State of the art, project management and documentation¶
Inspiration¶
In the following GitHub link, you can find the proposal I submitted to join Fabricademy through the scholarship gifted by Zain Zinc and CPF Makerspace.
The story begins with my teenage years, when I used to use a Spirograph to decorate my notebooks. I remember being fascinated by how a simple set of geometric movements could produce endlessly intricate patterns.
Now, I want to revive that memory and bring it into my current practice, reusing the Spirograph as a nostalgic object, and a way of generating units and larger design elements through fabric, and much more.
A Personal Constellation
A collection of people, places, practices and ideas that have influenced the way I see, think, research and make. Some are artistic references I have followed over the years; others are people I have met, learned from, collaborated with or encountered along my journey.
Artists & Artistic Languages
Artists whose work has shaped my understanding of materiality, spatial expression, identity and the possibilities of artistic practice.
Mona Hatoum
Materiality · Identity · Body · Displacement
I am interested in how Mona Hatoum transforms ordinary, domestic and industrial materials into expressive languages. Her work demonstrates how materials can communicate vulnerability, violence, displacement, tension and political realities without relying on literal representation.
What inspires me is the way an everyday object can become unfamiliar, uncomfortable or emotionally charged through a change in scale, context or material treatment. It has influenced how I think about material as more than a physical substance: it can carry memory, experience and meaning.
Explore her work ↗Zaha Hadid
Architecture · Geometry · Representation · Possibility
Zaha Hadid has been a reference that has accompanied me throughout my architectural education and beyond. As an Arab woman entering the field of architecture, seeing an Iraqi woman establish such an influential international practice gave me a sense of possibility and representation.
Beyond her architectural language, I am interested in her early paintings and drawings, her exploration of geometry, abstraction and movement, and the way she challenged conventional understandings of space.
Explore her work ↗Places & Creative Communities
Spaces that have offered opportunities for learning, experimentation, encounters and the development of my artistic and technical practice.
Darat al-Funun
Amman, Jordan · Art and cultural exchange
Darat al-Funun represents a space for contemporary artistic dialogue, research and cultural exchange. My participation in the Summer Academy in 2024 introduced me to an environment where artistic practices, critical thinking and cultural perspectives could meet.
Visit website ↗Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts
Amman, Jordan · Contemporary art and public practice
My residency at the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts through the Digital Transmissions programme was an important experience in connecting artistic research with technology and public space.
It introduced me to new ways of thinking about installations, audiences, public art and the role of institutions in supporting artistic experimentation.
Visit website ↗CPF Makerspace
Amman, Jordan · Digital fabrication and making
A space that introduced me to the practical possibilities of digital fabrication, from 3D printing and CNC routing to laser cutting and robotic fabrication.
It has been an important environment for moving between conceptual ideas and physical experimentation. Through Makerspace and Fabricademy, I continue to explore the relationship between technology, textiles, materials and making.
Visit website ↗Immersive Arts & Creative Technology
Studios and practitioners exploring the intersection of art, technology, spatial experiences and human interaction.
Jessica Jabr
Creative technology · Experience design · Impact
I encountered Jessica Jabr through Creative Impact Lab Amman, where she led a studio exploring the intersection of technology, impact and the arts.
Her practice connects strategic design, emerging media, technology and purposeful applications. I am interested in this way of approaching technology not simply as a tool for producing visual experiences, but as a means of creating meaningful interactions and connecting people with ideas.
Explore her portfolio ↗fuse*
Italy · Immersive media · Performance · Real-time visuals
fuse* is an Italian artistic studio dedicated to exploring the relationship between humans, nature and technology.
I am particularly interested in their immersive installations and live performances, where movement, sound, light, real-time visuals and spatial environments become interconnected elements.
Their work offers an interesting reference for thinking about the body as part of an audiovisual environment, and about technology as a medium for storytelling and perception.
Explore the studio ↗People & Encounters
People I have met, worked with, learned from or encountered through artistic and cultural spaces. These references are also about the personal qualities, conversations and approaches that have stayed with me.
Khaldoun Hijazin
Artistic dialogue · Curatorial practice · Community
I appreciate the way Khaldoun interacts with artists and their work, creating spaces for exchange, discussion and engagement.
