Spiderman and subway maps

Gary Hustwit, celebrated filmmaker and director of the "Design Trilogy" (no, not that one), the movie Rams and producer of many other documentaries has just released a short called The Map, documenting the journey of the MTA in their efforts to create a map of NYC's subway that updates in real time, no small feat for a 100+ years-old transit system that still operates on many analog systems.

Not only the map, just released a few days ago, is a beautiful piece of design, but it also varies the amount of information it displays depending on how zoomed-in you are, as elegantly demonstrated in the short film.

It also puts an end to the raging debate between Vignelli's and Tauranac's supporters as to whether the subway map should be a geometric, abstract and simplified version of the system, aimed at making complex information easier to digest or a geographically-correct version of the system, more complex, but perhaps a little more intuitive to relate to from a wayfinding-in-the-real-world point of view.

What's fascinating in this case is that technology is able to reconcile both ideologies by using the best of each to make a map that easily and intuitively adapts to the scale and location, cleverly revealing all the information that's needed at a given scale, but no more.

As much as I may routinely bitch that big data is evil in many ways, this is a case where more data helps the system and its users to function better, especially since there is no need to collect any personal or identifiable data to make it work.

Like any tool, new technology and data aren't inherently evil, but it's just the use we make of it that makes it so. There are many examples of new technologies and companies out there that understand this and manage data like the superpower that it is, but still too few in my opinion.

With great power comes great responsibility.

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QUIZ: Which photo do you prefer?

I've been hugely inspired by the movie industry's approach to colour grading in film, where colour artists create ambiances, atmospheres and emotions through the use of colour. These support the filmmaker's vision and help him convey the desired emotions of a scene.

Architectural photography tends to be a little uniform and ultra-codified. I've been blessed to have clients who've enjoyed these results and let me run with it.

The question I have for you is: which one would you choose? The crazy one or the boring one?

Let me know in the comments.

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The value of not taking yourself too seriously and still do serious work for serious people

Jeff Echols is one of the most knowledgeable marketing experts for the architecture industry. His content is always on point and geared towards the most common mistakes that architects make in their marketing (check out his build a brand podcast, a beautiful series executed to perfection and completely riveting).

In this video, he interviews himself and delivers some great insights at the same time. I'm still scratching my head as to how he recorded and edited it, because I can't figure it out for the life of me.

It's 12 minutes well spent.

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How to bring deals back from the dead

You've written a proposal and sent it to your clients. You know that included in it, was a secret weapon that put you ahead of your fiercest competitors. You have extensive experience in the area of expertise that this project requires and even though you're not the cheapest bid, your fees are reasonable because you run a tight ship and represent extreme value for your client.

On paper, you should win this bid hands down. Your client even told you so. It's been 6 weeks since you submitted and you're getting nervous because the client said they would have to make a decision within a month. Despite your repeated (but not insistent) follow-ups, all you hear is crickets, so you start to have nightmares about this bid and the fact that it seems to have slipped through your fingers.

You are hesitant to keep following-up for fear of crossing the threshold from persistent to annoying and you secretly curse your client for vanishing.

We've all been in those situations and they suck. The good news is that there are ways to know for sure. Here's one such way courtesy of the always on-point Blair Enns. From September to the end of the year is when the most deals are closed, as people are looking to spend their remaining budget before year-end.

Try it, you'll be surprised. Some of you may even have gotten one such email from me, in a twist of irony.

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[CASE STUDY] Magnolia house by Dewson Architects

When Bill Dewson came to us to photograph this classy reno of a beautiful victorian home in Rosedale, looking to get high-quality pictures of it, we immediately saw the potential as a major portfolio piece for his firm and suggested he consider getting it published in the press, owing to the storied past of this house.

Proud of his work and excited at the prospect of increasing his profile, incidentally something he was looking to improve upon and develop his practice up to the point where he would be able to pick and choose the clients he would work with, we embarked on this journey together.

Upon doing more research about the project, our collaboration led to him developing the idea of "cultural sustainability": the preservation of our cultural heritage by investing in renewing centenarian buildings, in the hopes that they last another hundred years. It turns out, in a neighbourhood like Rosedale, where nosy neighbours want to preserve the character of their 'hood, that was a great fit for his design. His complete gut and renovation of this 1905 house by prominent architect Hamilton Townsend, preceded by two similar projects, also by Hamilton Townsend allowed Dewson to hone his preservationist chops over a period of years.

©2017 RVLTR, original plans of the house by H. Townsend.

