Architecture 101 Part 1 A MOOC Course by iversity
Booklet of George Birdsall’s Journey From Nothingness to Place 5 January 2015 to 17 February 2015 Based in Bowral Australia and connecting to other places around the world
Table of Contents
Part 1 What I’ve Learned -
Page 3
Part 2 What I’ve Learned from Others
Page 9
Part 3 My Place
Page 12
Conclusion
Page 14
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Part 1 What I’ve Learned Week 1 –Taking Pictures Starts with my eye on Monday
Interesting view of the eye to the soul and the eye that sees outside the soul The week concludes with silence on Friday
What do we hear when we are truly silent? Are we ever in a space that is completely silent? What is music? What is sound? Is it strange that silent and listen are made up of the same letters! What did I learn? That nothing is as it seems and to let go of preconceived ways of doing things.
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Week 2 –Learning To Sketch Starts with #QuestionWithoutAnswer on Monday
Not sure how asleep my rational brain was. Hopefully Buddha has the answers The Week continues via many tests to a memory test of #DaytimeNighttime on Thursday
One look, no look, tricky on the memory, Following my inner moonlight allows me to see my memory madness! What did I learn? To trust my memory and my innate skills.
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Week 3 – Making Collage Monday was eye opening, then we did #InsideNoOutside on Tuesday
My universal mind lifted to the pure potentiality of joy and connectedness on infinite levels The Week continues with #StealingThingsIs on Thursday
Into the looking hole I jump to find my next place beyond my now place. This week has felt that I was jumping into the looking hole with each exercise and not quite knowing where I would land. Letting go of ego and time, as I explored beyond what I know and am comfortable with. #greatfun #expansion What did I learn? That there are some amazing tools in the form of apps and that I could just let my creativity explode beyond what I had ever done before.
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Week 4 – Observing the Weather Monday and Tuesday expanded me again then we did #SomePeopleWalk on Wednesday with an app called colour lake which has opened so many creative doors for me
Image only not video - Video at https://plus.google.com/u/0/+GeorgeBirdsall/posts #SomePeopleWalk in the rain, others just get wet and others get very wet! This iconic Australian sports photo is of the opposing captains hugging each other at the end of their grand final in the 1960's. It was titled the gladiators I also meant to say they were caked in mud as it rained continuously through the match and every player looked the same! The expansion continued with the hyperlapse app creating #MyBusinessIs on Thursday
Image only not video - Video at https://plus.google.com/u/0/+GeorgeBirdsall/posts Moving clouds south of Sydney - Wonderful to just look up at my place rather than usually looking forward then up #mesmerizing What did I learn? I could expand my creative consciousness from the early nothingness creations towards places
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Week 5 – Shaping Diagrams Monday challenged me as I can’t really get regular mind maps, then we expanded mind maps on Tuesday with #YouGottaHave
First Image without mind map or words #YouGottaHave-Fire and Water to have a body Second Image – next day after feedback – #YouGottaHave a body map! A few words added to my fire and water version The mind map expansion continued through the week till Friday connecting body mind and place as #Be SureYou on Friday
#BeSureYou connect mind body and place What did I learn? That I could represent my mind body and place in so many different ways
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Week 6 – Drawing Maps This week I started to connect more with the work as it was less abstract. I also overcame some fears, and learnt a sketching and painting app Paper 53 by watching You Tube Videos this expanded my creative horizons starting on Monday with #AlineIsADot
#ALineIsAdot my line of my place today is a journey as we have travelled from home in the mountains to a short holiday by the sea (many dots! ) - paper 53 app Drawing maps expansion continued through the week till Friday drawing and mapping my place in the stars #ThisWorldIs
#ThisWorldIs my place in the stars continually being reborn and filled with infinite possibilities. all with #bazaart What did I learn? My Place is many places from Nothingness to Space
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Part 2 What I’ve Learned from Others The main thing I have learned from others is the sense of community, and the beauty in supporting each other in our very individual creative journeys. I still find it amazing, how many different interpretations of the same idea and words, can be created by a larger group. Yes we spin off each other, and yet no 2 creations are the same. This course is more than a design or architecture course, it allows our brains to be rewired to see the world in so many different ways. Some of the images created in the Google + environment and also the instagram platform have been exceptional Here are a very small sample.
By 23jagm and his words always inspire – “We organic beings who call ourselves humans are made of the same stuff as the stars” H. Shapley We share more than the firmament and its stars
By Janet Urbina in week 5 Page |9
By Adrian Brewster Place: Northumberland. Neolithic cup and ring designs in rocks everywhere like maps of a dream land #OnesDestination in week 5
By András István Erdélyi because the sun is new each day in contrast of people #mysunmachine week 4
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By Ibtesam Yehia #WhatMakesTheDesert
By Sonia Chowdhury #SomePeopleWalk And there are so many more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Part 3 My Place My Place maybe the destination for architecture 101, and the journey has been so special from nothingness to place. My place is best represented by 2 images I posted in week 5 - #OnesDestination Firstly my place that brings great joy to me, in my memories and mind, is a special place I found as a teenage boy sailing on the waters near where I grew up. I learnt so much about myself and finding peace within myself at this place.
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As I have evolved and learnt about myself in over 60 years I realise the most important Place is the Place where I am Now. I represented this in week 5 #OnesDestination again, by the place where I live and work now. It feels like living in heaven on earth amongst such natural beauty, and yet still very connected to the world around me. It is my “Now� place.
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Conclusion A Big Thank you to all the creative souls involved in setting up the course, running the course and participating in the course, you will never know how important this part of my journey has been to my Now place. I really, really look forward to architecture 102 and 103 to starting
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