We asked VIA staff to share their favourite movies that inspire and influence their design thinking.
We hope that you and yours are as well as can be as we all continue to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. VIA Architecture’s three offices remain closed to visitors and our staff continues to work from home, utilizing remote tools and platforms to serve our clients and their project goals. Like many of you, we look forward to the day when we can safely begin to reopen and seek normality (in whatever form that might take!).
As we adjust to the state of things, our crew of talented designers are finding whatever opportunities exist to stretch their creative legs. It’s important to recognize the benefit of small bursts of imagination and social connection as we all socially distance.
From art breaks and playlists to haikus and a belated St. Patrick’s Day celebration, we are continuing to find new ways to both work together and have just a “little” bit of fun on the side. We’ve compiled a few of our internal efforts here to share. Take a look below!
Non-Dominant Hand Portraits
Weekly sketching sessions have been a welcome break and a great way to see our staff flex their rendering skills. One of the more challenging art breaks involved drawing and sharing portraits of our partners, pets or family using only our non-dominant hand! Some of the results were honestly really cool.
According to the artist, the drawing below is “supposed to be two of my three kids, but looks like an elderly couple.”
‘Work From Home’ Playlists
We asked for two songs from each person that they enjoy working to: one song of any genre, and one instrumental song. From there we then made a Spotify playlist for each selection. Check the links below to jam along with us (opens new window/launches Spotify app):
VIA Film Watch List
We polled staff for films that inspire or influence their design aesthetic. From Her to Throne of Blood, the results were delightfully varied. While most of the films are not strictly architecturally-focused, each film is cinematically interesting with plenty of design flair and panache.
The full list is below:
We will continue to find and share more fun, interactive ways to stay engaged with one another while working from home. In the meantime, we wish you the best. Let us know on social what creative exercises and topics of conversation are keeping you going these days!