We often hear that the most sustainable building is the one you don't build and in this case, if the renovated house lasts another 100 years, it would have lasted 4 times what the average building is nowadays built for. In other words, cultural sustainability is in many ways also environmental sustainability as it's designed to last.

To date, this was one of our most successful media campaigns, as it ended up being published by several publications, the most notable of which was a lengthy article on historic preservation in the Globe and Mail. Finding the key idea was instrumental in this project's success, as we struggled for quite some time to find the right tone, but we both knew that we nailed once that idea surfaced from our client's subconscious and we were able to run with it.

©2017 RVLTR, Model: Bill the chocolate fiend

A good project, even with the best photographs is no longer sufficient to get published, at least in the reputable outlets. A good story is critical in capturing the press' attention and these are much harder to come up with than beautiful pictures.

• List of publications:

  • Globe and Mail

  • Nonagon Style

  • Archello

  • e-architect

• Year: 2017

• Location: Rosedale, Toronto.

• Scope of work: Photography + Media relations

• Collaborators: Alex Lysakowski, Natalie Kim

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Aural intuition vindicated

One of the things that frustrate me the most in this world is bars and restaurants built without an ounce of consideration for how noise levels affect the patrons' experience. For someone who's slightly hard of hearing (or at least likes to pretend so), past a certain threshold, ambient noise becomes nearly indistinguishable from the conversations I'm trying to have. An hour in such an environment is exhausting and often induces headaches.

I've been scratching my head for years as to why even some of the most reputable design and architecture firms can so blatantly ignore something that has such a big impact on the quality of the hospitality experience. Given how many places have horrible acoustics, it wouldn't be unreasonable to imagine that acoustics experts would turn this opportunity into a successful business. There is certainly a need for it, but I digress.

Until now, I never had a compelling argument as to why that would be a problem other than my own intuition and countless hours spent suffering. Science has vindicated me with this paper correlating bad experiences with adverse noise levels. The worse the acoustic experience, the fewer people enjoy their food.

Hospitality designers, take heed.

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The hard truth about your brand...

... is that no one cares about it as much as you do. It may be hard to hear, but it's true. Humility and empathy are key to build a brand that people will want to engage with.

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Elections Schmelections

I don't even live in the US, but there isn't a day when I don't hear this or that about the ongoing campaign, all of that in spite of my active efforts to avoid all news. As a way to make this whole farce a little more bearable and put things into perspective, check out this brilliant little piece of satire, courtesy of reason.

Everybody needs a good laugh now and again.

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[PODCAST] Truth is Golden Ep. 307 - Start with Why w/ Stephen Shedletzky

When I started this podcast almost 3.5 years ago, I had no idea what I was doing, nor how I would accomplish it. All I knew was that I had a burning desire to talk to creatives about their lives, work and accomplishments.

Today, this is one of the things I'm the proudest of and despite all its imperfections, it's been amazing to be able to get into the heads of so many really smart and deeply engaging guests.

Sadly this is coming to an end, as I feel that I've exhausted the potential of this format and it's time to kill it before it becomes stale.

Fear not, there are still two interviews with incredibly interesting guests to be released after this one, but I have stopped recording new ones and will instead focus on the other RVLTR podcast: Single Serves, which is not showing any signs of slowing down.

In this episode, I had the pleasure to talk to Stephen Shedletzky, Lead Igniter at Simon Sinek's Start With Why and one of the nicest, most genuine human beings I have ever met. We talked about the importance of purpose, culture and of course, rock'n'roll.

Check it out 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.

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The Archispeak Algorithm

This architecture thesis name generator is both highly addictive and wildly entertaining. It brought me back 10 years, when I was working on my own masters’ thesis, which believe or not, was called:

"Birdland: A migratory bird sanctuary and residential development in downtown Chicago."

Long story. I've had my share of unnecessarily complicated projects and essay names in my day, like this one. Cringeworthy.

You've been warned, you may find yourself clicking over and over again on that button.

Check out our recent piece on how to write a good project description.

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No post today

It’s a holiday, so I should know better than pester you with some of my usual nonsense.

I like to think that we should be grateful for what have on a daily basis, but it’s also good to have holidays like the (Canadian) Thanksgiving to remind us that despite all the shit that seems to be wrong in the world, we are living in a time where things are better than they’ve ever been on the whole.

I’ll spare you the comprehensive list of things I’m grateful for, but I sure am grateful that you continue to read and engage with the stuff I put out.

Happy Thanksgiving to y’all.

