Bismillah.

Sit, be still and listen…

… please don’t sleep, that’s rude!

What you seek is seeking you.

— RUMI

Al Salamou Aleykoum. Peace be upon you.

Once upon a time, at the meeting point of the saharan desert and the atlantic ocean, there was an eight and half years old girl who decided to start journaling, in a small notebook with a lock on it. That was the first of many diaries she had to fill out until she was 13. The diaries were covered with all colours and all shapes, and the more she was writing, the less she was caring about having a lock to secure her thoughts. She grew from a shy reserved girl to an outspoken woman who was too loud, too honest … too much for her entourage. At that moment, a voice in her head told her to change so she can fit in the mold. Who would have thought that by trying it for many years, she will be the one to actually promote breaking that mold?

At the edge of her teenage years, she started caring about each word she was saying, as if it was a weapon she had to control. It was tiring. In fact, it was impossible, most of the time. When she realised that, she made peace with herself and with her voice. Control it, yes, but mute it? Never again. Here is where the title of this blog comes from.

Finally. Here it is – the diary I’ve been planning to write since 12 years now. A happy place I get to design and elaborate all along my journey, to broadcast one of my passions that have been getting me to new places and to wonderful people. #Clay architecture.

I dedicate these stories to all the clay hearts I’ve met. To the hard workers. To their forever-smiling faces. To the mesmerising sparkles in their eyes when they’re talking – and even when they’re silent.

To the little eight and half years old girl who started her first diary and committed to have a bright future, a meaningful one : you’re almost there. You will always be on the edge of a new story, of a new glory. Keep breaking the mold with laughter, honesty and care. You’re almost there, you’re almost there.

Sit tight & be careful, you’re about to dive deep in the ocean of my world and the sandstorms of my thoughts.

Sincerely yours,

Tarba.

Photo credit : Elias

Architecture. (2)

Studying architecture.

…well, it was a beautiful mess!

If it is not a mess, it is not a progress.

— ROBIN S. SHARMA

Al Salamou Aleykoum. Peace be upon you.

Ok, let’s be clear : that quote about mess and progress just sounded good, but I definitely do not agree!

All along the years, I had a love-hate relationship with architecture. What was interesting though, is that it was the opportunity for me to really analyze and understand when, where and how I am productive. One idea haunted me all along and still is in the back of my mind every single day : how do I become productive when it comes to my creativity? How can I trigger myself to make a spontaneous activity, be more systematic and make money out of it?

First of all, I did my studies in two different schools in France : ENSA Paris Val-de-Seine and ENSA Nantes. One thing you should understand : in architecture in France, there is no common program for all the schools, each one is very unique and can have a very different curriculum. It starts from the selection before being admitted in a school. In some schools, you have a test to pass in advance: creating an artwork, writing an essay, criticising a movie … It changes every year for every single school, so it really will depend on your luck! Some only judge on your grades or on an interview to test your motivation. Personally, as I submitted to different schools, I had to do different tasks : one essay describing a journey I do daily, one portfolio with photos and drawings and many motivation letters. My first choice was Paris because I had my brother there and I was still a minor, so it was more practical to go there. I knew that I will go out of Paris for the master before even starting my bachelor degree. There was no school that is better than the other, it was more about the Parisian environment that I didn’t like.

Even in one school, you can find many different groups oriented towards different “specialties” if we can call it that way. Each semester, you had the opportunity to choose your group depending on the project they’re working on, or on the architects that are going to guide you all along. Therefore, you can choose to do only scenography projects for the 5 years, or have a wide range of different projects. In both of the schools I attended, I had the opportunity to try different projects, some more interesting than the others. The other courses we had were pretty easy : art class, art history, structure, law … I remember the “Théorie de l’architecture” was the less funny one though haha.

I will always remember some of the moments I had at school, but most of all, I will never forget how good people were to me. Let’s be clear, I’m a proud weirdo who will argue over anything and everything, so this was pretty surprising!

