An alternative model for women cooperatives in the MENA region: the case of Arbaa Mesti, Morocco, Site Model

This proposal provides design solutions for rural women’s workspaces in secluded areas of the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. In particular, I offer a prototype, set in the remote village of Arbaa Mesti, Morocco. The village has already accommodated women’s cooperative workspaces with modest, inefficient, and un-functional structures. My design solutions confront existing obstacles by providing new functions such as integrating public, semi-public, and private spaces by interweaving different types of experiences. The complex as a whole will create opportunities for flexible indoors and outdoors functions. While self-sufficient in and of itself, the complex will also uphold a sustained life and economy within the larger Arbaa Mesti community.

Thesis or dissertation

Karimi, Parham. “An alternative model for women cooperatives in the MENA region: the case of Arbaa Mesti, Morocco.” MARCH thesis, University of Toronto, 2018.

Parham Karimi