Mahdin Ahmed 
Culminating Project 
TGJ4M1 
Danforth Collegiate & Technical Institute 

An Architect’s DSLR 
This document lays out all of the information to be included in the info booklet. Refer to the table 
of contents below.  

PART 1: THE BRIDGE BETWEEN ARCHITECTURE AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY 2 

Architecture, Through Photography 2 
Architecture, Through 3D Design 2 
Architecture, Through Social Media 3 

PART 2: ARCHITECTURE, THROUGH A TEENAGER’S PHONE LENS 3 

The Smartphone: An Irreplaceable Asset 3 
The Smartphone Camera 4 
The Smartphone: An Educational Tool 4 
A Health Issue or Not? 4 
The Psychological Effect of the Smartphone 4 
The Smartphone, a Photographer’s Sidekick 5 

PART 3: THE ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM 5 

An Interesting History 5 
The Trip to the ROM 5 
The ROM, 3D Designed with a Twist 6 

REFERENCES 6 

 
 
 

PART 1: THE BRIDGE BETWEEN ARCHITECTURE AND 

COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY 

Architecture, Through Photography 

It is the finest pieces of architecture, along with the talented 
photography hobbyists, that create the foundation of the bridge 
that connects the two fields. 

Both architecture, and photography, are indeed two platforms on which artists can express 
emotion, and tell a story.  

Let’s take the infamous Burj Khalifa for example. The tallest skyscraper in the world, standing 
strong and proud in the rich and vibrant city of Dubai. A photographer comes along and captures 
this masterpiece from all different angles possible, while keeping in mind the lighting, outdoor 
conditions, shutter speed, and aperture, to make sure the Burj Khalifa, and the photo in which the 
tower exists, both share the same story.  

There would obviously be numerous ways to interpret the supposed story of the Burj Khalifa. One 
interpretation could be that the skyscraper wants to stand tall and compete against the other 
heavyweights of the world. In other words, to make sure everybody knows where Dubai is, and 
that it is also, indeed, a tourist attraction and a well-developed city, just like any other city in the 
world. 

Graphic: A person taking a photo with a DSLR (DONE) 

Architecture, Through 3D Design 

A CAD software can take mere ideas into reality. It is 
the first step to developing the finest pieces of 
architecture. 
The bridge connecting architecture and 3D design is a far more polished one. Consider a piece 
of architecture that is either only a mere idea, in the process of becoming a reality, or already is 
one. The 3D design software, or CAD software, acts as the catalyst that makes it all happen.  

Even the four established architects that were behind the making of the Burj Khalifa, Adrian 
Smith, George J. Efstathiou, William F. Baker, and Marshall Strabala, probably hopped on 
AutoCAD to design the building. The four architects all shared a common vision and wanted to 
share the same story with Architecture. AutoCAD, one of the many 3D designing software out 
there, transform those mere thoughts and ideas into a concrete plan that will be on the way to 
becoming a reality. (Graphic: Done) 
 
 

Architecture, Through Social Media 

Social media is like an indirect platform for tourism 

advertisement. 

The constantly-improving mobile technology is responsible for the world feeling like a smaller 
one each day. Nowadays, with the endless technological assets at our disposal, a tourist would 
no longer want to visit a place without creating a first impression of it first, and that’s where social 
media comes in. 

Social media is like an indirect platform for tourism advertisement. Assume a photography 
hobbyist takes the TTC to Union station to check out Toronto’s very own CN Tower. He then 
takes it to social media to give their Instagram feed some new life. Now a potential tourist from 
some country in Europe may look at the photo and think, “Wow. I wanna see this place for 
myself!” Even the small factors such as the angle at which the photo was taken could make a fine 
piece of architecture look even more astounding than it may look in person. In short, social media 
does a good job of promoting architectural masterpieces to the rest of the world. (Graphic: Phone 
on bed) 

PART 2: ARCHITECTURE, THROUGH A TEENAGER’S PHONE LENS 

The Smartphone: An Irreplaceable Asset 

Here is a simplified flowchart to illustrate how far mobile technology has come over all these 
years. (Graphic: Old phone) 

 
 
 

The Smartphone Camera  

The smartphone camera is a mobile technology that is quite obviously available to any teenager 
who has access to a smartphone. The first smartphone camera was released around the year 
2000 and was able to store around 20 photos, and each image was capable of resolution 
ranging from 0.11 to 0.35 megapixels. Though we should sympathize for this breakthrough in 
mobile technology, it just isn’t an option that would make sense to any photographer hobbyist. 
Today’s smartphone cameras can boast dual-camera setups, the ability to shoot in formats such 
as wide-angle, and the ability to manipulate shutter speed, white balance, and ISO. (ECU of 
camera lens) 

The Smartphone: An Educational Tool 

High school is inevitably the largest part of teenager’s lives as most of their teenage years are 
spent just sitting in classrooms. It is important to note that teenagers can argue that they all have 
a life outside of school, and they always will have a rather justified use for their smartphones in 
almost any situation. As mobile technology continues to advance exponentially, a vast range of 
applications and virtual tools are available at any teenager’s fingertips. Evernote, Photomath, and 
several dictionary applications are just to name a few productivity applications (that are free!) for 
any high school student to use. (Picture of phone, on educational app) 

A Health Issue or Not? 

