Mateja Šetina

"I'll call it a journey. To forgotten and not yet known shades, forms, feelings, words and compositions. Each week it notoriously started with confusion and doubt, and ended with clarity and magic. I believe in the power of travel buddies. In architecture and life. And I am so grateful I shared this one with Viki, my compassionate co-human, who sees beauty even in dusty corners and leans in the messy process of rediscovering inner landscapes through your own hands with you."

Maja Petrevska

"Viktorija has a way of guiding you back to your authentic Self by asking questions that really require some self reflection. Through the writing – drawing – conversing method with Viktorija you develop a whole new perception on what architecture is or can be and how it can be interconnected with the other art and literary forms – like poems. Through these sessions Viktorija also shows what a healthy working environment is but also what a healthy mentor – mentee dynamic is. She is encouraging, inspirational yet humble, selfless and loving and has a way of making you feel comfortable with your own vulnerability."

Ajda Žagar

"Viktorija thought me to let my hands be instruments, that do not demand systematic perfection, but yearn for leaving an imprint. Line by line, I was slowly learning to talk to myself. To give myself a voice. To give myself a space.

So I was and I am discovering drawing, because it makes sense to be myself and to read the world in the way that I am reading it." 

Viktorija Vitanova 

"Viktorija’s approach seems easy and effortless to be led by. Dialog, drawing, and occasional poems as a not so common medium to everyone were introduced as scriptures of one’s thoughts, and then they became habitual. The answers are never served on a platter, the sole interaction leads the mentees to get to them on their own, to find their voice and vision and imprint it on the project. A unique form of contemplating architecture."

Dolores Franciskovič

"By drawing with Viktorija, I began to think about aspects of space that aren’t usually acknowledged. They are very much present and affect our behaviour, but over time we lose our childlike curiosity and fascination and no longer appreciate them. I welcomed such sensitivity and I transferred the drawings, analyzes, and impressions of the old streets of Ljubljana into words and pictures."

Amanda Aman Kronk, AIA

What is the one thing that you have learned from this course that you can apply to your creative practice? 

"Being more in tune with my emotions when trying to create or recreate a spatial experience! The course promotes a sense of freedom in expression through drawing that so many of us struggle to find!"

Andrej Georgievski

"Everything is valuable, I need to re-watch the lessons again. They are all filled with a lot of knowledge. It's practically a doctorate course, and I feel that live discussions would help for integrating the material. The No.1 thing I learned: the stop - draw - reflect cycle. Slowing down and feeling the place: its story, its identity."

Anonymous student from Ireland

What is the No.1 reason you would recommend this course to a friend? 

"It sets time aside from the educational content of university, which is sometimes restrictive and time-consuming."

What is the No.1 thing that changed inside of you, from the beginning of the course until now?

That my thought process towards architecture is not "wrong", perhaps just not understood by the wider architecture community. Having a sensitivity to recording and documenting a place, was what was "holding me back and slowing me down" according to my professors. However I know now that there's a network of creatives I can relate to, or look up online to seek inspiration to develop this sensitivity more, instead of repressing it !