Style Q&A: U of C Professor and Environmental Designer Josh Taron

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For 32-year-old University of Calgary professor Josh Taron, relocating from California to our not-so-balmy landscape in the fall of 2008 raised the ultimate conundrum: “Why?” Sun and surf aside, the answer for Taron is simple — Calgary is a city on the brink. “I don’t think the city quite understands itself yet,” he says. “It’s bigger than it’s used to being, but smaller than it’s going to be in the conceivable future, which I think is interesting for design.”

To that end, Taron has been moulding the minds of future would-be architects at the University of Calgary as assistant professor of architecture at the Faculty of Environmental Design, and as co-director of the Laboratory for Integrative Design. He spearheaded Design Matters, a first-of-its-kind lecture series that started last September and is continuing next year with a who’s who of guest speakers ranging from architects and sociologists to environmental scientists.

Taron has also launched his own design studio, Synthetiques, focusing on projects that, above all else, stimulate and excite. “This city has a chance to experiment with multiple identities, and for anyonewho lives to create, it’s a motivating prospect,” he says.

What does Synthetiques do?

The best way to describe it is Synthetiques is a design firm that’s interested in the opportunities that are afforded by mixing virtual and physical economies.

OK. And for the layperson?

It’s kind of abstract and obtuse, right? The latest project I’m working on basically consists of an architectural installation where we work with computer science models of biological processes, in this case hemostatis, which is just blood clotting. So there is a more intricate computer model of that, but it’s a relatively simple thing — it’s just particles, your blood cells, but when you get a cut, a very special thing happens and they become sticky and clot together. The idea is to take that principle, and re-simulate it and then produce an architectural condition by using advanced computational tools and new forms of fabrication. We’re kind of able to use that to make whatever we want. And it’s fun and cool. At the end of the day, I like stuff that looks cool and is fun to make.

Was getting into something like this always the plan?

I always knew I wanted to be an architect. Grad school is where I found this niche. Architecture over the last 10 to 15 years made a big move toward computational techniques, animation software; all sorts of cool stuff.

Architecturally speaking, do you think there are interesting things happening in the city right now?

I think the city wants to go in that direction. And I’m not saying it to bag on the city, but I think it’s doing it in kind of comical ways. Getting a [Santiago] Calatrava bridge or getting a [Norman] Foster tower doesn’t make the city more or less architectural. But the reassuring thing is it expresses a desire for that. I think it’s important to ask the people of the city what kind of architecture they want for themselves, as opposed to saying we’re an architectural city because we have this big-name architect, when really, at the end of the day, I don’t think anyone cares. I think it’s much more interesting to look at the young designers in the city, look at the people who are experimenting and foster that kind of culture and environment.

Being someone who is constantly creating something new, do you think we should preserve old buildings?

If you have a young city that doesn’t have a lot of history behind it, and you have a parking lot next to an old historical building, why tear it down when you can build next to it? Why not preserve a little bit? I’m not a preservationist, I don’t do anything that’s conventional by any means, but I really like diversity in my environments. I like the idea of holding on to classic buildings.

What’s been a career high so far?

Synthetiques was part of a group shortlisted this past August as one of four teams for an infrastructural freeway-widening project in Vancouver, Washington.

Any interesting projects on the horizon?

We’re looking at pursuing other projects in Los Angeles … some freeway crossing projects. Freeways produce such scars in urban environments, but they don’t have to. They are a reality now that we have to deal with and overcome. No matter how wide you make a freeway, it’s going to be congested. In a lot of ways, the problem with freeways is not how do you make freeways more “freewayish,” but how do you mitigate them and reconnect cities where they are?

What’s your “wildest dream” project?

I really want to do a staircase. There is a bookstore in Portugal, [Lello Bookshop]; it’s got the coolest staircase I’ve ever seen. It’s super-baroque. It actually goes up and hits a landing and splits off and then wraps back around. I’d really like to do a staircase installation. There are a lot of intricacies there … If someone has a very austere home, you can still do something pretty remarkable with a staircase and still respect all of the things around it. The other thing is, I’m really interested in doing a project that wraps into an existing structure. It’s almost like infecting a building. I imagine a staircase working that way. It’s not necessarily doing something that’s new and separate, but something that corrupts and infiltrates.

What do you think of the architectural confines of the suburbs?

Telling people that they have a choice between four floor plans, and they can have fake brick siding, or stucco siding, or whatever, seems to be a problematic choice. And I think people feel like these are the only choices available because those are the only ones given in that context. If people demand more, and if designers work toward that end and help provide those choices, then you have an ecology that works. You can’t expect everyone to live in the middle of the city. Traffic stinks; it’s too expensive. But there are also unsustainable aspects with having to grow infrastructure so far out to the edges.

How would you describe your personal style?

Black is the new black. [Laughs.]

Do you like clothes?

I don’t have a lot of clothes, but the clothes that I do, I like to invest in a bit more. I have two very close friends who don’t live in the city, but whenever I do make purchases, I have to have one of them with me. It’s just like design. You don’t want to design in a vacuum. It’s good to have opinions. It’s a process with communication.

Do you like the shopping process?

I shop about once a year for my suits or jackets … I wear them to death. Like this [Dolce & Gabbana] jacket. It’s about 10 years old. Here’s the proof! [Points to his worn-out elbow.]

Do you have a favourite suit?

I really like Italian brand names. I really like Gucci suits, but Costume National suits are the absolute best. The City suit — it’s the best suit ever made. I had a Costume suit for about eight years. I finally had to retire it, and now I don’t have one. That’s the next thing on the list.

In black?

Of course.

Any fashion trends you like right now?

I think I’ve always really liked women’s shoes. It doesn’t matter what the trend is — as objects, I think they’re amazing. I think no matter what a girl or woman is wearing, if they’re wearing cool shoes, they can kind of do the whole thing. In general, I’m always interested in women’s fashion. It has always found a way to make women sexy. Those changes are really interesting.

Distasteful of any trends at the moment?

The only thing that really bugs me, that I had not seen until here, are dress shoes on men that are really pointy that go up at the end like elf feet. I think it’s the grossest thing. It freaks me out. I thought it was a Calgary thing that stemmed off Cowboy boots — dress shoes plus cowboy boots equals this.

We’re not taking credit for that!

Ah, plausible deniability.

You seem to be in tune with the arts community. Anything interesting you’re into lately?

Andreas Golder … he’s into cute gore. It’s hard to describe … I’ve also been looking into black metal theory lately, which is something that arose out of Norway. It’s kind of all things “anti.” I don’t quite have my finger on it yet, but I’m intrigued by it. I just don’t get it quite yet. It’s a form of resistance that capitalism can’t quite grasp. And that’s rare. I’m also interested in blood-letting and medical imagery.

Where do you hope to take your work?

I want to engage in more fleshy things. No wall really turns me on, or makes me want to lick it. But I really am interested in developing sensibilities toward architecture that are more gory. To develop a kind of desire and connection between people, space and architecture is something that I really think is culturally there. But I’m looking for the new cultural forms of that desire.

Where do you hope to be in 10 years time?

I don’t know if I can answer that in terms of an end or a target. I would say I want to design systems in the present, with the chance of not building myself into a corner in that time.

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