Chantal Matar is an architectural designer, born in Beirut and based in London. Her work explores liminal margins between abstract and conjecture generative art where spatial understanding is continuously changing.
Since 2018 Chantal has been working at Zaha Hadid Architects on various high-end international projects in different stages.
Blending her long experience in architectural design and knowledge of digital tools, Chantal aims her exploration at alien landscapes, linear formations and digital strata that lie on the threshold of spatial chaos and structural continuum.
Today, we made a short interview with Chantal and learn more about her daily routines, projects and inspiration sources.
Hope that you’ll enjoy!
What is your daily routine? In which part of the day do you feel more productive?
I start my day with a quick run, then at 10:00 am every morning you will find me at Zaha Hadid Architects working on different architectural projects, and this usually stretches through the evening. Nighttime naturally has become the space for my personal design research and generative art experimentation.
How do you get inspired, storytelling wise?
I find inspiration from different sources. Mostly the things that I like, things that I discover, and ideas and thoughts that stick to my mind originating from different encounters. It is also self-expression and release of thoughts that get translated into an audio-visual sequence.
Which softwares do you use while creating?
I recently have been using Houdini SFX, MadMapper, After effects, and most of the Adobe suites. Final cut pro and/or adobe premiere for editing.
Does your computer’s hardware enough to achieve your creative goals? What’s your computer hardware specs?
Yes. I currently have a MacBook Pro, 16-inch 2019 model, processor 2.6GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7. Can’t complain :)
Which communities and platforms do you follow to stay up to date?
I follow various generative art platforms and new media art international artists to stay up to date on various levels, along with architecture platforms of course.
To name a few: Refik Anadol, Generative Hut, Houdini VFX Community, Dezeen.
Even if you don’t have a last generation Macbook Pro like Chantal, and you need more powerful computer, vagon is here for you. Don’t forget that, you can run any challenger creative software on vagon with just a click. You don’t have to pay for an expensive computer.
