ARCHIPIX (Less is pixel) by Federico Babina

GRAPHIC _ “Don't take architecture seriously, it's just a game!” That is what I thought scrolling through the graphic works ARCHIPIX (Less is pixel) by the Italian architect and graphic designer Federico Babina

In the last couple of days Babina, who lives and works in Barcelona, has literally “invaded” the spaces of all the main blogs and architecture/design web magazines, with his funny digital portraits of architects, re-interpreted as 8-bit video game characters from the 80s .

“Every day I try to rediscover a way to observe the world as through the eyes of a child. Children are able to have a totally uninhibited vision of things without being conditioned by experience. Children's drawings are always amazing and beautiful in their spontaneous simplicity and clarity” explains the graphic designer.

Zollverein school Essen by Kazuyo Sejima

From Rem Koolhaas to Zaha Hadid, all the starchitects have been represented with one of the most representative buildings chosen from their extensive portfolios.

I talked to Federico to understand the idea behind is work.

Vitra fire station Weil am Rhein by Zaha Hadid

How was the Archipixel project born?

Complicating is easy, simplifying is difficult. To simplify you have to remove, and to remove you have to know what to take away.

The idea of this project, called ARCHIPIX, is to represent the complexity of the forms and personalities through the simplicity of the pixel. Drawing pixel by pixel to capture the essence and personality of architects and architecture.

Some of the icons of modern architecture, paired by a building that represents their essence, become desktop icons.

A digital "pointillism" where the mouse replaces the brush.
The pixel reappears and emphasizes the importance that the single dot has, seen as something essential that in combination with other points form a more complex picture. A metaphor of architecture where every little detail is a key component of the whole mosaic.