Strange & Familiar: Architecture on Fogo Island
by Emilio Ghloum
Rustic wood cabins, stunning coastlines, and rocks—a lot of rocks. For many first-time viewers of Strange & Familiar: Architecture on Fogo Island, the poignant imagery shown by the 55-minute documentary weaves an unforgettable tale of labour, preservation, and legacy. On the closing night of the festival, the screening of the film took place at the Art Gallery of Guelph—the quaint and touching documentary served as a fitting end to a wonderful festival.
The film centres around an architectural project formed by Todd Saunders, a Newfoundland-born and Norwegian-based architect, who has build a variety of modern sculptures and buildings on Fogo Island, and Zita Cobb of the Shorefast Foundation. Fogo Island is located in Newfoundland & Labrador, and is the largest off-shore island in the province. The island is home to many small fishing villages and quaint houses.
Saunders and Cobb embarked on their project in an attempt to preserve and reframe the cultural legacy of regenerations of people on Fogo Island. Elaborating on the extensive natural history of the island, Cobb compares the thousands of rock scattered throughout the barren terrain of the island. Even the designs of structures created by Saunders allude to the appreciation of the land itself—a specific instance in the film showed an arctic white building with an unidentifiable shape, set against the snowy, rocky outcrop of a Fogo island shoreline in the winter.
There are several points throughout the film that indicated the importance of paying respect to the natural history of the island. Along with the other structures built across the island, Saunders emphasized the importance of implementing modern architectural design without taking anything away from the natural beauty of the island itself.
In a way, Saunders and Cobb have set out to reframe and reinvigorate the culture and spirit of Fogo Island by creating a modern hub of geo-tourism. While it may seem that Saunders and Cobb are solely set on providing an artistic message, the practicality of this project also played a large role in its conception and implementation. Specifically, the fishing industry, a primary means of income for Fogo islanders, has slowly been deteriorating. With the manifestation of the large architectural project, Fogo Islanders can now benefit from the jobs and tourism brought in by the construction of the Fogo Island Inn.
Overall, the documentary did a phenomenal job in providing insight towards the people and culture of Fogo Island. While modern architecture is a crucial pillar to the story, the telling of the narrative is supplemented by a variety of intimate scenes in rustic houses, barren landscapes of natural history, and ultimately painted an incredible portrait of the hard-working individuals who have maintained and lived on the island for generations.