The average person should be getting no more than 2 hours of screen time. However, the 
average teenager spends 9 hours on their phones, primarily on social media. More specifically, 
Instagram. The smartphone has come with many upsides, but misuse and even abuse of this 
exponentially-evolving tech could see the rise of some certainly avoidable health risks. For 
example, looking down at your phone for too long can result in one straining their neck muscles. 
This is an issue that can be easily avoided, like numerous others. So in short, it would be of the 
best interest of all teenagers to reduce the amount of time they binge-watch cat videos at 2 A.M. 
(Person staring at phone with lights off) 

The Psychological Effect of the Smartphone 

Much evidence can show that spending time on smartphones for more than the recommended 
time, can indeed have a negative psychological effect on teenagers. Karla Klein Murdock, a 
psychology professor at Washington and Lee University, found a possible link between 
insufficient sleep and texting, which is the heavily preferred platform for communication for many 
teenagers. There have been many other studies that can promote that extensive smartphone use 
can have a rather negative impact on our sleep and mental health. So to summarize, reducing the 
 
 

time used to text others on social media should be reduced to lower the chance of health-related 
issues. (Graphic: person on phone) 

The Smartphone, a Photographer’s Sidekick 

With the constantly-improving smartphone camera, along with the rise of photography-based 
social media, photographers can really rely on their smartphones for many reasons, but let’s just 
discuss a few. With the modern smartphone camera now being able to capture stunning, dynamic 
photos, mobile photography is becoming more and more famous, along with the rise of 
photography-themed social media, such as Instagram, 500px, and VSCO, to name a few. A 
photographer may often post a short, 10-second video of where they’re currently shooting on 
their Instagram story, or just promote their photography skills by keeping an up-to-date feed of 
their latest photos from their most recent adventures. In sum, a smartphone is a photographer’s 
sidekick, as it as an asset that can be used to take stunning photos, as well as get involved in the 
greater photographer community through social media. (Another photo of someone taking a 
picture through phone) 

PART 3: THE ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM 

An Interesting History 
The Royal Ontario Museum was formally created by the signing of the ​ROM Act​ in the Ontario 
Legislature on April 16, 1912. The structure was built on buff-coloured bricks and terracotta. The 
structure was designed by two of Toronto’s very own architects, Darling and Pearson. Fast 
forward 21 years, Toronto newspapers reports on the newest addition to the ROM that was made 
during the great depression using shovels, picks, hands and horse-drawn wagons, which was 
labelled a ‘masterpiece of architecture. Then finally, on June 3, 2007, the Michael Lee-Chin 
Crystal was added to the ROM to give it a more abstract and modern appearance. The crystal 
really brought the ROM into the 21st century. The thing that makes the ROM so intriguing is that 
the building consists of the finest architecture from the early 20th century to the 21st century, 
which gives the ROM a perfect balance of modern, and antique. (ROM sign) 

The Trip to the ROM 

On April 27th, Mahdin Ahmed, a grade 11 student attending Danforth Collegiate and Technical 
Institute took a trip to observe and admire the exterior of the ROM. It was a failry cloudy day with 
a few sunny breaks, so the outdoor weather conditions weren’t exactly optimal, but it wasn’t the 
worst either. Mahdin set his DSLR to 100 and 200 ISO with a 1/3200 shutter speed to make sure 
the photos represented how stunning the architecture of the ROM was, in the best way possible. 
Unfortunately, he found that have of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal was under construction, which 
 
 

was arguably the most attractive aspect of the ROM. Regardless, the architecture of the museum 
goes way beyond the crystal, and that is why Mahdin travelled to the ROM in the first place - to 
experience every single aspect of the architecture of the building has to offer, firsthand. (Collage 
of all the photos taken) 

The ROM, 3D Designed with a Twist 

Mahdin goes home with the 100 pictures he took of the ROM. Architectural photography, check! 
Now he decides he wants to walk the bridge between architecture and communications 
photography, by taking the photos he took of ROM, recording all the little details of the building, 
and designing it in a 3D designing software. However, Mahdin decides that he wants to add his 
own little twist to it. As mentioned earlier, half of the Royal Ontario Museum was under 
construction. Since Mahdin was not able to perceive the total Michael Lee-Chin Crystal first-hand, 
he decides against going on Google Images and using one of the 1 million photos of ROM 
available to him at his fingertips, but rather complete the crystal by using his own creativity. 
(Screenshots from tinkercad design of ROM) 

REFERENCES 
http://streamlinearchitects.com/blog/2018/1/9/relationships-101-photography-and-architecture 

https://www.burjkhalifa.ae/en/  

https://marialorenalehman.com/post/how-social-media-impacts-architectural-perception 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/jan/24/smartphones-timeline 

http://www.schoolmoney.org/advantages-using-cell-phones-classroom/  

https://www.textrequest.com/blog/history-evolution-smartphone/ 

https://www.androidpit.com/smartphone-cameras-explained 

https://mashable.com/2018/02/21/evolution-mobile-camera-technology/ 

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/people-are-spending-most-of-their-waking-hours-staring-at-s
creens-2018-08-01 

https://qz.com/1367506/pew-research-teens-worried-they-spend-too-much-time-on-phones/ 

https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/the-psychological-toll-of-the-smartphone 

https://www.rom.on.ca/en/about-us/rom/our-history