up in flames

     My current project is a piece of furniture, of choice, for a specific place. Since my parents are renovating the apartment, I took advantage and went back to an old project of mine - a bookshelf for my room. I have been playing around with the idea since I was in high school, drawing different models, as i was imagining it, without having the idea of the entire room in my head. Now that things have changed, so did the original design. I wrote before about my interest in Moroccan style and the research I was doing on it. Having that said, I thought I should implement this research in my design. With a clear image of my room overall, I started designing my bookshelf as an inspiration from my research.
     So, let Coldplay play its best, and may this project be a success! :)

     During this search of style, I started focusing more on the form rather than the color, so I took an interest on their geometrical meaning and as I was going deeper, my way deviated a bit, and got an interest in the 8-pointed star. The Moroccan Zellige patterns usually culminate centrally in the Rub El Hizb, which was initially used in the Qur'an, and it's main purpose was to facilitate the reading of the Qur'an.
     The 8-pointed star (two overlapping squares) is the symbol used as a marker for the end of a chapter in Arabic calligraphy, but it is also the symbol of Tartessos, an ancient civilization based in Andalusia, which was ruled by Islamic dynasties for over 8 centuries; that leading to a possible origin of the Rub El Hizb ( Thank you, Wikipedia !!!!).
     Getting even deeper, the roots of this 8-pointed star is based in Hinduism. The star of Lakshmi, a Hindu goddess, is a complex star figure, and it represents Ashtalakshmi, the eight forms, or "kinds of wealth" of the goddess Lakshmi - prosperity, good health, knowledge, strength, progeny, and power.
     With all that being said, I have designed my bookshelf as an inspiration from all that. I have to admit, I had few different models of it, but one stood out and was named the winner. I am presenting you right now only my inspiration board, and a rough 2D drawing of how it will look like.
     Thank you!

Images via Google

breathe again

As I promised, just few pictures from Italy, as more to come once I get them from my friends.
I can say that Italy gave me the energy that I needed to get back on track and finish what I've started. I think that every one of us gets to a point where we feel stuck, and we do not know where to go, what to do, how to solve what we have to solve. And that is when we take a break, we get away from everything just for a second, so that once we are back we can see it with new eyes. This is what happens with my work as well. When I work a lot on one project, I tend to focus so much on it that sometimes I need to step back and watch it from the outside.
Italy gave me that chance that in those 3 days I could step back, breathe, and tried to calm down my mind that was already going crazy. I did not do anything crazy, I just walked for hours every day, visiting everything, I did not even shop...I just walked, admired the beautiful, and not think about anything else. And now that I am back, I can re-start my work with freshness and clear mind!

La Dolce Vita

As summer steps in with full speed, so is my great mood. I have been struggling lately with projects and some others, but as I came back from Italy, I felt this energy and I am decided into getting in my happy mood and start putting everything together. As everyone told me, it depends on me to make my life better; so my plans are to finish strong my school projects, and putting my future plans in function. September is coming up fast, believe or not, and I need to be ready for whatever it might bring me, which, hopefully, means a job:)





Pictures by Diana Toia and myself

La Dolce Vita

Just came back from my very short trip to Italy, where I visited Roma, Firenze, and Siena. Pictures soon! :)

the final show

As I told you before, I have been working on this huge project at school...I finally finished it!! and this is what I came out with: an industrial style where I tried to implement elements from the traditional and the essence of the brand. How do you like it?