With: Design for the Living World/ HFBK Hamburg, Department of Architecture/ University of Thessaly

The local network of craft enterprises forms a complex production chain that is interconnected, but working relatively independently from one another. The fabrication excels in collaboration, which builds a network of trust among the producers. Such interconnectivity fosters the exchange of knowledge, sharing of resources, and solidarity. These components play a pivotal role in aiding through hard times, creating a social safety net, and standing up to competition — on the part of big-scale businesses. On the scale of a city, crafts, micro businesses, and makers provide a potential to reinforce and regain economic strength in situations of a decreasing economy, and encourage collaboration and solidarity. The research project of Craftspeople’s Network gives value to the role of local crafts in the contemporary city, away from the cultural cliché which situates crafts in the past folklorist tradition.

Discussion about the research project with Marjetica Potrč, Laura Bernhardt, Maria Christou, Valentina Karga, Sophia Vyzoviti, Aristide Antonas with students from the Design for the Living World class, and students from the Hybrid Ecologies Studio at Thessaly University Volos.