photo by Gerd Altmann — Photo by Gerd Altmann

"We specialize in a wide array of work"

Revelateur Studio June 2, 2020

I recently stumbled upon this titular statement while browsing a design firm's website, which will remain nameless. The oxymoronic statement says nothing. Specializing is, by definition, the act of becoming an expert in a particular subject of skill. "Specializing in a wide array of work" is therefore, not specializing at all, but actually the exact opposite.

My aim isn't to pick on a particular business, but rather use it as an example of what misguided language can do to an otherwise excellent design firm and how it undermines one's credibility as well as ability to deliver maximum value.

Designers too often come up self-describing statements that sound elegant and distinguished, but most of the time, are buzzword-laden descriptions (dare I say deceptions?) of their firms that ultimately are devoid of all meaning, as their verbiage is so tortured and convoluted that it ends up meaning nothing.

When it comes to client-facing descriptive statements, it's best to keep it simple, or better yet, leave it to professional copywriters and communicators* who understand the language well enough to translate your beautiful, wild, crazy and creative ideas into human-intelligible language, which in turn will keep your would-be clients longer on your website, increasing your chances of making a sale.

Anything else is just whipped cream on a turd. It may look and sound good, but it's still a turd and will taste like shit.

*There are a bajillion of them out there, some good, some bad, but the good ones are worth every penny.

Some positive stuff to kill time and be more productive

Revelateur Studio June 1, 2020

There are so many cool things being offered online right now. Here are a few that caught my attention of late. Enjoy!

A different kind of Zooming in (your inner child won't regret it). From Godin.

We all know spending time outside is critical. Here are a couple more reasons in case you still need to be convinced. Bonus points if you make it a body-weight core workout.

If you want your Zoom backgrounds to stand out, courtesy of Studio Ghibli.

Don't beat yourself up too much if your brain is mush after a day on zoom.

How to effectively and genuinely check in with your team on zoom.

Zoom friendly board games.

If you want to embellish your poster collection, with these beautiful pieces from the late Massimo Vignelli.

When you find yourself browsing on Amazon a little too much. These are great rules to live by and engage in mindful, deliberate consumption.

Watch great tits on the piip show (SFWFH).

How Helpful Engineering is setting out to change the world, without money or centralized leadership. What a beautiful thing (H/T to Pierre Lonchampt).

Learning colour from cinema

Revelateur Studio May 29, 2020

I was inspired a little while back by this instagram account (one of the rare worthy of being followed) to learn more about colour grading and how that affects our perception of architecture. I think it's a technique that's under-utilized in architectural photography to make project pop and convey specific emotions. In painting, artists like Edward Hopper have used colours very effectively to tell a story.

Colorist is an actual profession in film and while we rarely notice it, they tremendously influence our perception of what's on-screen and thus, how we react to a movie. It's one of those jobs that straddle science and art, taking strongly from both worlds.

It inspired me to play with some of my projects and move past the "realist" and matter-of-fact documentary styles of architectural photography and use colour as a storytelling device.

Check out the examples out below and let me know what you think!

©2019 RVLTR / The High Park by North Drive / Quadrangle

School of the Arts, Singapore, WOHA (photo by forgemind)

The New Hygienists - Part III

Revelateur Studio May 28, 2020

>> Continued from yesterday’s post…

Just like the "Hygienistes", Haussmann likely being the most famous of them all, who in light of major discoveries by the likes of Lavoisier and Pasteur, pushed a social and political agenda in the 19th century that promoted better health to fight endemic issues like tuberculosis and alcoholism with access to light, air, systemic refuse collection and sewage systems among many others, we have an opportunity to adapt similarly to the new reality through thoughtful design. But unlike the old hygienistes, not succumb to the sirens of top-down, government-mandated and heavy-handed, community-destroying policies like those the French are wont to embrace.

Why don't we call this "New Hygienism"? If you have a better name for it, I’m all ears.

What are some of the solutions to this problem you've seen or come up with?

Section of 13 Rue des Amiraux, Paris (1927), an early attempt of an architecture bringing air and light to all residents.

