ARCHITECTURE 101Station1: From scratch to art
Journey of:
Mounes AL ANI
Human is small .. Human is big ... Relativity
The eye is a tool ...to see ...to read ...to learn ...
The eye is the window ...
Part 1: What I’ve learned
Things with no name...may have great meanings ...Just use good translator ....
TV without signal ...Watched it ...Drowned in it ...Lost in it ...When I went out ...I finally saw the light ...
Part 1: What I’ve learned
Music Without SoundLife Without Motion
Draw everything out ...Draw nothing in ...Improve drawing skills ...Improve perception ...
Part 1: What I’ve learned
Memorize .. memorize .. memorize .. memorize .. memorize .. memorize .. memorize .. memorize .. memorize .. memorize .. memorize .. memorize .. Then draw ...
Think inside ...Abstract outside ...Learn in between ...
New tools, new techniques ...new life of app ...Thanks Arch101 ...
Part 1: What I’ve learned
#InsideNoOutside
Feel inside ...Abstract outside ...And again ...Learn between ...I love to learn ...
#StealingThingsIs
Abstract .. abstract ..More simple ...More difficult ...It is a challenge indeed ...
Part 1: What I’ve learned
My Sun Machine
Exploring The Weather ...Learning New Apps ...kaleidoscope ...
Some people walk in the rain,Me learn from the rain ....
Voyage dans la Lune ...Trip to the Moon...
Part 1: What I’ve learned
Think thoroughly ...Organize your ideas ...Shape diagrams ...
Diagram of my mind ...
All over horizon ...Many things, many thoughts ...But all important ...
I gotta have a body ...A loyal body to my mind ...
Part 1: What I’ve learned
Mind-body Connection ...in the simplest way ...
The triangle relationship between mind, body and place
Human is all ...Mind makes place through body ...
@maxred91Speaking eye ...
@sabrosas_journalDrawing on wall ..music without sound ...
@ ardisiftiWhat real sketching is ...Difference is obvious between the two images ...This is real sketching ... I beleive ...
@ bojanefYou can make a good sketch ...by looking outside the vase ...
@telezarmarinaAbstract is a difficult kind of fine arts ...But it can tells thinks with no sound ...
@_sunaddict_Feelings can be told byabstract too ...
@lizzielalayellowWhatMakesTheDesertI liked colour composition ...
@panyukStealingThingsIsGood use of apps ...
@function_521Beautiful way to look at the sky ...Good use of app ...
@rightfromthesoulIt is not like an app-sunmachinebut it’s a good way of thinking ...
@karenlili101SomePeopleWalkNice idea ... mixing feelings, motion and rain ...
@kristinaneralVoyageDansLaLuneIt is an extraordinary idea...
@anna_bolotnikovaYourMindWillsuccessful mixture of abstract and diagram ...
@pfa101OnesDestinationInnovative way of diagrams ...
@aygullalaALineIsADotIt is amazing how long storiescan be told by one single line !!!...
@grudinskaNoManIsUnique way dealingwith matters...It’s an island ..But it isn’t like any island ...
WhatMakesTheDesert
The place I am in ...Tripoli, Libya ...A beautiful city between the Mediterranean and the Sahara...
BrianEnoSays My desk ... My hands among stuff that are usually on my desk ...
Onesdestination
My place here isn’t a physical one ...It is as big & important to me asUniverse ...
It is my career ...
ALineIsADot This is me !!! ... Walking on the line of the city ... Home, job, seashore, picnic, shopping, movies, etc...
YouCantCriticize My car standing by traffic light in the city of Tripoli waiting for the green light...
My place is the city of Tripoli ...Where I live, work, eat, shop and everything else ...
Once I represent it as a sea ..
the other as an island ...or my empire in the island ...
and the third as a starry sky ...
15 / 3 / 2011
It is a date …
But it is not like any other date…
The date that changed history…
The history of my family, my country and me …
On that day, Syria, my homeland, my land of love,
hope and life has rebelled on that day against theirhope and life has rebelled on that day against their
criminal leader, so our dreams, plans and any other
future projects has temporarily postponed until the
target of our revolution to be achieved.
Four years passed away and our life is still on hold
waiting for the end, but no end seems to be close...
