Crafts ascendance in contemporary project Design in Morocco’s context: Toward a critical understanding through architectural discourses.

Abstract

Nowadays, in some regions around the world, the sphere of architecture production witnesses a rising attention to local crafts regarding contemporary project design. Literature review shows that this tendency is more relevant to Morocco’s context due to some historical circumstances. Many architects claim being inspired by traditional arts to produce contemporary responses. Evidence of the contemporary era lets deduce that these tendencies are enhanced by facilities of the contemporary era, induced by the processes of digital design and production; CNC, 3D printing, file to factory production, materials engineering … But beyond the apparent facts, research has revealed that in the particular case of Morocco, this ascendance in crafts use in contemporary architectural projects is also due to some historical particularities. Architectural discourses going with the two moments of occupation and independence were a key element in understanding how crafts and crafts interpretation were nearly invariable during a century of architectural production in the context of Morocco. How can the architectural discourses of these two historical moments shape the architectural production in some of its aspects? To what degree can the official discourse interfere with some innate properties of project design, trigger some pathways and frame decision making regarding the project design choices? This study is a modest contribution trying to question evidence, establish a critical understanding towards the role of architectural discourses in the ascending use of crafts in contemporary projects, especially, when local specificity becomes a renewed request of contemporary projects.