In September 2023, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the Atlas Mountains in western Morocco. Many of the affected individuals are still living in tents, and with significant drops in temperature during winter, the reconstruction of buildings is an urgent task. Students from Keio University and UM6P conducted site analysis at these devastated sites, interviewed the local people, and held a workshop with the village children.

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In collaboration with students from UM6P, the F.I.T. House prototype was constructed on the university campus. This prototype has 31 panels and an area of 12 square meters. The facade consists of four walls made from different materials: mud wall, wood, corrugated metal, and just membrane. The mud wall was made with clay taken from the devastated site, and is a significant part of this prototype as it considers local materials for future construction of F.I.T. House in Morocco, as well as respect locality.

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With the students from UM6P, we also visited devastated villages and conducted furniture-making workshops with the children. The furniture pieces were cut using leftover OSB boards from the prototype workshop, and these pieces were distributed to children in groups to assemble. The intention was to encourage the children to get involved in the process of building something by themselves, as well as to have our team interact more deeply with the villagers and build relationships.

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TEAM: Refugee Girls Worldwide (initiative), Droplets of Mercy, Keio University SFC Hiroto Kobayashi Laboratory, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), ReBuild