They say creativity comes from the mind’s eye and deep from the heart. So how do you teach creativity? Tempo met with Adrienne Winner and Jessica Mondo, two instructors from the School of Architecture and Design in the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) to talk the about teaching methodologies, and the university’s latest creative project: The Expat Expo 2014 Abu Dhabi.
Tempo: What is Expat Expo 2014 Abu Dhabi?
Adrienne: This is the first Expat Expo Abu Dhabi project for NYIT. Last year the second year studio had a similar project, but it was located at the Venice Biennale. This year, in honour of the upcoming Dubai Expo 2020, we decided to keep the project right here in the UAE, with a virtual site on Saadiyat Island.
Jessica: Expat Expo originated when I travelled to the Venice Biennale in 2013 Summer. I wanted to know how the UAE’s pavilion matched-up to the rest of the countries in the show. When I visited the UAE pavilion it was not what I expected. What was shown was not representative of the many talented thinkers who are Emirate artists. I have seen many great conceptual works from Emirate artists but this wasn’t present at the showing in Venice.
I proposed that our expatriate and emirate students generate solutions to make their countries more present at the Venice Biennale. The students last year built a site model of the Guardinia Biennale grounds and placed their pavilions within the construct of permanent pavilions. The UAE’s pavilion in the Biennale 2013 is in the Armory and was temporary shared with other countries. This year Adrienne decided to call it Expat Expo and locate it at the Manarat Saadiyat.
Tempo: What is the message of this exhibit?
Adrienne: The exhibit is a celebration of the diversity of the students at NYIT, the diversity of Abu Dhabi in general, and an example of how art can help inspire the built environment.
Jessica: The message to the student, professor and the audience is that some countries are underrepresented in the Biennale – when in fact these underrepresented countries have prolific artists and thinkers. Many questions of “why” come up. As part of the process, the designs by the students try to answer these questions.
Tempo: What were the guidelines for the students?
Adrienne: The students researched the art and artists at the beginning of the semester. When possible, they even got to interview the artists themselves! So they got a good understanding of the artist’s intentions early on. But over the course of the semester the students developed their own interpretations of the art, which is great because it helped with the creative development of the projects.
Jessica: The students learned to be sensitive and open to artists and why they showed their work in galleries. They learned why art is important to a society and how art connects right back to their individual existences.
Tempo: What was the best thing about Expat Expo 2014 Abu Dhabi?
Adrienne: My favourite part is seeing the students at the beginning of the semester looking at their art work and wondering how on earth they’re going to turn it into a building, and then watching their designs evolve and mature into pavilions that could actually get built.
Jessica: My favourite part is the process of making the design: sitting and talking with each student for some time and learning their points of view. I then support them by showing them how their ideas could be represented, including the drafting techniques or other visual communication for and effective presentation.
Tempo: What are you looking forward to achieving after this exhibit takes place?
Adrienne: I hope it’s rewarding for the students. Knowing what they have achieved with this project gives them more confidence when they start their next project with a blank slate!
Jessica: I’m hoping to meet more people interested in Interior Design and Architecture in Abu Dhabi. It is so exciting to live in Abu Dhabi because of the vast perspectives and views. I have developed a deeper understanding for architecture and interiors. I wouldn’t have developed this if I stayed in my country.
Tempo: Are there certain characteristics that you look for?
Adrienne: It can be tough to grade studio projects objectively, but I usually develop rubrics that list items such as basic project requirements, technical skills, and creative aspects to keep grading as fair as possible.
Jessica: Adrienne makes the final decision on the students’ grades. Conservatively speaking we can use a rubric which lists out all the requirements for the design to be complete technically. We can get feedback from the critique panel. These are invited guests that help to prove that the student and teacher were successful in the visual communication of the project. If the critique panel doesn’t understand the work then the student was not successful in communicating their ideas visually.
Tempo: Is there a lot of interest in the study of interior design?
Jessica: Interior design is a demanding field. Anyone who does it must embrace this fact. The other reason it is so demanding is because it involves all of the arts in one place: 2D, 3D, 4D.
Most people commit to interior design once they see that it involves all the arts and so many levels of thinking. The Egyptians knew this when they built and carved the interiors of their tombs. The Greeks knew this when the painted the interiors of their villas. What emerges from the creation of an enlightening space is inspiration of the artists and the audience. It’s an accommodation of all the needs of the people experiencing the space.
THE EXPAT EXPO IS WILL BE HELD IN THE THIRD PLACE CAFÉ UNTIL THE END OF JANUARY 2015.