The dirty secret of online advertising

Bob Hoffman has been writing about the rampant fraud in online advertising for a long time now. He and I even talked about it in an upcoming podcast. In this video from LinkedIn, all that information has been neatly packaged in a way that explains the issues clearly and succinctly.

If you look past the self-serving end of the video, it's one of the most intelligible take on the so-called "sub-prime data crisis" as cleverly named in the video.

My favourite quote of the lot? "Marketers would literally be better off flipping a coin" when referring to the accuracy of online advertising when targeting by gender. Telling.

If you do any online advertising or are thinking about it, this is a must-watch.

"To build a house takes months, years to do. To burn it down takes an hour."

This is the metaphor that Ronald Bailey used to describe how the news industry operates in the video above. The media realized long ago that disasters sell, whereas good news doesn't, with the results that we know.

Kudos to Reason for putting out content with a positive outlook on the state of the world. In heavy times like these, a contrarian perspective that details a lot of the positive progress that happened in recent times, highlighting the fact that the world in its current state is the best it's ever been, in spite of all the doom and gloom that fear peddlers want us to gobble up.

Oh, and if you want to stay sane, avoid the news. It's liberating.

Stackt, one year later

Last year, Stackt opened with great fanfare and was an instant hit as THE local outdoor spot to hang out in downtown Toronto. It was a perfect storm of a public outdoor space that filled a big void in a city critically devoid of such spaces, where culture, entertainment and commerce would co-exist.

A year later, despite a global pandemic having changed everything, it is still a booming spot that has lost none of its original qualities, owing in large part to the fact that it's predominantly outdoors. In my opinion, what makes it particularly resilient is that it's adaptable, diverse in its uses and programming and therefore attracts many kinds of people for many reasons. In short, it has most, if not all of the attributes that make a vibrant place, in spite of the fact that it started out in a less than ideal location that in no way guaranteed its success.

It was a big gamble, but with big risks, come big rewards.

How to write a project description

Writing as a way to describe complex ideas to an audience of neophytes is really hard. Think about it, you have decades of experience and the associated knowledge, which makes understanding your own work a breeze, not to mention that when you spend years on developing a project, the mental map is clear and answers to puzzles come to you easily.

Now put yourself in your clients' shoes for a minute. They're not architects so they don't understand the big words you've been using and you have to explain to them in the course of a relatively short time, how you've come up with your all your crazy ideas, without them having the benefit of your experience-based knowledge, a tall order if there is one.

I can relate as I personally often find myself talking in circles to explain complex ideas to people who don't have the same knowledge as I do, and I know how painful it is for someone else to suffer through a lengthy, byzantine explanation, which inevitably ends-up being summarized in an elevator pitch of sorts that suddenly makes that complex idea clear for both parties. If only that clear elevator pitch came to mind first.

There is a solution, however, which consists of putting yourself in your clients' shoes. If you ask yourself "How would I be able to grasp this idea if I didn't know the first thing about architecture?", you'll be able to start thinking like your clients do and lay down a path to understanding for them, by structuring your description like a journey, with a corresponding series of steps they'll have to go through in order to slowly but surely develop their understanding of your cray-cray ideas.

How do I actually do this you ask? Well, first of all, don't use the big words that you love to toss around. The only thing they accomplish is to piss off your reader. No jargon, no archispeak of any kind allowed. In short, use language that an 8-year-old could grasp.

If you're feeling adventurous, throw in a little creativity in there. Recycle narrative structures found in fiction, like the ubiquitous stock phrase "Once upon a time" found in all the great tales. The more fun and quirky, the more your reader are likely to pause and think "What the fuck went through this guy's head?", but that's a great thing because it will make you stand out and they're way more likely to remember you next time you talk to them.

Or you can stick with the usual drivel (not my words - I 'Borrowed' them from Eisenman Architects) and watch your clients run away from you like their hair is on fire:

"The housing project for Piazza Erba in Milano, demonstrates a new typology. Not only for our work but for new construction in general. It proposes the intersection of two genealogies – abstraction and phenomena – that, it will be argued, have always constituted the underlying structure of a critical dialogue. Abstraction here refers to any aspect of architecture which is embedded in a syntactic structure, while phenomena is grounded in the material presence of the architectural object. While these two genealogies represent disparate modes of thought that have shaped architectural discourse for the past half-century, they intersect in our work for the first time in the Piazza Erba project, as the materials serve as both syntactical indications of a three-part Milanese typology, and as phenomena."

This wins the awards of "how to say the least in the maximum amount of words while peppering in incorrect grammar".

