national flags composed of architectures transcend borders in federico babina’s illustrations

federico babina subverts political symbolism in archiflags

From his meditating structures to swaying, whispering enigmas, Federico Babina’s works continually explores how architecture can transcend functionality in the built environment to convey dreamlike narratives. His recent illustrative series, ARCHIFLAGS, presents 23 compositions which at first glance appear to be national flags, but upon closer inspection, reveal elevations, sections, and plans that bypass and blur territories and geometries.

These are open and permeable structures, just a few examples of a flexible and changeable game, dynamic elements that can be as many as the stories they can tell. Flags that wave lightly without the weight of symbols that too often burden them with erroneous meanings.

the flags without borders unveil alternate narratives

‘I am not a big fan of flags as a symbol of belonging, homeland achievement, and pride,’ notes Federico Babina. Instead, the Italian architect and artist is drawn to the communicative simplicity of color geometries and their ability to develop a wide range of visual stimuli. The ARCHIFLAGS thus have no political significance but are merely a representation of a different universe. The project removes these symbols from their territory and plants them in alternative worlds, using their recognized imagery to convey alternate narratives.

‘Architecture is a set of forms that draw solids and voids and whose sequence generates functions and meanings. Sometimes I enjoy narrowing my eyes to blur the world. This simple game helps me perceive things differently: contours are lost and geometries merge to take on new appearance,’ he continues.

project info:

name: ARCHIFLAGS
artist: Federico Babina

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