“A SPACE WHERE PEOPLE CAN COME AND LEARN”: ARMAND DA SILVA FOR FOOTPATROL AND JORDAN
Photography By Rhys Williams
As our Black Future Season campaign comes to a close, we visited Armand Da Silva, who was the photographer behind all four shoots at time&space, his newly opened venture with his partner Tyler Phoenix. We discuss design, photography and the democratisation of the elitist experience.
Knowing Armand from a distance, if anybody asked me, I would’ve said he’s a photographer. Incredibly meticulous, his work is permeated with personality and a softness that is akin to his character. But to just describe Armand as a photographer would only be speaking to half of him. “A photographer and an archivist,” says Armand, sitting in a large, concrete room with incredible furniture and books, alongside other quirky additions, like skateboards and figurines.
To describe exactly where we are speaking, it’s easier to start from the beginning to understand how we got here, in a space filled with all of his “passions and interests in one place”. Whilst his love of photography came first, Armand always had an interest in design. “You know when you’re young and people ask ‘What do you want to be when you’re older?’ My answer would always be an architect…That never happened,” Armand explains. Although it wasn’t meant to be his profession, he kept it as a hobby —taking an interest in interior design and furniture more generally. One day when he walked past a furniture shop, he realised that he was interested in “60s, 70s mid-century space-age pop design furniture”.
Collecting with his partner Tyler, who specialises as a nail artist, they’d put items they found in a storage space, holding onto rare and interesting pieces they had collected from as far as Italy. Upon realising they had collected so many relics but had no way of sharing them with others, the idea of a workspace-meets-office-meets-studio-meets-exhibition began to foster. “One of my favourite game developers, Hideo Kojima, made Death Stranding in 2019, which has narration at the beginning. I just remember hearing ‘time and space’ and thinking, ‘hard’. It relates to my passions and interests, so I had it in my [Instagram] bio before we even considered getting a space,” says Armand.
So when looking to have a home away from their homes, time&space felt like an appropriate name, a short but sweet encapsulation of everything both Armand and Tyler are about. Walking past, looking through the large windows from the outside, the space appears to be a museum, exhibiting rare books, furniture and the like. But what makes this way more interesting than the typical museum experience, is that everything you see, you can touch, sit on, read, and interact with. Whether it’s Victor Vasarely’s 1973 book, entitled [VASARELY II] that you just can’t find online, or Ernst Moeckl’s kangaroo chairs from 1968, time&space presents itself as “a space to come and learn about these things,'' says Armand. “We want people to feel comfortable to pick up a book and sit on a chair for two or three hours. As long as we’re here, of course.”
I was curious to understand what makes it into the space, versus what stays in the houses of both Armand and Tyler, whether there was anything too precious to allow people to touch. “I can’t bring everything here, I want my room to look nice as well,” Armand laughs, explaining that things stay out of the space to allow everything within to not feel cramped, so people can fully enjoy everything. All of the items sitting within have enough space to feel like it's on display, but at the same time, it’s like an interactive, stylistic playground.
With plans to change things around once a month, it’ll be an ever-evolving environment, with items being removed to clear space for new objects. Interestingly, the furniture is also available to rent for photoshoots, whilst the pair also offer a sourcing service for anything sought-after that you’re struggling to get your hands on.
Entry to time&space is by appointment only, via Instagram, (@timeand___space).