The first weeks in Paris were tuff, as I was exposed to the hypocrisy of some people with a habit of talking behind the back of everyone. Seeing that behaviour made me judge people around me very quickly, and it was set in my mind : I’m not here to make new friends, I’m here to take this degree and go home. This mindset helped me not taking personally a lot of bad jokes and judgmental comments. Thank God I had met many good souls along the way like N., S., M., J., C. I will never forget how genuinely they listened to me and had my back when all I wanted to do is go back home and give up.

Nantes was a love story. It witnessed my happiest moments so far, but also the worst. I found a new family and so much love and care in the people there. From my neighbours to the African family, I had the privilege to be surrounded by positive people all along. I can never compare between both of the schools as I had to do different projects in both of them, I just know that I was more oriented towards self-care in Nantes than in Paris, and that’s when I decided to reduce the number of all-nighters and be more focused on activities outside architecture. One thing I advise anyone who’s planning to begin architectural studies: take one year off in between, work, travel. I really regret not doing it.

Here are some stories I still have in mind :

• The day I discovered there was a book in the library with a mini-dictionary of French-Hassaniya and an illustrated guide to how to prepare Mauritanian tea.
• The naps in the library of Nantes : a must!
• That one time a lady entered the toilets and was shocked to see me preparing my ablutions.
• The joy of finishing a final presentation after one or many all-nighters.
• The poker-face during the final presentations, because you should never take comments personally even if it is “you’re taking the place of someone else” “this is BS” “are you seriously presenting this to us” “this looks like an emoji more than anything else”.
• That moment they give you a program in the beginning of the semester and you have to design something for the first time : your first school, library… Super!
• The workshops in groups were amazing! I just felt like I was in a TV show and we had 48h to 5 days to design a whole project!
• All-nighter’s music and vibes will always stay in my mind … Specially when you are not alone during that all-nighter, people confess very weird stories at 4 AM!
• Being forced to go to museums. Now, I would give anything to go to any exposition!
• Dress-code of every single day : half-pyjama, half-casual. YASSS!
• Eating and sleeping in the amphitheater. I mean. That’s normal behaviour.
• All-nighters and “charrettes” for other people were also filled with great memories. It was never a choice, we just had to! – PS: Special thanks to every single one who helped me on my projects, specially the final one, as I had to do an enormous model using sand, clay and spaghettis. What a mess! Thank you G., I would have never done it without you! –
• The travels all around Europe and Senegal! Going to Dakar and Saint-Louis with the girls was the best trip ever.

I chose to talk about positive aspects until now, but it was also very hard to get through these studies. Being judged once or twice a week and not being helped by the architects who are assigned to your group was not simple to handle. They would destroy the plans and models you’ve worked on for days, and sometimes weeks and months. They would make jokes about your projects when all you want is real criticism. They would comment on you and not the design. They would tell you one thing and change it the next week. I saw many of my colleagues drop out. It was common to see at least one of the students leave each semester. Some architects expected from us to not sleep, to not eat, to not have a life. They try to destabilize you to your maximum. This is not healthy. It can either make you learn how to be resilient or destroy your self-esteem.

Let’s hope this will change for the best. I can’t wait to witness the first architectural school in Mauritania! And you, do you think the profession of architects is important in a country? What role do architects play in achieving sustainability? Comment below your point of view!

Curious to read more about it? Follow me to be updated.

Sincerely yours,

Tarba.

Architecture. (1)

Why architecture?

… why not ?

What is meant to be will always find a way.

— TRISHA YEARWOOD

Al Salamou Aleykoum. Peace be upon you.

No, it wasn’t a childhood dream. – No, it’s not all simple and fun. – No, I don’t plan to do it for life.

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s begin the story of how I ended up being an architect.

See, I grew up without knowing any architect, not in my family nor in my entourage. No school of architecture, no art institute. The list of possible studies or professions to take was very limited: if you want to make your parents happy, you either do journalism, engineering, economics, medical studies or law. These were the only options I had in mind, when I was thinking about the future. Being raised by an entrepreneur who was a former journalist and a housewife who was a former nurse, I don’t think anyone was predicting me to be in an artistic field. It wasn’t even in my options until the year I had to choose the universities to apply for.

