100 Un(a)like Identities [3D] for RZLBD

100 Series* / Un(a)like Identities [3D]

"The real voyage to discovery consists not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes."
_ Marcel Proust

Peter Eisenman relates architecture to linguistics, citing Noam Chomsky’s Cartesian Linguistics [1966] in his essay: “…the ‘deep structure’ of language allowed speakers to generate an infinite number of new sentences out of a finite vocabulary by means of a set of rules [Noam Chomsky] called ‘transformational-generative’ grammar.” Grammar, or syntax, is a set of rules, principles, and processes that govern the structure of phrases and sentences. Unlike vocabulary, or semantics, which is defined permanently, it can generate itself and evolve self-referentially, allowing even a primitive group of words to turn into an ever-expanding list of elaborate messages. In architecture, it is also still relevant to explore its generative syntax, on which the existing architectural semantics would present infinite design possibilities. Rather than inventing individual iterations, an abstract formal system can be established, re-explored, and discovered, with which to serialize and exhaust variations according to the contingencies of each project.

In this exercise, the five blocks of the atelier’s logo — r, z, l, b, and d — are assembled in one hundred different ways. Each variation is a spatial and perceptual peculiarity that evokes purely mental constructs, and the individual application of the system is still dependent on the operator’s own subjectivities. But perceived altogether in a ten-by-ten interchangeable matrix, they permeate each other and represent a system, an order, a genealogy, which implies infinite variations beyond one hundred.


The philosophy behind this serial work insists on a universe which is at odds with the current architectural codes, doctrine, and norms. Yet, contrary to many misconceptions, this design process is profoundly creative and articulates distinct iterations with coherence. By organizing a body of works around the method that originates them, designing does not end with a single project but continues through all projects to testify to one big idea. While each project is specific to its context and requirements, this generative design method allows architecture to surpass its intended service and embody a socio-cultural and intellectual purpose. _RZLBD

Excerpted from rzlbdPOST Vol 10, No 01, 2018

*
100 is an ongoing theme/project at Atelier RZLBD that explores serial works, taxonomy, typology, and iteration as a means to explore possibilities, to search for the best solution, if there is any; while remaining faithful to a set of rules, core beliefs, or a modus operandi if you will. Of course, this has been an old tradition among many artists and architects to investigate the creative potential within a framework of defined rules to articulate a body of work with coherence.

Special Thanks to: Arman Azar, Kiera Hughston, James Chungwon Park

© Atelier RZLBD / Reza Aliabadi / 2018 Toronto, Canada

#RZLBD #typography #logotype #identity #branding #logo