kraftLAB : reimagined courtyards for the future of Fes

In the urban labyrinth of Fes el-Bali, artisans toil away passionately in their courtyard houses that, with the increasing density of the medina over the past century, have come to dominate the surrounding architectural landscape. The homogenous typology of these riads presents a barrier to the interactions between local artisan and visiting consumer. As a result, today's craft economy is largely centered around the middleman merchant, further distancing the artist from the tourist. This thesis explores spatial reimaginings of the Moroccan courtyard through a novel architectural program: the kraftLAB. Through this experimental crafting laboratory, the processes of craft production and consumption are reconceptualized as a hybrid experience of artisan-tourist interaction, facilitated by the reimagined sectional courtyard. This project proposes the development of an artisan network of kraft- LAB architectures for the four main crafting trades of the medina (wood, metal, leather, and clay) that assimilate into the figure-ground of the surrounding medina to help structure the informal craft economy and mediate the connection between craftsmanship and consumerism.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Xu, Xiaoran, S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Meejin Yoon.

• Architecture.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/82263

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/82263