His approach reminds me that artistic practice is not limited to producing an artwork; it also involves how we encounter, interpret, discuss and create relationships around art.
Explore his profile ↗Hani Zurob
Material expression · Memory · Political realities
I am interested in how Hani Zurob uses specific materials, particularly zeft (tar), as a means of expressing harsh realities and lived experiences.
His use of tar goes beyond its physical properties. Its weight, texture, colour and associations become part of the narrative. This is a powerful reminder that material selection can be a conceptual and expressive decision, carrying meaning beyond its technical function.
Explore the Zeft series ↗Mais Al Azab
Art and architecture · Site-specific practice · Humility
Mais is someone whose work and personality I appreciate. I am drawn to her position at the borderline between art and architecture, particularly her site-specific installations and experimental spatial interventions.
Beyond her work, I remember her humility and how lovely she is. It is important for me to acknowledge that inspiration can also come from the way people approach their practice and interact with others.
Explore her work ↗Ishraq Zraikat
Jordanian wool · Textile research · Heritage · Making
Ishraq's work with Jordanian wool, Bedouin weaving and traditional textile knowledge is especially relevant to my current exploration of textiles.
One image that stayed with me was a photograph of her daughters with sheep during her exploration of Jordanian wool. I found something beautiful in the relationship between research, family, landscape, animals and material sources.
I appreciate how she approaches heritage not as something to reproduce literally, but as a living knowledge system that can be reinterpreted through contemporary making.
Explore her work ↗Lour Madanat
Dance · Movement · Embodiment · Friendship
Lour is my friend and a dancer. Her relationship with movement connects to my interest in the body as an expressive and spatial element.
Through dance, I am interested in the body as something that produces space, communicates emotions and continuously transforms through movement. This connects to my own experiments with motion capture, digital bodies and the translation of movement into physical and digital forms.
Explore dance profile ↗Research & Architecture
Researchers and architects whose work connects spatial practices with cultural knowledge, material traditions, social realities and alternative ways of understanding the built environment.
Wesam Al Asali
Vernacular architecture · Vaults · Craft · Computation
I am interested in Wesam Al Asali's approach to vernacular architecture and the cultural knowledge embedded in traditional construction techniques, particularly vaults.
His work connects local building crafts and natural materials with contemporary architectural research, digital fabrication and environmental design.
What inspires me is the way he approaches heritage as an active source of knowledge rather than a static historical reference. His work encourages me to reconsider the relationship between architectural technology, cultural identity and material intelligence.
Explore his research ↗Tara Di Cassio
Graffiti · Creative resistance · Political space
I am interested in Tara Di Cassio's research around social movements, countercultures, creative resistance and graffiti in the Middle East.
Her work opens up a way of looking at walls beyond their architectural function: as surfaces for expression, political statements, collective memory and resistance.
This perspective connects to my interest in urban fabric, identity and the relationship between people and the spaces they inhabit and transform.
Explore her profile ↗How I made the website?¶
here is a documentation on how I learned to edit the student fabricademy template locally and through the web:
I used this website to learn Markdown basics
The session with Claudia and Julian was really helpful so I kept repeating the recordings Claudia's and Julian's.
