In this issue we present 6 examples of rzlbd’s in-fill projects designed and built over the last five years. Each example is a representation of a single pixel from our whole project to bring design and architectural recognition to the public domain. The projects were photographed by Arnaud Marthourt over the course of one overcast day in early 2015. The intention was to document these projects with no retouching / post production, other than minor contrast adjustment. 

The result is a set of images that focuses on the architecture in relation to its surrounding. Hopefully viewers will perceive that honesty and look past the aesthetics of the images to grasp the intelligence and intent behind these houses.

AN ARCHITECTURE OF TURBULENCE

A single family house may often have been considered as a very small pixel within any urban context, but the fact is, on average more than fifty percent of the urban fabric is being shaped by these tiny small pixels. It is well said by Tadao Ando: “The house is the building type that can change society.” Thus, this is how a client, a developer, a builder, an architect, or a designer could or should be responsible and willingly participate in a collective effort to shape a better urban context.

In the North American context of housing, the repetition of an economic formula has become the norm for many reasons: the most important of which is that the public is really not given an opportunity to explore and experience. Architecturally, the multicultural domain of the Greater Toronto Area is not as diverse as it deserves to be and its residential areas are characterized by a homogenous flatness. The vision of our population toward architecture is drawn to either mass production of subdivision built houses by developers, cosmetic variations of a copy-paste cookie-cutter blueprints, or monstrous residences with no root belief of a unique lifestyle. 

Not only the general public, but also the architects who comply with this monotony, are accountable for this. There is an ethical responsibility; however, many architects have become service providers rather than contributors to a public discourse. Market oriented developers who make decisions solely centred around the financial gain, have put architects in an invidious position. When it comes to single family houses, their contributions are almost invisible. Rarely do houses contribute much to the urban fabric, nor do they raise much curiosity in their viewers’ mind about the state of housing, dwelling, urbanism, accommodation or culture. Regardless of personal taste, every project should be capable of pulling a trigger in the mind that deserves a response. 

We bear responsibility for not only designing but also raising the public awareness for the design. We feel obligated to such a mission. Architecture is a social art form and even a private residence is capable of communicating ideas, values, and the like with the public. Obtaining the audience interest is the first step. If a building is made invisible through its predictability, the public will not be moved to interact or communicate. If they can’t communicate, they are absent, and if they are absent they will not be able to discuss anything, including architecture, cities or ethics.

Every project should be obliged to verify its contribution to design rather than to solely provide service. Design belongs to everyone. Of course, every commissioned project needs to be cost effective and affordable, and it must respect the client’s program in a manner that satisfies both his/her personal needs, and the context of the project. Indeed, most importantly, the design of the project must raise awareness. 

In this issue we present 6 examples of in-fill projects designed and built over the last five years. Each example is a representation of a single pixel from our whole project to bring design and architectural recognition to the public domain. Investing time, money, energy, labour and resources on a project must have an extraordinary and atypical outcome. 

These projects aim to act as a positive virus, a trigger, a turbulence that revisits the status quo of the very dominant residential typology dictated by builders, developers, market oriented designers and the like. These projects come to be from simple programs and have been realized within a conventional time frame and construction budget, however the result was anything but conventional. _rzlbd

Extracted from the essay originally published in On Site Review magazine:

Aliabadi, Reza. “An Architecture of Turbulence”, On Site Vol.30, fall (2013): 82-83.

THE SUPERFICIAL VS. THOUGHTFUL

How documentary-style photography can reveal the truth about design

When Reza and I initially met, he challenged me to take pictures of his houses in a way that defies most conventions of traditional architectural photography, which always aims at making buildings look better than they actually are. Lighting, seasons, greenery and building surroundings all have to be near-perfect and photographers will go out of their way to work around site constraints so the subject is always showing its best profile. 

Reza's desire to document his projects with no retouching other than minor contrast and exposure adjustments is both refreshing and challenging as this is not something that I had ever undertaken before. The projects were photographed over the course of one overcast day in early 2015. The result is a set of images that focuses on the architecture in relation to its surrounding as I did away with all the traditional embellishments required of any canonical architectural photograph.

In these images, the volumes, compositions, colours, or lack thereof and the way the buildings relate to each other are conveyed in a more powerful fashion. Here, the subject isn't portrayed as a stand-alone piece of art but rather as an object integrated with the urban fabric and interacting with it. As I was photographing these projects, I had the opportunity to chat with several passersby. This completely changed my experience as I was now seeing the houses through the eyes of the neighbours, who happened to have very strong opinions on the way these buildings impacted their neighbourhoods.

With these images, I intend to spark a similar reaction with the viewer as it is not about having the most aesthetically pleasing images, but rather pictures that depict these projects in the most direct and honest way, just like the neighbours did not hold back when they voiced their opinions of the projects. It can indeed be quite ugly at time, but the honesty these images convey is like a slap in the face, it wakes you up and forces you to look at the subject matter from a different perspective.

Hopefully viewers will perceive that honesty and look past the aesthetics of the images to grasp the intelligence and intent behind these houses. _Arnaud Marthourt