The New Hygienists - Part II

Revelateur Studio May 27, 2020

>> Continued from yesterday’s post…

This is an opportunity to rethink the design of the things we use to move, live, work and interact, as well as leverage the power of good design to be a positive and transformative force in society:

Housing: we've heard for years about the lack of "missing middle" housing options in many cities. 40-storeys condos with tiny balconies are not good places to live (just talk to anyone isolating in one of those right now). They're cramped, poorly designed in the name of “efficiency” and way too dense to make for pleasant living environments. Conversely, single-family homes in urban cores make no sense even though they may have at some point in the distant past. This is an opportunity to re-think housing that allows for a greater density needed to accommodate people in urban centers while guaranteeing a high quality of life for its residents. There are many amazing precedents for this and we don't need to re-invent the wheel to come up with effective solutions.
Transportation and infrastructure: empty streets reveal to us just how much of our infrastructure is dedicated to single-passenger cars, that now appears completely useless. Better mobility options and increased density could claim back some of these spaces for other uses like public amenities, parks, housing, etc. Transportation options don't necessarily mean antiquated technologies like streetcars and subways, that respectively belong to the XIXth and XXth centuries, either. The best commuting alternative remains to live close to one's workplace, and if long commutes are absolutely necessary, I’d like to believe there are better options that 1 person per car.
Touch-less environments: for anyone who's ever been into an operating room, it is what the future could look like. Touch-less taps, elbow operated soap dispensers and foot-operated doors. Done thoughtfully, it could change the way we live for the better.
Social spaces: parks, privately-owned public spaces and other publicly accessible amenities that correspond to our need for social connections. Stackt market is one, all-too-rare shining examples of that. We need way more of those.
Reshoring: what does it mean for our supply chain that we can be cut off from many essential goods at the drop of a hat? I think there are tremendous opportunities to make good use of new technologies, especially digital fabrication to bring back manufacturing closer to home.
Marketing and promotion: No more pictures of restaurants empty, please. How do we portray architecture as an innately social discipline that creates buildings for people? The instagrammeable space is dead, at long last, so we can focus on creating spaces that actually promote social interaction instead of quick, flashy and "designs" that look great in pictures but are shit in person.
Workplace: There are a plethora of people coming out with creative and well-researched approaches to what the pandemic-proof workplace could be like. Creative being the operative word is. What are we going to make of all the office space that will inevitably turn up vacant?

>> Come back tomorrow for the last installment of this series!

Early XXth century hygienist concept by Henri Sauvage,

The New Hygienists - Part I

Revelateur Studio May 26, 2020

While it is impossible to know how life, as we used to know, will change after this crisis is over, it is an interesting thought experiment to imagine what the possibilities are. After all, this is how dreams turn into reality. It is also how humans were sent to the Moon 50 years ago. It took a generation of dreamers to simply state: "We don't know how to get there, but we will put all our might behind this challenge and figure this out as we go along".

I personally think that as humans, we have the need to be social coded in our DNA and this temporary setback will not get in the way of our ancestral habits. If anything, there will be more of an intense desire to be social and connect with others than ever, except that we'll have to figure out ways to do so while remaining safe.

>> Come back tomorrow for the second installment of this series!

The Final Frontier

Revelateur Studio May 24, 2020

Gene Rodenberry called it decades ago before space exploration was even a real thing. Space is now officially the true final frontier. Burt Rutan, arguably the most creative aerospace engineers of all time has been talking about it for a couple of decades.

Since man went to the moon, the exploration of the unknown doesn't excite humans as much as it once did and save for one or two industries, innovation and progress has pretty much come to a halt across the board. Buildings are pretty much the same they were 50 years or even 100 years ago, without any major breakthrough in how they're built and operate. Cars haven't fundamentally changed for 50 or 60 years. These have gone through minor incremental improvements over time, but the basic recipe remains the same. I can go on and on about many other industries.

Now that space exploration has been taken over by private entrepreneurs, there is hope that we could return to the kind of adventurous expeditions that inspire our youth to more than just looking forward to the next navel-gazing tiktok video (I just want to puke thinking about this).

If history is any indication, the stuff that's discovered from these imminent voyages should inspire more than just another butt-ugly, derivative parametric design.

Plus, it's fun to think about what martian architecture would look like.

Welcome to rvltr’s journal. Here, you will find thought-provoking articles on culture, communications, marketing and architecture + design as well as our podcast, Single Serves.

If you’d like to receive our posts straight into your inbox, please subscribe here.

If you’re a RSS Feed kind of person, you’ll find the link here.

Enjoy! And don’t forget to drop us a note or share our content if you find it valuable.