kraftLAB : reimagined courtyards for the future of Fes

Abstract

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.