Happiness is Possible! Interruptions at GJU

:: Interruptions

Thanks Ikibs!

Thanks Ikbis team for your feedback and for appreciating our work....

Thanks!

Communication Theory Assignment

This semester I'm teaching a course titled [Communication Theory] for Design and Visual Communication students. This course addresses several issues dealing with Media, Society, Mass Communication, Message Production and so on.
So for their Mid term I decided to put the theories to test by proposing an online assignment.
I asked my students to answer certain questions through creating a video response to a video I posted on our GJU.Design Channel on Ikbis....
The questions were:
Do New Media give people their Freedom or do it control them?
Do New Media create equality or division between people?
And this is my Assignment Video... 
 



My students did very well... and they have responded in many different ways to the video. Some did Animation, stop motion, video montage and video logs...

Ikbis and other online sharing sites are usually and sadly banned in educational institutions in Jordan... but I wanted to defy even this reality and make others understand the power that is given [for free] to people... normal people... who have valuable things to share...
I'm really glad about my students interactions... they did engage themselves and used the new media beautifully.  Here are some samples of their work...

The rest can be seen here...


By Faris Baidon


By Rania Ghariabeh


By Natalie Beiruti


By Saja Muzaini


By Yasmin Juma'a


By Jude Kawwa


By Lian Saifi

Please complete the power of the new media by going there and commenting on their works...

Spread the love and share the power... =)

Video Tutorials

I just finished my first tutorial series for How to create a website using Adobe Dreamweaver CS4...
In this series I explain how you can start from scratch and build a contained website using HTML and CSS.

I hope that these tutorials will prove helpful...



How to Create a Website using Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 Pt 3/8

Pt 1/8
Pt 2/8

Pt 4/8
Pt 5/8
Pt 6/8
Pt 7/8
Pt 8/8


They are also available on our own Design ikbis Channel...

The Dawn of the Fusionists...

So a new semester has just started at GJU... and I'll be teaching only Design and Visual Communication students... something which I consider as a bless...

And for This semester I decided to start up a social network for all my students. The name of the network is [Fusionists]!
I wanted to come up with a theme that will reflect on the experience, the spirit and the outcome of this network... So fusion as an act and with all of its derivatives seemed as a good starting point.



In this network students will upload their assignments, photos, videos and share stuff from the web as well... in this way the learning experience extends from being a one way channel between the instructor and students into something more flexible and definitely multichannel.

Again the learning experience goes beyond the class time... and in a less formal context...

This is just a prototype that I'm suggesting and will be monitoring to see how this idea can evolve into a real interactive learning experience...

I'm really excited about this idea and hope that it will prove a success...

I have to thank Ning for making it so easy to create a social network... and I'm grateful for the power of the Internet... for freeing some minds and trying to eliminate stupidity...

I wish all the best of luck in the new semester... and I wish you [Fusion]... =)

My Interior Architecture Pedagogy at PSU-KSA

I recall my students at GJU asking me to teach them Interior Design Studio. I never had doubts that I wanted to do it, but I never had the time to think about it, to plan it, and to execute it eithr until I came to PSU-KSA in September 2009.

Until then my whole Design Process for teaching Architecture Design Studios was ultimately based on transforming linguistic scenarios and verbal expressions into spatial diagram and then to spatial explorations that extrude to architecture from in-out.

When my students at GJU asked me to teach them Interior Design Studios they made me wonder why they thought so - Their answer was sharp and to the point: "you invest so much of your time teaching us how to design and express space - meaning interior space."

Here we go, at PSU I took a chance. I began my Interior Architecture Pedagogy, even though the experience was with second year students - First Design Studio, ID204. They must have had a tough experience with me, I think!!!

The outcome to me was amazing, these girls were able express, to experience, and to deliver. Sophomores at that.

Next semester, I want to develop the course and I want to make the experience even more unique. More students are wanting to sign up for this class and they were already exposed to my pedagogical techniques, so together we will be able to experiment and develop the pedagoy a step further. I can not wait to see the results.

Student - Razan Al-Sheikh -ID204

Student - Hind Al-Shamari- ID204
Student - Saloonas Hoseen - ID204
The house concept is a mix of Traditional Andalusian Design, Local Saudi need for privacy and expression of family/guests domain, and modern stylestic expressions.

Student - Noura Al-Sanei- ID204
The house concept is a mix of classical design for the whole house and tech-modern material at the work and support area (kitchens and baths).

All Photos in this post are taken by Dr. Majd Al-Homoud. 2010.

Adobe Villages Spread Over Badia Extensions North of Riyadh – AlGhat Mud Village

There,,, located the wonders of meeting power of earth and sky, where earth extends to the sky in three dimensional layouts genuinely and intelligently extend as hearths for the soul. At a first sight, while approaching the yards of the rennovated houses the soul races with the eye to discover and reveal the radiant warmth of adobe and what it ensouls.

All Photos in this post are taken by Dr. Majd Al-Homoud. 2010.

