young minds and Creativity--AUD final year showcase -Interior Design

It was raining...

As I parked my car and walked on the wet sidewalks, I remembered the tension I had when 10 years ago I was hanging my final year project..

By sheer faith in the conceptual foundation of my design thinking, my professors encouraged me .I reached the Jury incomplete still struggling with solving the openness of the project to the waterfront and the privacy needed for the guests..

 

 What experience we would have today sitting on the other side of the educational act?

As I stepped into the cosy office of Dr. Albert Fakhoury, greeted by familiar faces from last year jury, the talented and handpicked professionals, I could smell the tension as we went through the standardized students presentation.

Sophisticated and carefully designed banners, laid out reports, Sketch books and report thesis.. All put up showing clearly the information that as juror you need to grasp in five minutes the work of two semesters of hard work..

 

The first thing that stroke me is the genuine interest of these students in their city Dubai.. Each one of them is relating his project to the community and the life of Dubai adding to the  cultural, social, educational, artistic even spiritual aspects of the city dwellers experience... From cultural centres to spas to libraries to meditation centres to centres of cultural understanding to fashion, we had an overview of genuine reflection of these young minds insights on putting their imprints on the city fabric.

As a juror , I learned a lot from this outburst of creativity..

First, my belief that Design is a thinking process has renewed .Although the designer needs to immerse himself in it, there is a need for observation moments..Moments that you step out and observe the stage where you are in close out and becoming aware of how you need to start the next stage. Design Development if not controlled mentally by the designer might take you to final outcome that instead of reinforcing the creative spark originating from , might bring out its dysfunctional aspects..

I also discovered that Design is a volumetric poetry .It is a poetry of spaces, an interplay of rhythm, language and proportion and clarity.it is a tool to assert how we relate to our cultural identity and our environment…Fashion, spirituality might be a starting point to engage us in a dialogue as a designers.As we research the interrelationships between the theme  we have embraced and its physical manifestation, we understand more ourselves and engage architecture as a tool to share this understanding with others..

I realised that Design is also Silence ,,just like a piece of jazz music, the melody needs to move out of silence and back to it just like breath, just like thoughts, just like human beings birthed out of the silence of the womb and back to it,,

 

A designer needs a high level of architectural presentation. The projects we have seen explained their intention and aspiration in detailed plans , sections , elevations and mood boards : the distinguished students were able to relate them in depth to their design development and original conceptual foundation building consistency throughout  the project  .

I was delighted to sense the high self esteem and confidence emerged from these young minds ; they presented business cards , projects and topics in a lucid style and passion ..Their projects exhibited a great understanding of the relationship between architecture and interior design.. Some projects even spilled over urban design and even landscape.. It was the first milestone in honing Their ability of working in multidisciplinary environments..

I realized that young minds like seeds have in them the power and the will to flourish and to bring an added flair of skills and undiscovered tools.. All what we need is to be present for them and attend to them motivating them... This is surely what we aspired to do  as jurors and this is exactly what AUD has been successfully providing it  as a learning institution .