Moroccan riad been bought by foreigners. This foreign interest has brought new challenges but the investment has helped with the restoration of the UNESCO site and has helped revive many of the handcrafts and artisan trades that were gradually being lost before this trend. Many of the restored riads in the districts of Mouassine and Lakssour offer the finest examples of restoration as historically these areas contained many of the grand palaces from Marrakech's Saadian period. Moroccan riad A riad () is a type of traditional Moroccan house or palace with an interior garden or courtyard. The word riad originates from the
Courtyard housing housing structure with a courtyard. Courtyard housing Courtyard housing is a distinct medium density multi-family housing typology centered on a shared outdoor open space or garden and surrounded by one or two storeys of apartment units typically only accessed by courtyard from the street (and not by an interior corridor). Courtyard housing developed independently in many cultures around the world as a response to particular local needs and economical and social factors. The courtyard housing typology in the US developed in the Los Angeles area in the 1920s by several small scale developers in response to the region's climate and