Déjà View, exhibition project by Zelig Fok, the 2021–22 Howard E. LeFevre '29 Emerging Practitioner Fellow​. The exhibition was held in Knowlton’s Banvard Gallery. Image courtesy of Zelig Fok.

Archinect's Fellow Fellows series connects with individuals who are currently in, or have recently finished, an architecture fellowship; discussing their architectural journey, areas of research, and their overall experience as academic fellows.

For our latest interview, we connected with Zelig Fok, the 2021–2022 Howard E. LeFevre '29 Emerging Practitioner Fellow at The Knowlton School of Architecture at Ohio State. We discuss his fellowship experience, his passion for photography, the studios he teaches, and work from his fellowship exhibition, titled Déjà View.

What fellowship are you in, and what motivated you to apply?

I was the 2021–2022 LeFevre Emerging Practitioner Fellow at The Ohio State University’s Knowlton School of Architecture. The LeFevre fellowship has been a premier academic position for two decades, always covering a diverse range of topical issues within our discipline and broader cultural contexts. It is a privilege to be a part of this extensive list of talented designers.

The fellowship has been a great foundation to explore ideas with students and faculty, especially after our extensive immersion in Zoom-scape. Returning to exploration through making was exciting, and Knowlton’s excellent facilities and community of supportive faculty have been instrumental to my successful fellowship. It is a great place to forward research while teaching within a renowned architecture program. 

Can you share with us your academic journey and interests?

I have always been fascinated by the production of images within the world of architecture, which I attribute to my interest in photography at an early age. It was inevitable that my photographic and architectural interests would become intertwined, as both disciplines are in the business of image-making.

Before the fellowship (and the pandemic), I was working in New York as a production designer and an architectural photographer. The projects I was working on (ranging from fashion week shows, pop-up shops, and exhibitions) exemplified contemporary visual culture — we were designing hyper-curated experiences that often catered to the gaze of social media alongside the physical experience of constructed spaces. On the photo side of things, it was eye-opening to discuss with clients what to ‘fix in post.’ Not only did post-processing remove qualities from our physical reality, but it also created phenomena that could only exist digitally.

My academic interests stem from the core idea that photographic imagery can manipulate the perception of space and curate visual information in both virtual and physical environments.

The events of 2020 gave me the opportunity to explore my interests in contemporary image culture at Kent State University’s CAED as design faculty. Teaching optional design studios and seminars surrounding architectural photography opened up new avenues of research.

My academic interests stem from the core idea that photographic imagery can manipulate the perception of space and curate visual information in both virtual and physical environments. The rapid democratization of image-making tools and the unprecedented proliferation of digital images in the last decade erodes the perceived ideal photographic reference of physical reality. The perpetual addition of new content within the digital landscape transforms ideas of authorship, value, and consumption, suggesting the photographic image is as important as the built object, profoundly altering our perception of the built environment. 

What’s the focus of your fellowship research? What will, or did, you produce, teach, or exhibit?

My research is entangled in architectural photography as its own agent, with specific histories and tactics developed as a negotiator for two image-based disciplines. Despite significant differences between the practice of architecture and the practice of photography, both disciplines are subject to similar scrutiny when examining their conventions surrounding representation, production, and documentation. With representational ambiguity and image-based mediation intensified by digital platforms, physical environments are constantly mediated by unstable, ever-changing photographic existences. I’m highly interested in these environments created by cameras that don’t actually exist.

The fellowship culminated with an exhibition in Knowlton’s Banvard Gallery. The exhibit, Déjà View, physically reconstructs Pierre Koenig’s Stahl House from its photographic documentation, problematizing the relationship between architecture and photography and destabilizing the idealized reference of architectural photographic documents. Using the tectonics of Julius Shulman's iconic photographs, the highly imaged living room is reconstructed twice in the Banvard Gallery. 

My research is entangled in architectural photography as its own agent, with specific histories and tactics developed as a negotiator for two image-based disciplines.

The exhibition corrupts Koenig’s design both photographically and spatially, re-positioning the Stahl House between its sensationalized image and built configuration. Preconceived representations of space are challenged with different modes of image-based production and oscillate between flattened and physical realities. Assumed boundaries between photographic images, the physical environment, and orthography are corrupted and overlapped.

