In what appears to be an early application of art therapy, new research suggests that the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí used the garden of a psychiatric hospital as a testing ground for his revolutionary designs, with the patients serving as his artisans.
They were developed gradually, by the people who live there, with the help of local artisans of construction, usually with little or no support from the authorities.
Their import was ended, however, by the imposition of duties and a flood of cheap fabric – cheaper even than poorly paid Bengali artisans could provide – from the new steam mills of northern England and lowland Scotland that conquered the Indian as well the British market.
After studying and documenting closely the work of local artisans of construction in Dharavi, Bhandup, Ghatkopar, Sakinaka, Shivaji Nagar and other homegrown neighbourhoods in Mumbai (but also in Sao Paulo, Rio, Shenzhen and Tokyo), we decided to join forces with artisans whom we thought were particularly diligent and innovative.
If you get there for 10.30am, you can watch the artisans dive into the smoky chamber above an open fire and pull out rods hung with golden-smoked herrings, the so-called "Bornholmers".
Five years and the hard work of an estimated 150 local artisans later, his pet project has bloomed into a blend of botanical wonderland and eco-minded retreat.
Today's artisans are also taking advantage of advances in 3D printing and computer-assisted design.
Having embraced new technology and business models, Etsy and the rest of the maker movement may stand a better chance of supporting artisans.
One mission included some 3,000 young men and women, numerous artisans and a hold full of seeds.
To encourage successive generations to stay in the trade, the Venetian government granted artisans higher social status and permission for their daughters to marry into premier Venetian families.
Districts such as Belgravia, Chelsea or Mayfair are dominated by quiet rows of low houses with back gardens, leafy squares and lanes lined with what were once artisans' cottages or stables.
