Poetic manifesto

masu ます
a word from Japanese –
a small wooden container that fits in the hand
used to measure what will nourish.

measuring, sharing
what binds us
just enough – neither too much nor too little –
to hold together lives and places.

ma+su stands for Moroccan Architecture for Society & Urbanity
a practice of looking and relating
of giving form to what moves between people, spaces and landscapes

not the heroic, vain gesture, but adjustment,

precision and care.

ma+su understands architecture through listening to contexts,

through sharing and discussion.

ma+su searches for meaning, measure and action.

Our work lies here: putting our tools as architects, listeners & researchers at the service of spaces – small or large, ordinary or historic, private or shared.

Our vision

ma+su [Moroccan Architecture for Society & Urbanity] is a research and design office founded by two architect-researchers who move comfortably between fieldwork, theory and drawing boards. Working at the intersection of heritage, housing and community-led urban development, we explore how people actually live, negotiate and transform their spaces, rather than how they are supposed to on paper.

Based in Rabat and connected to Brussels, ma+su operates across scales, from a single house to a village, from a neighborhood to an entire valley, combining local know-how with contemporary techniques. Our work aims to weave together architecture, society and urbanity: we read territories through their stories, conflicts and desires, then translate that into spaces, tools and strategies that are both technically robust and socially grounded.

At the same time, ma+su is a place for research and transmission. We write, map and document; we design workshops, talks and teaching formats that bring students, inhabitants, institutions and professionals around the same table. Between fieldwork, critical inquiry and design practice, we see pedagogy as part of the project itself: a way to share methods, shift perspectives and build a more informed culture of space.

At the intersection of architectural and urban design, research and knowledge sharing, ma+su is a small structure with a long view. We engage patiently and fully with sites and situations until something precise emerges – a project, a process, a text, a method. At the core, it’s always the same question: how can architecture help people inhabit their worlds with more depth, dignity and meaning.

Right here, right now.

Our approach

Cross-disciplinary

Architecture doesn't work alone.
We intertwine design, urbanism, heritage, social sciences and public policy.
It’s at the intersection that new forms of meaning appear.

Weave people in

The right scale

We love ideas, but they must land.
We draw, build, test, document & adjust until a project holds, simply and clearly.
We work at the scale of use, of context, of care.

No solo act here.
We shape spaces with those who live them, through dialogue, care & co-creation.
Participation is not a phase; it’s the process.