Fragments of the Delirium

Exploring the subconscious mind in the creative process through the representation of impulsive notions that materialise in the marriage between a project and a site. The outcome is a collage of visual ideas that represent architectural solutions for an imaginary project on a site as a ground for exploration.



The Full details are as follows:
1. Theme: Fragments of the Delirium - Experimentation through Exploration -
Exploring the subconscious mind in the creative process through the representation of impulsive notions that materialize in the marriage between a project and a site. The outcome is a collage of visual ideas that represent architectural solutions for an imaginary project on a site as a ground for exploration.
2. Time and length of the Workshop –
a. Summer Session – The workshop will be held only during summer time of each academic year.
b. Six weeks – 16 hours per week, 4 days a week, 4 hours a day = 96 hours contact hours that is equivalent to GJU Credit System (3CH) per Semester.
3. Time – Time frame is 5/7/2009-13/8/2009.
4. Suggested Schedule – Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 2:00p.m. – 6:00p.m.
5. Legibility - the following criteria is suggested for students who want to apply for the workshop:
a. From GJU - Students who finished their Second and Third years in Architecture/Interior Architecture.
b. From other universities - Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan University, and Al Al-Bayt University - Students who finished their Third years in Architecture.
6. Number of Enrolled Students – 15 students will be enrolled as follows:
a. From GJU – Ten
b. From outside GJU - Five
7. Fees – The following rates are to be charged by enrolled students:
a. Students from GJU 250JD
b. Students from Jordan 500JD
8. GJU-SABE Students benefits – those who are enrolled in the workshop will have the following benefits:
a. Their training in the workshop will be part of the 160 Local Internship requirements for graduation, so the 96 hours they get with Badran Workshop will be equivalent to their total requested 160 Local Internship hours because they will attend Badran Office and they will be working on their own after workshop hours.
b. They will get an official certificate.
9. Other Students benefits – those who are enrolled in the workshop will have the following benefits:
a. They will get an official certificate.
b. Jordan Excursion (Thematic Trips around Jordan).
10. Partners Participation – the following participants will be involved in conducting the workshop:
a. From Badran Group – Dr. Rasem Badran, Architect Jamal Badran, And Architect Basma Abdullah.
b. From GJU-SABE - Dr. Yasser Rajjal (Main member from Administration), Dr. Majd Al-Homoud (Part-time training), Dr. Samer Ratrout (Full-time training) and two Teaching Assistants from SABE-GJU.
11. Time Frame – the following is the Time-Frame for the workshop preparation:
a. 23rd of June 2009 – Applications’ Submission Deadline and SABE in-house exam
b. 28th of June 2009 – Interviews of short listed applicants by Badran Group and SABE at GJU
c. 30th of June 2009 – Contact of accepted applicants
d. 2nd of July 2009 – Registration of accepted applicants
e. 5th of July 2009 – Start of Workshop
f. 13th of August 2009 – End of Workshop
g. 19th of August 2009 - Workshop exhibition at SABE

The Finals

I love the finals period in any school of Architecture...
You walk around and smell the stingy odor of UHU... you avoid being knocked on your face from all the wires connecting laptops with any available electricity outlet...
models are everywhere... butter papers flying swiftly in the air...

You pass by people who are ready to eat you up if you accidentally come in contact with... just because they hadn't slept the last couple of days...
coffee cups are filling up the garbage bins and fall on the floor around...
everything is in an uproar state...
until the day of Jury... where some manage to dress up and stand and talk fancy talks with seemingly important jury members...

Our SABE... is decorated with many colorful presentation and models... it is a pleasant treat to all architecture and design passionate maniacs...

Bloom Boom!

:: Does your alarm clock tell you when to go to sleep?
:: Do you feel offended when someone offers you a BIC pen?
:: Do you know what UHU glue stick tastes like?
:: Do you CELEBRATE space?
:: Have you ever slept more than 20 hours non-stop in a single weekend?
:: Have you ever used your 1GB memory card just to photograph the sidewalk?
:: Do you have more photographs of buildings than of actual people?
:: Have you ever taken your girlfriend/boyfriend on a date to a construction site?
:: Can you live without human contact, food or daylight, but you if can't make prints, it's chaos for you?
:: Can you use Photoshop, Illustrator and make a web page, but you don't know how to use Excel?
:: Do you refer to great architects (dead or alive) by their first name, as if you knew them.... Frank, Corbu, Mies, Norman, Rem, Zaha,... ?

:: Have you ever read these notes before on the internet and found them so true and laughed so hard on them?

IF SO... Then you are an architect... and you are cordially invited to BLOOM BOOM...
Our own SABE Festival Day...



And for once we can all celebrate the madness that connects us...
There will be live performances, live play, food stalls, photography with a twist, customized T-Shirts [Yes... designed by YOU!]... DJ, Dance, Games, Quizzes, and many things that I'm sure will come up on the spot... after all... We are the Creatives... =) [ no time for losers... cuz we are the creatives... of the worrrlllldddd... ]

So... make sure to come and join us...

See you there!