140
A. Condello
Berbers were more interested in living an authentic life through luxury craftsmanship. More importantly, ‘rather than calling themselves “Berbers”, a pejorative term
derived from the Latin word barbarous or “barbarian”, they refer to themselves by
the name of the particular group. Berbers also use the overarching term “Imazighen”
or “the free people”’ [5]. It is precisely this quality that Studio KO architects adapt to
include the horizontal layers of textured brickwork, resembling a Berber (Amazigh)
textile loom in operation camouflaged in a biomorphic manner into what I call permanent brick-pelts, or a conglomerate of intricate brick patterns made to resemble
snakeskin or date palm tree trunks.
Studio KO architects transform the textile through the constructed technique
of weaving the architectural-cultural object. Amazigh craft is transcended into
Morocco’s postmodernist and contemporary architectural building techniques. In
terms of Postmodernist attitudes towards craft production, Andrea Branzi states that
‘the supposed creativity of the artisan, or at least his [or her] “ancient wisdom,”
is contrasted with today’s consumption-oriented technology. In reality, the arts and
crafts, shifting the responsibility for research into new forms of merchandise and
consumption onto industry, stick to the pure and simple “reproduction” of existing
models, i.e. those already shaped by tradition’ [8, p. 580]. Amazigh tradition is what
drives Studio KO architects’ craft method as an authenticated- and luxury-quality
expression.
In A Theory of Craft: Function and Aesthetic Expression, Howard Risatti notes
that ‘material and technique go to the very heart of craft’ and is associated with
strength, force, power, virtue’ [40]. Interestingly enough, craft accentuates the ‘technical knowledge and technical skill required to make an actual object come into being’
[40], as if with the sleight-of-hand. For Risatti, ‘skill of this kind was so useful and
so extraordinary that in the Middle Ages the word craft also became associated with
“witchcraft”, a vestige of which remains in our use of ‘crafty’ for a shrewd or even
underhanded person’ [40]. In terms of brickwork, the sleight-of-hand-work and the
clay brick material were forged together via the kiln as if cooked until burnt. The
furnace for the bricks created the desired material poise of an object, as if rendered
by sophisticated magic for the creation of new terracotta patterns or brick trickery.
In connecting sustainable luxury and craftsmanship, the tradition of incorporating
brick trickery linked with the craftsperson’s sleight-of-hand-work is an intriguing cultural after-effect through contemporary architectural practices. As already noted, the
production of Studio KO’s work transcends Amazigh culture. Traditionally, Moroccan women who practise craftsmanship (recognised as Maalems) are responsible
for making intricate Amazigh carpets. Aspects deriving from their textile techniques
have been adapted by Studio KO as evidenced in their brick façade compositions.
The actual bricks were made in the Tetouan area, central Morocco.
Another technique Studio KO includes is the medieval tradition of making the
monochrome green-glazed ceramic and tiles called Tamegroute, also the name of
town east of Morocco’s Sahara desert. These hand-made techniques made out of
clay dug out from palm groves were brought to Tamegroute by the artisans from Fez.
Aspects deriving from these ancestral-cultural prospects are repositioned abstractly
within the contemporary architectural practice as with the application of zellige or
A. Condello
Berbers were more interested in living an authentic life through luxury craftsmanship. More importantly, ‘rather than calling themselves “Berbers”, a pejorative term
derived from the Latin word barbarous or “barbarian”, they refer to themselves by
the name of the particular group. Berbers also use the overarching term “Imazighen”
or “the free people”’ [5]. It is precisely this quality that Studio KO architects adapt to
include the horizontal layers of textured brickwork, resembling a Berber (Amazigh)
textile loom in operation camouflaged in a biomorphic manner into what I call permanent brick-pelts, or a conglomerate of intricate brick patterns made to resemble
snakeskin or date palm tree trunks.
Studio KO architects transform the textile through the constructed technique
of weaving the architectural-cultural object. Amazigh craft is transcended into
Morocco’s postmodernist and contemporary architectural building techniques. In
terms of Postmodernist attitudes towards craft production, Andrea Branzi states that
‘the supposed creativity of the artisan, or at least his [or her] “ancient wisdom,”
is contrasted with today’s consumption-oriented technology. In reality, the arts and
crafts, shifting the responsibility for research into new forms of merchandise and
consumption onto industry, stick to the pure and simple “reproduction” of existing
models, i.e. those already shaped by tradition’ [8, p. 580]. Amazigh tradition is what
drives Studio KO architects’ craft method as an authenticated- and luxury-quality
expression.
In A Theory of Craft: Function and Aesthetic Expression, Howard Risatti notes
that ‘material and technique go to the very heart of craft’ and is associated with
strength, force, power, virtue’ [40]. Interestingly enough, craft accentuates the ‘technical knowledge and technical skill required to make an actual object come into being’
[40], as if with the sleight-of-hand. For Risatti, ‘skill of this kind was so useful and
so extraordinary that in the Middle Ages the word craft also became associated with
“witchcraft”, a vestige of which remains in our use of ‘crafty’ for a shrewd or even
underhanded person’ [40]. In terms of brickwork, the sleight-of-hand-work and the
clay brick material were forged together via the kiln as if cooked until burnt. The
furnace for the bricks created the desired material poise of an object, as if rendered
by sophisticated magic for the creation of new terracotta patterns or brick trickery.
In connecting sustainable luxury and craftsmanship, the tradition of incorporating
brick trickery linked with the craftsperson’s sleight-of-hand-work is an intriguing cultural after-effect through contemporary architectural practices. As already noted, the
production of Studio KO’s work transcends Amazigh culture. Traditionally, Moroccan women who practise craftsmanship (recognised as Maalems) are responsible
for making intricate Amazigh carpets. Aspects deriving from their textile techniques
have been adapted by Studio KO as evidenced in their brick façade compositions.
The actual bricks were made in the Tetouan area, central Morocco.
Another technique Studio KO includes is the medieval tradition of making the
monochrome green-glazed ceramic and tiles called Tamegroute, also the name of
town east of Morocco’s Sahara desert. These hand-made techniques made out of
clay dug out from palm groves were brought to Tamegroute by the artisans from Fez.
Aspects deriving from these ancestral-cultural prospects are repositioned abstractly
within the contemporary architectural practice as with the application of zellige or