I would hedge my bets and go with the former. What about you?

PS - Here's another one for the road, courtesy of Paul Kulig - I couldn't resist:

"These distortions elicit decipherment in terms of several virtual constructs that allow the house the analogize discourse and call for further elucidation. These constructs are continually motivated and frustrated by conflicts in their underlying schemata and the concrete form in which they are inscribed. They refer to the ideal of real objects, organizations, processes and histories which the house approximately analogizes or opposes."

My fingers hurt from just typing it. You can find more of the same kind here.

Last call for the Architects Success Forum

The Architects Success Forum, an online conference on architecture firms marketing, branding and communications has come and gone and it was a wild success, with over 450 registrations.

If you missed it, you can still purchase a VIP pass to have access to all the recordings of the talks, for now priced at $197 but don’t wait as it will imminently increase to $397 in the next few days.

The panel on social media that I had the pleasure to moderate and we had a solid audience that was really engaged and asked a lot of questions.

If you need CEUs, all sessions are still qualifying for credit, all you have to do is fill out a brief questionnaire to get your certificate.

How to do SEO to serve your local area

My friend Tracy O'Shaugnessy had created this amazing guide on why and how to optimize your online presence for your local market, so that when prospect type "amazing architect in [my city]" your name comes up first.

It's actionable, easy to implement and you are bound to see results in the long term (SEO is a long game).

A must-read for anyone who wants more and better clients.

Open sesame

It's been demonstrated that one can now physically replicate a key just by listening to the noise it makes when one inserts it into the lock's barrel.

All it takes is a moderate quality recording of the action and voila! You can 3D-print an accurate-enough replica of the key without ever putting your hands on it. While has nothing to do with smart home technologies, it is realistic to imagine that all the "smart" devices that are increasingly populating our homes could do the recording on behalf of an ill-intentioned person. Your fridge, alexa speaker and smartphone become spying devices.

If researchers come out publicly with information like this, who's to know what creative thing some hacker on the other side of the world has come up with for the date stolen directly from your internet-connected devices?

I recently was asked by a smart home installer to help him reach out to architects and designers, but when I saw how blind his faith in technology was, I had to decline and tell him that I wasn't as faithful in home automation and technology as he was.

I don't think convenience at any cost is worth the risk.

What about you? What do you think of so-called smart homes?

The isolation files #5 - The end of everything

Since we've all started isolating, I've had the privilege to talk to dozens of people about their situation and how they're responding to COVID. While I cannot possibly list everything I've learned here, I wanted to try and summarize some interesting thoughts in a series of posts, of which this one will be the last.

5 - The End of Everything

One thing that we've sure seen a lot of since the pandemic started is wanna-be oracles claiming the end of just about everything we care about. One thing that's been repeated over and over by doom and gloom pseudo-prophets is the end of dense urban living. The latest of which is crackpot-in-chief James Altucher claiming that "New York is Dead Forever" and the ensuing response from Seinfeld claiming that NYC will bounce back.

Without going into the argument between the two and argue about who might be right, as it really does not matter, I see it more of an indication that in times like these, humans have a tendency to want to exaggerate things when extraordinary, unpredictable events occur. While Altucher is a master troll and his headline proved once again that sensationalist clickbait works at gaining attention if nothing else, no definitive statement can be made about the future, precisely because it is so uncertain.

While things have changed dramatically in the last 6 months, most of the changes we've experienced are just the acceleration of already-existing trends, as if life was put on fast forward for a while.

People predicted that nobody would ever fly again post 9/11, the same way people claimed that things will never be the same every time there is a recession. Granted, this is not to take away from the gravity of the pandemic and the impact it's had on people, but our life before the pandemic will eventually become a distant memory as we grieve the loss of it and move on to rebuild new routines.

The truth is that it's not "the end of everything as we know it" but instead, just faster changes than we're accustomed to. It will be good is some cases and bad in others but on the whole, I think we will come out of this just fine, like every other crisis before and so as long as we are not threatened with extinction, which doesn't seem to be the case this time. Fingers crossed.

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A rare animal was sighted

I recently had the pleasure to be interviewed by the talented Sara Kolata about marketing, storytelling, evolutionary psychology and conscious capitalism. It summarizes quite well my thoughts on architecture marketing and was also a lot of fun to be in the hot seat for once.

I make RVLTR shirts like the one I was wearing and they're available for sale. Hit me up here if you want to class your crew necks up.

Check out Sara's digital marketing courses for architects as well as her youtube channel.

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If you like what you read, 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.