studio chahar
Graduate Global Studio: Morocco
Earth Building
Wentworth Institute of Technology. Fall 2022. Graduate level. With NJ Unaka.
Earth Building Studio – Morocco was an advanced architectural research studio that challenged students to confront pressing global issues such as climate change, resource scarcity, and environmental justice through the lens of design. Framed around the fundamental role of water as both a literal and metaphorical life force, the studio explored sustainable development strategies in regions undergoing ecological and social transformation. As part of the course, students participated in a two-week field trip to Morocco with faculty, visiting sites in the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara Desert. During the trip, they engaged in community workshop sessions with local residents, learning directly from regional expertise and exchanging ideas around material, infrastructure, and cultural practice.
The studio emphasized hands-on learning and contextual thinking, using natural and vernacular building techniques, including rammed earth and other local material, as tools to reimagine architecture as a form of ecological and cultural stewardship. Drawing from their field observations and community collaborations, students developed design interventions that responded to the resource needs and transitional dynamics of both rural and urban communities. The studio encouraged environmentally responsible, socially inclusive, and ethically grounded architectural proposals. Through charrettes, readings, collaborative research, and iterative design, the course fostered a critical awareness of architecture’s capacity to address both local challenges and global transitions.
