I didn’t actually choose Architectural Design (AD01).
Architecture has always interested me, but I knew it was a difficult concept to grasp, and, like many of us, I’m relatively reluctant about working hard. I have zero period P.E., and I got put into AD01 because it was the only sixth period class that fulfilled my fine art requirement. Six weeks later, I both regret and am happy for this decision: AD01 isn’t an easy class. It moves at a fast pace, and I’m often left struggling to understand what I have to do.
However, in the words of Ehsaan Mesghali, the teacher of AD01, “I just think it’s really cool when there’s, you know, an idea stuck in your head and you have this itch…and it’s a rewarding feeling to not only be able to create it [digitally]…but also using different technologies to bring it to eventual life.”
It’s true. Finishing up an assigned structure gives me a deep sense of fulfillment and accomplishment, which is probably a bit unmerited, but satisfying all the same.
Mesghali is a CCHS alumni, and when asked how things had changed since he was a student, he wryly commented on the sale of junk food by students being banned. Apart from that, he says, everything’s pretty much the same.
Mesghali said he got into architecture because he’s always been drawing and interested in certain branches of math. He was actually in AVPA art, but he didn’t take any architecture classes in high school; he did that in college. He has worked in the digital design and architecture industries and is concurrently teaching at West LA college and CCHS.
This is the first year AD01 is being offered, and there’s no AD02. The class is a test run, at least for this year, although the administration intends to offer a series of architecture /design-related classes following AD01.
The class isn’t exactly about creating buildings, though. It’s more conceptual, as in familiarizing students with ideals of design. We work with Rhino, a popular designing program within various design industries, and we will also work with Adobe Illustrator for designing on a two dimensional plane. Students can pursue careers in industries other than architecture, such as graphic design, product design, and any other digital design related professions, by utilizing fundamentals from this class and building on them.