Two years I spent in Syria waiting, but when I realized
that my life was going in vain I decided to travel to
another country hoping that the new place will change
my days a little bit, after deep thought I chose Libya
to live in.
Tripoli is a peaceful nice city that you can live in and
make a good business in the field of civil engineering,make a good business in the field of civil engineering,
I have been here for two years having normal life,
well …it is
semi-normal
indeed because
my heart is still
there …
in Damascus …in Damascus …
My treasure of
dreams …
One of my important plans is to study architecture as
a beloved branch of science that collects arts,engineering
and Humanities all together in a lovely Bouquet of
flowers that smells all over the world, but unfortunately,
my dream is postponed like all other ones.
Two months ago, when I was reading Facebook posts,
I have noticed something strange and very new to me;I have noticed something strange and very new to me;
it was called "MOOC". As a curious person I googled
it and realized that one of my dreams could be
–somehow- true by studying architecture online
through several courses that in the end gives me
– temporarily – what I need until I study it in the
University – in my unknown future -.
Therefore, I have started to look for suitable courses
for my purpose, I searches … searched … searched …
until I finally found you, ARCHITECTURE 101,
I screamed … "THAT'S IT"
Why is that? Simply for many reasons:
- Long graded courses hold your hand from the
beginning "nothingness" to the end "architecture".beginning "nothingness" to the end "architecture".
- Certifies your study and gives you an opportunity
to step forward by ECTs.
- Concentrates on many useful things other than
architecture such as social media, computer & phone
apps, etc.
- There will be a great opportunity to meet our
lecturers and peers at the Exhibition / Graduationlecturers and peers at the Exhibition / Graduation
and the summer camp in Sicily next summer.
I love photography so the idea of the first week stood
in front of me as a ghost after reading lessons through
the few hours that I had before submitting the
homework, so I started talking to myself about it.
For example, when I read "musicwithoutsound' I said
to myself when I was driving my car: Where can I find
this – music without sound - ?!!. My self answered me:
Here it is …
I saw a closed amusement park at noon, I imagined
the park in the evening when it is full of families
playing, kids shouting,peddlers selling popcorn and
sweets, I said: This place will have a very very loud
sound after three or four hours, so it is a music
without sound indeed!!!
Something else, Instagram, I love it, our circle of socialSomething else, Instagram, I love it, our circle of social
relations don't deal with Instagram so it is new to me,
by using it I found out new world of social media,
just photos and some few words, and I met people
through the course that share me the same interest,
how amazing !!!
By the way, whenever I learn something new here,
I say from the bottom of my heart ...I say from the bottom of my heart ...
THANK YOU VERY MUCH ARCH101.
Well, I like sketching and I somehow know how to
draw on paper, but on a screen of my smartphone by
my wide fingers... I must admit that is really difficult,
my finger was slipping on the screen and it was shaking
too. I tried and tried and tried, you should have to see
my masterpieces at the very beginning, after one million
try; I could draw the two sketches of the lady's face.try; I could draw the two sketches of the lady's face.
"QuestionWithoutAnswer " and "DoorsOfPerception"
highlights very important secrets of sketching that really
help improving hand-drawing techniques.
After submitting week02 homework and getting my
result, I have noticed that my peers hardly believed
that I am honest doing my homework; well I swear
I am. It is all about practice and hard work…I am. It is all about practice and hard work…
As I mentioned I took the course seriously from the
beginning so every lesson was a matter to me.
I have tried to draw the leaves
of "SomePeopleTheyKnow"
lesson many times before
reaching the final result.
"The Human camera" that is what I have imagined
through reading "DaytimeNighttime", I thought:
How could he draw an entire city from his memory,
I started staring at the building trying to remember
all details.
Also my hand of
"PlayItByTrust" lesson,
I have sketched zombie-like
hands, and I spent all night
sketching with my eyes closed
to get a reasonable result.
Maybe I stared
at the picture
about 1 hour
then I started
to sketch, and
this was the result.
The third week was so interesting; it has opened a
new window of fine arts; abstract, it has made us
think thoroughly and try to abstract several things,
which was a new experiment to me. On the other
hand, it has opened a window of technology, which
was digital collage using smart phones.
In the first lesson "RomanceInManyDimensions", I’ve
tried to use something besides mobile apps toget better
collage effects, so I have
gotten some help from
Adobe Photoshop on PC
- which I am familiar to -
to compose images I have to compose images I have
taken from the mobile app
PolyFauna", that was so helpful making a nice image.
