Three young Tunisians, Mohamed, Meriem and Souha, volunteered to document in 3D the historic Al Nabulsi house in the town of Irbid in Jordan. The aim of the mission was to create a 3D digital simulation of a historic building in northern Jordan. 3D models are useful for documentation, visualisation and reconstruction purposes. They can be produced to represent remains and/or illustrate a hypothetical reconstruction. The mission included in-depth training in the field survey and 3D documentation of buildings, training in photogrammetry and training in 3D printing and digitisation. At the end of the assignment, the volunteers presented their documentation results to an audience, including a 3D model of the building.

Meriem Ben Youssef

Young Tunisian architect Meriem Ben Youssef, who participate in the three-month eco-volunteering mission tells us about her journey in Jordan and how this opportunity assisted her in her future career: 

I had the opportunity to volunteer in the RESMYLE volunteering mission in Jordan for three months. I visited Jordan and it was indeed a life experience. At the beginning, I would like to thank RESMYLE for this beautiful experience and especially Shahd and Rami and all the Professors, Dr Nermeen, Dr Yasmein and Dr Ahmed for their help and their personal and professional qualities. 

We were a team of three Tunisian volunteers and two others from Jordan, the mission of this mobility was the 3D modelling of a heritage building, and the building was Al Nabulsi house, of the Levantine style which exists in the north of Jordan, Irbid. 

During this mission we were able to gain new skills, that helped me in my professional career as an architect. We completed trainings on the Revit software, and worked as a team on this software for the 3D modelling of the building. We completed other very interesting training like the 3D scanning and photogrammetry. 

After that, we started to do the manual survey of the house, we visited the site and the building. We coordinated with the municipality of Irbid who provided us with the necessary papers and all the graphic documents of the house, the layout of the house, and the site plan. 

Then we started to work on the modeling at the Jordanian University of Sciences and Technologies (JUST) campus, partner of RESMYLE project. During the work, we considered all the details of the building, we made the model of the doors and windows and even the guardrail! When we finished the 3D, we took pictures for the interior and exterior facades of the house to insert the textures in the 3D model and finish the rendering and video on the Al Nabulsi-house. We finally presented our work on campus in front of the students, faculty, and the dean of the Architecture college! 

For me, it was a very nice and enriching experience that helped me to work on the heritage topic which I am passionate about, and to discover a very beautiful country that I loved so much, and I wish one day to come back to Jordan to see my new Jordanian friends. 

It was a very beautiful experience that I lived and thanks to this opportunity, I have acquired several design and documentation skills that improved my CV and thanks to which I was able to find a job in my city in Tunisia, and I hope that I will find soon a better opportunity abroad. 

Souha Hmad 

Souha Hmad, a young Tunisian woman looking for employment with experience in cultural heritage restoration and preservation, resided in Irbid, Jordan, for the duration of the three-month ecovolunteer mission.

Its mission is now finished. She discusses her thoughts, feelings, and the experience she had in this article, as well as how it would improve her in the future with her career. 

I had the opportunity to volunteer in the RESMYLE exchange program and participate in the international mission in Jordan for three months. I visited Jordan and it was indeed a life changing experience.  

It is the first time that I visit Jordan and as I expect Jordan is a great culture whether material or immaterial rich in heritages. 

I honoured to visit the most beautiful of the seven wonders of the world Petra and Wadi Rum also other places and still fascinated of the places like Jerash , Madaba , Umm Qais, Ajloune...  

This opportunity to volunteer for a mission organized by RESMYLE, which deals with 3D Documentation of Heritage Buildings. I am interested in Heritage because my study is essentially based on heritage. 

First of all I am graduated in conservation restoration of cultural goods and my knowledge in building software is limited, but thanks to this volunteer opportunity I learned the software Revit and it is the first time I learned it through a well determined training in the university JUST also other training ; 3D scanner, 3D printing, Photogrammetry, which will help me in my professional life. I also participated in a group about the impact of climate on Earth, and it was a very informative experience...

My mission focused on the raising of the Nabulsi House in Jordan, which is considered one of the most important heritage houses in Irbid, using various programs that can help us, the most important of which is Revit, which learned at the university through a training this opportunity I had a great positive impact on my life after I returned to Tunisia, because in Tunisia the techniques in which we were trained are not very common in Tunisia  

After I returned from Jordan, in the region of Monastir, they discovered a Roman archaeological site and excavated it. I had the opportunity to participate in this work, and thanks to what I learned in Jordan from the training I used in Tunisia, I uploaded the existing archaeological site through the logical Revit. 

I also proposed to use the 3D scanner and it is very convenient because the site is fixed, and this is what we also learned during the volunteer mission in Jordan.  

And I do not forget the entertainment side, as I visited many places in Jordan every weekend. It was a great experience, and I would like to thank RESMYLE for this opportunity which added a lot to my professional life. 

Overall, with this mission you learned to integrate into the group teamwork, discipline and responsibility for working to finish within the date set for the presentation.