Some communications were made through mattermost channel, and we had a lot of links so I opted to have a pinned bookmarks list on my browser:
For the documentation, First I started editing using web IDE,
I started the writing first to see what mood I want the story to look like, I was inspired by how much love Ola did put to her story, so I started with writing, and my hand-writing on the first page:
Little by little I decided to add the background, tried multiple colors and afterwards I decided to go with them altogether, so I kept trying and troublshooting, this was one of the problems I had:
then this is how I ended up doing it, inspired by electricity and energitic vibe, I used CSS as interface design:
View the code
/* =========================================
FABRICADEMY THEME
========================================= */
:root > * {
--md-primary-fg-color: #4cb1cd;
--md-primary-fg-color--light: #009485;
--md-primary-fg-color--dark: #ff0000;
}
/* =========================================
YAFA ELECTRIC PALETTE
========================================= */
:root {
--yafa-lime: #B8FF3D;
--yafa-blue: #20BFFF;
--yafa-fuchsia: #FF00D4;
--yafa-violet: #6C4AB6;
}
/* =========================================
HEADER + NAVIGATION
Transparent — shows the top gradient
========================================= */
.md-header,
.md-tabs {
--md-default-fg-color: #000000;
--md-default-bg-color--light: transparent;
background: transparent !important;
background-color: transparent !important;
}
/* =========================================
MAIN PAGE
Electric gradient from the top
fading into white
========================================= */
body {
background:
radial-gradient(
circle at 10% 0%,
var(--yafa-lime) 0%,
transparent 35%
),
radial-gradient(
circle at 35% 0%,
var(--yafa-blue) 0%,
transparent 40%
),
radial-gradient(
circle at 60% 0%,
var(--yafa-fuchsia) 0%,
transparent 40%
),
radial-gradient(
circle at 90% 0%,
var(--yafa-violet) 0%,
transparent 40%
),
#FFFFFF;
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-size: 100% 700px;
}
/* =========================================
CONTENT
========================================= */
.md-main,
.md-content,
.md-content__inner {
background: transparent !important;
And for the photos radius, this is how I edited:
/* =========================================
IMAGES
========================================= */
img {
border-radius: 25px;
}
Claudia and Murad helped me do the process locally using visual studio code and git bash, I had some problems while the VSC loading but after I learned to push changes using git bash it felt really good to control technology, and not let the interfaces control you!
I had fun choosing the font and icon, I did it through the instructions written on the zensical.toml tab, where it led me step by step through the website, and the included icons set which is where I was able to choose through the search on Lucide, it is automatically connected to our website template.
It was also fun to edit the assignments page:
View the code
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
- [](./week01/)
**Project Management**
- [](./week02/)
**Digital Bodies**
- [](./week03/)
**Circular Fashion**
- [](./week04/)
**BioChromes**
- [](./week05/)
**E-Textiles**
- [](./week06/)
**Computational Couture**
- [](./week07/)
**BioFabricating Materials**
- [](./week08/)
**Soft Robotics**
- [](./week09/)
**Wearables**
- [](./week10/)
**Textile Scaffold**
- [](./week11/)
**Open Source Hardware**
- [](./week12/)
**Skin Interfaces**
</div>
Working locally VS Online¶
After my discussions with Claudia and Murad, I was advised to continue working on the website locally using Visual Studio Code and Git Bash. This allowed me to manage my edits through a simple Git workflow, synchronizing my local files with the remote repository.
After my discussions with Claudia and Murad, I was advised to continue working on the website locally using Visual Studio Code and Git Bash. This allowed me to manage my edits through a simple Git workflow, synchronizing my local files with the remote repository.
A note about using Git Bash
In my experience, there was no copy and paste commands directly into the Git Bash application. So I either typed the commands manually or used the keyboard's up arrow (↑) to recall previously entered commands.
The up arrow allows me to cycle through the recent commands stored in the terminal and select one instead of typing it again.
View the Git workflow
| Command | Function | Screenshot |
|---|---|---|
git pull |
Retrieve the latest changes from the remote repository before starting to work |  |
git status |
Check the current state of the repository, including modified, staged, and untracked files, and whether everything is up to date |  |
git commit -m "message" |
Save the staged changes locally with a descriptive commit message |  |
git push |
Upload the committed changes to the remote repository |  |
update: I decided to work back online on web IDE, I found it more convienint for me because the internet connection in Jordan is generally very good and I didn't want to add more communication channels, which in my experience made it harder to address issues when it happen
To Enhance¶
I want to add multiple fonts and move things around the page!
Update: I added a secondary font for images captions!, I'll keep working on pages until January.
References¶
- https://lucide.dev/
- https://class.textile-academy.org/2025/ola-muhanna/
-
Tools:
a. Canva: editing images
b. I love pdf: portfolio compress
c. I love image: Images resize in pixels
d. Web IDE & Visual Studio Code: local web editing
e. GitBash: Push edits to website
f. Mattermost: Communications
g. Nueval: Task submition and checklist
h. Procreate: Hand-writing on iPad