“The Architecture of Becoming” is being shown at the annual @convergenceinitiative exhibition from April 30 to May 8 of 2026 at The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute) at McGill University.
Vernissage: Tomorrow, April 30, 5pm-7pm.
Address: The Neuro, Jeanne Timmins Foyer, 3801 Rue University, Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4.
“The Architecture of Becoming” is a structural card game that transforms the complexity of environmental impact on human development into a tangible, interactive experience that can be built.
Project accomplished by Sonya Adelman (@saynosonya ), Heather Chester (@heather.chiawen ), Kayleigh Casmey (@kayleighcasmey ), and Panos Michalakopoulos (@panosmic , @notdirtynapkins ).
With the financial help of @csumtl .
For @convergenceinitiative with the overview of @cristianzaelzerart .
In the game, players use resource cards and actions that simulate factors both within and beyond individual control, resulting in the gain or loss of structure cards used to build a physical form. Players metaphorically experience how societal systems, unequal access to resources and opportunities, adversity, and choice cumulatively shape brain development and life outcomes.
The project ultimately reveals that while agency exists, it is always negotiated within the limits of inherited and systemic conditions.
Materials: 1/18th plywood, blue PLA, muslin, tarp, vinyl, and 16pt matte cardstock.
Dimensions: 10x10x2 1/2 in for the box, 3x3in for the cards, and 64 pins at 5/32in.
We wanted to extend our gratitude to the Concordia Student Union for funding this project.
See Canadensis at the @dcart.exbt from April 15th to April 17th at 1 PM on the EV Pavilion 5th and 6th floor!
Canadensis (2026) explores the impact of beavers on Canadian ecosystems and cultural iconography over the centuries as the country’s national animal. 🦫🪵
Inspired by the impact of the coureur de bois and mid-century military dam-building projects, Canadensis uses such aesthetics to reinterpret associated narratives of colonialism and foreground collectivity.
This three-piece project comprises a bag emblematic of French-Canadian fur traders; an eco-dye swatchbook to trade knowledge rather than engage in extractive practices; and a military-inspired jacket that subverts the complex environmental impact with symbols of the original dam builder, whose impact co-creates rather than disrupts. By donning the uniforms of the more parasitic of these relationships, we can reimagine new futures in which the imagery is used for good rather than environmental destruction.
Canadensis is a satirical pastiche of colonial aesthetics and ecological resistance, assembling fragments of established extraction-era imagery in a contemporary context. It draws directly on images of surviving artefacts to create a new narrative, one that critically reexamines Canada’s history through design and materiality. The triad exists in a temporal other, operating as both a referential and a speculative piece that requires and rejects historical permanence.
Canadensis is made of cotton and wood, which, without preservation, is designed to be reabsorbed into its environextractivismend of its lifespan. Although its inspiration draws on extractive practices, its ethos is levelled toward less destructive ways of inhabiting the world. If discovered centuries from now, the triad would signify a moment of critical reflection on the history of the extractivism that built this country and how design and materiality can model more sustainable relationships with the environment.
🪡 Project by Matt Mancini (@rawmatterials ), Panos Michalakopoulos (@Panosmic@notdirtynapkins ), Zo Kopyna (studiobonjourhi), Laurel Tillier (@3_leaf_cloverr )
📸 Photography by @studiobonjourhi assist @panosmic
Smokescreen (2026) is a series of aviator hats created as a commentary on temporality and the culture of excess. This project critically examines how temporary social interventions blur the systemic causes of societal issues.
The Bejewelled aviator hats are embellished with sublimated jewel imagery, contrasting symbols of luxury with artificiality to highlight discrepancies between public perception and material realities. Bomb Blue was dyed with black bean dye and clean hydrated beans were noted to the mutual aid collective @ndgfoodnotbombs for their servings. Both colorways are intended to fade after years of use, playing on temporality.