As for teaching, I taught two studios over the academic year, one being my vertical option studio, Source Materials, which is centered around this research. The studio was an invaluable test bed for these ideas, for which I am extremely grateful to the students and faculty who contributed to the discourse.

The exhibit, Déjà View, physically reconstructs Pierre Koenig’s Stahl House from its photographic documentation, problematizing the relationship between architecture and photography and destabilizing the idealized reference of architectural photographic documents.

How has this fellowship helped or become a platform for your academic/professional career?

Fellowships are typically fast-paced as they only span one academic year. While I am still reflecting on new ideas and lessons learned from the fellowship, Knowlton has graciously welcomed me for another year. I’ve been able to continue this momentum and am currently conducting the second iteration of the Source Materials studio. This semester’s continued research is producing some new and very exciting ideas.

It has been fascinating to witness how this generation of architecture students perceives the built environment, as they have spent the majority of their education online. Last spring was their first semester of completely in-person learning! With acclamation to Miro boards and increased access to student projects online, students are both exposed to a more diverse body of work but also ironically become stuck in visual feedback loops — the same content from well-known architectural pages is constantly reposted and recycled through algorithmic means. It’s as if I have a cultural shift playing out right in front of me, hinting at how forthcoming generations of architects and designers might take in their (virtual and physical) surroundings, informing both my research and pedagogy. 

What’s something you wish you knew before diving into this fellowship?

The extent of supply chain issues for materials! My graduate assistants and student team worked tirelessly to work out alternate materials and construction techniques. Without them, the exhibition would’ve been impossible. (Thanks to Allison Summers, Ryan Carlton, Jyae McWilson, Noel Michel, Kendra Mosley, Noah Nicolette, Alonzo Waugh, and our gracious sponsors Crate & Barrel, FedEx, Hopkins Printing, OSU Library’s Archives.) 

When teaching studio, what’s a question you wish more students asked you?

It’s exciting for me when students inquire how their work is positioned within the broader context of contemporary architectural discourse. It’s a signal that they want to be active within the discipline. 

What’s your favorite memory during your fellowship experience?

While assembling the exhibition, it was quite funny to see our team appropriating the gallery in a domestic manner, often within the orthographic boundaries of the (simulated) living rooms. We began having group dinners at the dining table, splayed out on the Barcelona daybed during breaks, and used the embedded couch/simulated pendant lamps as a reading area — we became photographic props of the exhibition ourselves! As a result, we encouraged visitors to interact with the props and furniture while the exhibition was up. I also find it entertaining that an exhibit highlighting issues of photo documentation now only exists... as photographs. 

What are your future plans/next steps once you complete your fellowship?

One of the next steps we are exploring in studio is how architectural tectonics can be derivative of photographic tectonics — how staying literal and stubborn to the visuality of photographic images begins to challenge conventional modes of assembly and material tectonics. I continue to be invested in creating projects using cameras that don’t exist. More specifically, alternate modes of visuality which act as intermediaries between different realities and anthropocentric vision. 

Archinect's "Take Five" with Zelig Fok

It's too often in interviews that speaking about architecture and academia can result in serious, protracted "archi-speak." To add a change of pace, we're introducing Archinect's fun, rapid-fire "Take Five" questions. Let's go!

What’s the most-played song on your work playlist? OR What music do you listen to when working?

Really bad and repetitive late 90s/early 2000s Eurodance songs. It’s an alternative to coffee.

What’s your go-to “work outfit?”

#000000, #28282B, #343434, with occasional funky shoes. 

Coffee or tea? Or Other? 

A blasphemous post-noon cappuccino, Pocari Sweat. Also, see above. 

What’s an overrated architecture term?

“Sense of space”

If you didn’t pursue architecture, what career/industry would you be working in? 

Photographer, obviously, but I've thought about industrial and automotive design for a long time! 

*Are you a current fellow? We'd love to hear from you. Reach out for a chance to participate in Archinect's Fellow Fellows series.