Hrag Vartanian

I came across this photo (titled “Keith & Corey”) in Rudy Magazine (no.31) from Dutch Canadian photog Toni Hafkenscheid and was impressed how it captured a classic Canadian rec room feel (maybe Ontarian, but I’m from Toronto–as is Hafkenscheild–so I always forget there are other parts of Canada)…people who hail from Canada will know what I mean.

The wood paneling, posters, old sofas, (Molson Canadian!!!) beer cans and what looks like acoustic tiling are part of that cultural institution. It kind of feels like a relic, almost archeological in feeling, with the strewn garbage and historic items, like LPs and a ray cathode tube TV.

As an aside, I recently came across London-based architecture critic Hugh Pearman’s review of a recent crop of Toronto buildings by (Liebeskind, Gehry, Alsop & others) which asks “Whatever happened to Canadian understatement?“…the fact is that it’s still there but in Toronto it’s a little harder to find.