The second lesson took me back home; my sorrowful
Syria. Mixed feelings of anger, sadness and disappointment
with tiny spotlights of hope here and there.
It was not supposed to use any recognizable thing
but I couldn't, my heart forced me to put Syria's map
- with few modifications - as a background, maybe it
is not recognized to many people, but at least it is
recognized to me.
Week 4 has made me feel dizzy, just like riding twists,
rolling sky … rolling sun
… rolling moon ..., yet it
was a lovely week,
very emotional, I have
had a wonderful trip to the sky, I have really touched
the blue atmosphere, felt the blue atmosphere, felt
the heat of the sun, danced
under the rain, flew with
clouds, hunted the moon
and gave it as a gift to my
loving wife.
The best of this week for me is the time-lapse app,
it is something I was looking for long time ago, but
I didn't expect that I might find it as an app in my hand.
Frankly, every time
you surprised us with
new app I wondered as
a person who has gooda person who has good
experience in app technology
they dig and extract those
great apps from the ground.
Kaleidoscope, what is that I wondered …
Wow, new game I think,
great results, again and
again thanks ARCH101…
The fifth week was not so difficult to me because I like
diagrams, managing, arranging thoughts in a written
organized method, and the app of the week "DrawExpress"
has made things easier to me, so I have tried to make
something different from what I make usually – ordinary
diagrams I mean –, I tried to mix diagrams with abstract.
.I’ve used small isotypes to enrich the diagram, an
inspiring background and a sentence at the bottom
that completes the idea.
"YourMindWill" was
not like that. I have
concentrated on
meanings. I have tried
to get everything in my
mind out and put it in
one diagram, it was notone diagram, it was not
an easy task at all, but
the result was good
one I believe,yes; it is
my mind
But in the "body", "place", and "mind & body" diagramsI have used drawn objects as a connection betweenwords, a new full of life way of shaping diagramswhich I will use in my business in the future.
My "mind, body and place" triangle diagram was something
different. I did not tell a word,
it is a collage, but it is still a
diagram. Lines between the
untold words are so obvious,
in this diagram I have shown
my point of view, I always my point of view, I always
believe that God created human
to build and implant, created
his brain to think and his body
to achieve, and the final result is, Earth.
Before reaching week 6, I have tried to figure
out the meaning of "map", is it map of our
country, our city, our home …? I did not know.
When we started and I began to read I have
felt that I have learned another new thing here,
I realized that every relationship between things
can be called "map"; map of traffic, map ofcan be called "map"; map of traffic, map of
blood cells, map of dreams and thoughts.
Well I think that everyone knows that, yes;
that is right, but it is something like difference
between knowing to walk and knowing how to,
I hope I could explain the idea as I understood.
I liked the graded way of using tools from the simple
to the complex.
Now I can represent any relation as a map, by using
different tools and in any environment that I choose.
Expressing my place as a sea, an island or a sky,
what’s an idea!
Finally, we have reached the last week and I am so tired.
I have been making the booklet for 6 days considering
that I have full-time job.
Please do not think that I am complaining, I am just
thinking loudly. You have thankfully made us working
as artists, publishers and finally writers. Well, I am an
engineer, maybe some kind of junior artist, but I amengineer, maybe some kind of junior artist, but I am
not a writer, and as I mentioned in the beginning I am
a non-English speaker, so the most difficult task ever
was writing this essay, I hope from my heart that you
like it and my hard work doing it does not go in vain.
This was my interesting and useful journey
from "nothingness" to "place". I have enjoyed
this journey so much and I am glad I havethis journey so much and I am glad I have
reached the first station "place", longing for
the next step insisting to complete the journey
to the end and hoping to meet you at the end
of the course in the events that I expect to be
great as much as you.
Why am I here ...
After years of waiting and despair something must appear and
change the way we live, it is education,
I believe that nothing better than the art and sceince of rebuilding
dreams of ruined countries I can spend time on hoping that my
new world of architecture turns into truth when I return to my
country after this nightmare ends and we gain our desired freedom.country after this nightmare ends and we gain our desired freedom.
All thanks to the University Of Abadir, our lecturers and iversity.