Architecture Exhibitions Winter 2012
January 28 - July 8, 2012
rzlbd, Shaft House, 2010, Toronto. Photography: borXu Design.
BOWTIE
(reconciliation passage)
rzlbd
> Images
> Profiles
This installation was inspired by two contrastive personal experiences: the tightness of olden urban fabrics in cities of Africa and Asia, where narrow alleys and driveways are only big enough for a person to pass by, and the vastness in icebergs of Nunavut, where no structure follows the human dimensions, and no eyes can perceive an end. These experiences exemplify the two extremes of how we experience space.
Great designers such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Le Corbusier have answered the question of humans’ dimensions within their respective works: the Vetruvian Man and Modular systems. But the question still remains whether a small space is too small or big enough? In the architecture handbook Ernst & Peter Neufert’s Architect’s Data it is indicated that a person of approximately 1750 mm tall needs a rectangle no more than 625 mm by 375 mm to stand on. Some architects reference these three sources as a basis for their understanding of space.
We are not concerned with answering the question of whether these dimensions are too small or big enough, but we are curious to create an abstract architectural experiment in which one can simply explore an architectural structure and find the place big enough for them.
The reconciliation passage is a corridor in which the three-dimensional space at the point of the corner entrances gradually decreases in size while eventually forming a box in the middle. The box has the dimensions of the minimum requirements of humans’ body according to Neufert.
While the space becomes tighter the light becomes stronger and eventually the smallest point in the promenade is the brightest point. The experiment resembles the tightness of olden cities’ fabrics and invites the visitors to become aware of their personal spatial tolerance and comfort limits and compare those findings to other people’s discoveries. Is it always the taller one who has less height tolerance? Where is big enough for you?
rzlbd is not just a “play with identity” or a “miniature version” of a name; it is a representative of a design philosophy. Founded by Reza Aliabadi in Toronto in 2006, atelier rzlbd is not an ordinary architecture practice; it is an everyday engagement with design, constantly exploring alternatives for conventional solutions and understandings of arrangements. Basing the foundations of this practice as a contribution and not a service, rzlbd emerges as an innovative mind, seeking opportunities for design everywhere. Although the main concern of the atelier is architectural, its work ranges from conceptual ideas to product design and the publication of rzlbd POST. Designing affordable and modern single-family houses is one of the main focuses.
After its early explorations and careful attention to details and materials, rzlbd continues by reevaluating familiarities, introducing metaphors and sharing ideas, while respecting simplicity of design. rzlbd manipulates spatial experiences by means of natural lighting and avant-garde perspectives. While the attention to tectonics is still an important factor, the aesthetic concerns have recently been more focused on the negative spaces and voids, introducing exciting spatial experiments.
rzlbd makes changes rather than additions. Whether through “a house with all the right angles” or an idea worth sharing, the atelier’s focus is alternating everyday settings; re-designing experiences, objects, styles, and thoughts that are so familiar to us that we dare to design them.
This installation was conceived and designed by Reza Aliabadi.
Project team: Reza Aliabadi, Lailee Soleimani, Borzu Talaie
rzlbd.com
< Back
