New York based designer and illustrator Xinran Ma decided to create a series of Brutalist greeting cards for the beginning of 2015. Already the creator of illustrations depicting modernist and brutalist architecture, this particular cards contain parts of famous buildings, reinterpreted to create a typeface.
Courtesy of Xinran MA
The artist jokingly stated that all of the buildings he illustrates have one flaw: they are extremely attractive and inspiring to me,” he says, “but ironically they have been somehow gradually forgotten.”
Courtesy of Xinran MA
This is why he considers that his illustrations are not a hobby or a job related act, but an obligation to “defend, memorize and deliver the classics that I believe are immortal.” And indeed, what can be more appropriate for an architectural designer and illustrator than to preserve the existing architectural fond and to promote it? Xinran Ma’s initiative is not only creative and fun, but profoundly right and a creative way of paying tribute to architecture that exists so far.
Courtesy of Xinran MA
By:Lidia Ratoi
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Courtesy of Xinran MA
Lidia Ratoi is a Romanian architect, educator, and researcher, currently serving as Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Architecture. With a background in both architectural design and theory, her work explores the intersections of technology, media, and politics in the built environment. Ratoi’s research focuses on the aesthetics of power, surveillance, and virtuality, with a strong interest in critical and speculative design. She has practiced internationally and exhibited in venues across Europe and Asia. Passionate about challenging conventional narratives, Ratoi integrates digital tools with philosophical inquiry, encouraging experimental approaches to architecture. Her contributions continue to shape emerging discourses in design and architectural pedagogy.