This artefact operates as a wearable critique; by combining signs of luxury with industrial materials and obscured messaging, the aviator hat exposes how visible, temporary, and aestheticized interventions can function as political smokescreens for systemic overhaul. The ambiguity in imagery ensures the critique is not immediately legible, reflecting how systemic responsibility is often hidden beneath performative solutions.
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Project by Mariam Rabia (@mariammrabia ), Amélie Barbati (@ameliebarbati ), Zo Kopyna (@studiobonjourhi ), Panos Michalakopoulos (@panosmic )
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Photos modeled by Amélie Barbati and Mariam Rabia
Photography and creative direction by Zo Kopyna
Assist and videography by Panos Michalakopoulos
Created with help from @karolynmartindesigner and @atelierbmtl ❤️
See, I don’t know why it took me a month to upload but here’s the context of my favourite project of mine:
The oscillation in Montreal’s built environment reveals a city caught in a constant cycle of negotiation; its architecture reflects deeper tensions over who the city is for, what histories are preserved, and which are quietly erased.
Second Empire architecture, exemplified by the Shaughnessy House, stands as a curated memory of prestige and stability. At the same time, Charney’s allegorical columns at the CCA, highlight the selective fragmentation of the past, reminding us that heritage is never neutral.
Meanwhile, the rise of brutalist containers, corporate towers, and large-scale redevelopment projects gestures toward a contemporary urban identity shaped by individualism, inefficiency, and accelerated capital.
Industrial silos and abandoned factories linger as ghosts of labour histories that recognized Montreal’s working-class neighbourhoods, yet their decay is often romanticized or leveraged to serve gentrification.
Through this visual narrative, oscillation takes the form of social commentary; a way of exposing how the city shifts between accommodating communities and displacing them, or between celebrating architectural diversity and flattening it under redevelopment pressures.
To document these oscillations is to question who benefits from change, who is left behind, and how the city’s identity is continuously rewritten through visible and invisible structures.
Okay bye!
Fractal City // Fractalism are two posters I created this semester based on extensive research on fractal patterns and their recursive logic. A topic that has occupied much of my time in academia for the past year or so. In both posters, the geometrical attributes of fractals are political statements.
At their core, fractals represent recursion, interconnection, and infinity. Said principles challenge linearity and colonial systems of order and urban grid structures. The projects emerge from my fascination with fractals, neuroscience, and human perception in participatory design. By allowing immersion, both artifacts transform viewers into co-creators, reflecting the belief that design should not be an imposition but a shared, evolving process. While drawing inspiration from natural patterns, the emblematic posters embody fractals as a movement for ecological awareness, decolonial design, collective resilience, and human-centred approaches.
The intention was to create images that are bold, memorable, and symbolic of resistance, while also boldly underlining multiplicity and infinite interconnectedness. Two studies titled “Perceptual and Physiological Responses to Jackson Pollock’s fractals” by Richard P. Taylor et al. and “Aesthetic Responses to Exact Fractals Driven by Physical Complexity” by Bies et al., show that images with mid-range fractal patterns (D value: 1.3-1.5), such as trees, clouds, and skies, are subconsciously attractive to humans and lower stress levels while maintaining a stable visual scanning pattern.
It’s safe to assume that fractals help reduce stress. Fractal geometries offer an alternative spatial logic, enabling architects to create more intentional, calming environments in buildings and structures. We could stray away from “Western land” grid systems in cities and create a responsive environment that benefits all creatures.
Anyhow, I’ve rambled quite a bit
!!NOT MADE WITH AI // IG LABELS SUCK!!
introducing “Dock It” prototype, why mess your workspace up with random papers? dock them.
clay, galvanized steel wire, vinyl paint
w: 13,3cm, h: 10,7cm
created in january of 2024
new chapter incoming,
from idea to execution
my motivators when it comes to external work are clean lines, mixed media work, brand design, digital art and print material.
the process started with a liquified type on sketch, edited on Illustrator and 3d rendered in photoshop.
created in december of 2023.
🫧🩵🫧