Nonetheless, I always was surrounding myself with art: whether it is by reading books, writing poems, drawing, taking photos… Creativity was my thing clearly, but I’ve always thought of it as a side activity. After reading “The Diary of Anne Frank”, I decided to become a lawyer and a writer with an engineering diploma, all at once. And trust me, I was very serious about it! I kept that dream until high school where I wanted to do the literature baccalaureate, as I was so passionate about writing, reading and analysing texts of all kinds. Let’s say I’ve been convinced to change that. – How ironic it is, right? In Mauritania, the land of one million poets, I’ve been told that pursuing literature related studies are the worst choice ever… Ha! – Direction : scientific baccalaureate, time to find a new professional plan for myself.

– You know the Tumblr posts that talk about some people who come out of nowhere and change your life drastically? I am grateful to have met many of them in different periods of my life, which is one of the reasons why I never feel like I have the choice to fail. Because I truly don’t. Even in the worst phase of depression I was in, I had people pushing me literally, dragging me out when all I wanted to do was to stay in my room. But that’s another story… –

After meeting G. and being literally contaminated by her passion for architecture, I was determined. I only had a few months to learn the basics about architecture, and I was all in for that. We were drawing existing buildings together, and spending hours on the websites of architecture universities abroad. I had to learn how to be passionate about architecture the fast way. After a 5-days-internship with O., the choice was made. I’m going to be an architect. No matter what. Little did I know, O. wasn’t joking when he was saying that I’m not going to sleep, eat or even be able to enjoy it, most of the time. It was the beginning of a rewarding but laborious lesson of life. Did I pass it successfully? I don’t know. But surely, who I was before architecture has nothing to do with who I am today.

Curious to know more about it? Follow me to be updated.

Sincerely yours,

Tarba.

Clay.

What to expect from a clay architecture wanderer?

… that’s too long for a name I know, don’t judge me !

Words are how we think // Stories are how we link.

— CHRISTINA BALDWIN

Al Salamou Aleykoum. Peace be upon you.

If you’re still reading this, I presume you’re curious about knowing what does “clay architecture wanderer” means. And yes, it’s a long word for someone to introduce himself, but let’s say it’s the temporary label. Let’s start with the main component : clay.

There is an obvious irony in trying to communicate virtually about something that must be experienced in real life. The materiality of clay is mesmerising depending on the definition we had of it while growing up. It has always been untouchable, the physical definition of dirty and messy. What is considered as the trash of all materials, the anti-luxurious, is in the eyes of the clay wanderer as the forgotten gem buried under our feet. Growing up in a desertic country, I’ve been always surrounded by sand and I learned to feel the texture of everything that I see. Being unable to touch clay because it was considered as dirty was frustrating to me, but never questioned. Now that I know about all the benefits of using it, let me reassure you that I will make sure there is clay in every playground possible, for the kids to experiment its plasticity, creating all shapes, breaking them and starting again with a new shape.

– That’s actually what is intriguing in clay. Its quasi-never-ending circle of life, like a magical tool to express your ever changing self, this evolving personality you have, with its good and bad aspects –

Oh, how wonderful to be able to embrace the changing characteristic of all living elements on earth, in a cradle-to-cradle process that impersonates what is the core of the natural course of life!

From a more spiritual point of view, clay has always been present in my mind, as I grew learning more and more about my religion. Indeed, it is mentioned many times in Quran, and one of the main topics in which it came back is the creation of Adam :

وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ

“And We did certainly create man out of clay from an altered black mud.”

Therefore, clay was in my mind this substance considered on one hand like the origin of creation of humankind and on the other hand as dirty. These two completely conflicted points of view are until now something that triggers me.

If you decide to keep reading my articles, we should come to the agreement to never again consider mud, clay, soil – or whatever name you give to it – as dirty, as it is just another natural material like stone, sand, water. Shifting that perception is hard in the beginning, but trust me if you stay enough time you’ll discover what beautiful things you can create with it.

On that note, I’m letting you take a moment to think about this topic : What does clay represent to you?

Sincerely yours,

Tarba.