Cultures of Making: Crafts, Scarcity, and the Environment in the Arab Region

Cultures of Making, by Wesam Al Asali, explores the architectural, environmental, and social dimensions of building and making in the Arab region, where making is not only a cultural act but a strategy for survival. The book documents twenty-one practices of manufacturing, building, and care as ecological regulators and resource-conscious solutions. Spanning Egypt, Morocco, and especially Syria, these crafts reveal how craftsmanship in these regions is shaped by scarcity, conflict, displacement, and environmental destruction.
From mud-dome construction, weaving, and food preservation to laurel soap production, carpentry, and wooden boatbuilding, Cultures of Making documents ways of making that have developed and been passed down over generations. The book brings together craft objects, production processes, the knowledge they embody, the people who make them, and the spaces in which making takes place. In doing so, it records practices and knowledge increasingly at risk of disappearing. At the same time, it reveals new relationships between tradition and innovation, and between craft and technology.
Drawing on archival research, workshops, interviews, and onsite fieldwork, the volume assembles a rich visual archive of drawings, diagrams, maps, and photographs. It contributes to archival methodology by addressing the challenges of documentation in times of upheaval and uncertainty. It offers creative approaches to documentation beyond institutional archives, particularly in regions where records are limited or shaped by colonial legacies.
Cultures of Making bridges the gap between scholarly discourse and the lived realities of craft practitioners, aiming to inform future policy on tangible and intangible heritage and contribute to wider conversations on sustainable design and local knowledge. Rooted in the Arab region while offering a broader reference for the Global South and beyond, the book provides practical guidance for those seeking to carry forward the living traditions of craft.