|
The First Art Newspaper on the Net |
|
Established in 1996 |
|
Monday, October 7, 2024 |
|
Morocco architect fights concrete with tradition |
|
|
A picture taken on September 14, 2017 inside the museum in the village of Amtoudi near the city of Tiznit shows a granary of a fortified village rehabilitated by a Moroccan architect committed to traditions and the environment. Salima Naji revives ancestral techniques and uses them to restore collective granaries, rehabilitate fortified villages or build a museum to defend traditions and the environment. Frédérique PRABONNAUD / AFP.
by Frederique Prabonnaud
|
TIZNIT (AFP).- An unexpected gust of cool air greets visitors to the new archives centre in Tiznit in the mountains of southern Morocco, even without air-conditioning despite extreme heat outside its walls.
That is thanks to the ancestral building methods used by Salima Naji, a French-educated Moroccan architect who specialises in construction that blends in with the environment and local traditions.
Rather than concrete, she used adobe and mudbrick, and built in high air vents for circulation.
"First I look at what's available on the scene, rather than bring things in from elsewhere," said the architect who has a second degree in anthropology and who has restored several historical buildings.
The priority is always two-fold: to protect local traditions and the environment.
Naji said she was baffled as to why "at a certain time people stopped building with local materials" and how they had "turned their back on this heritage".
'Landscape falling apart'
Adobe, rock, limestone, palm tree wood -- this is the heritage that she refuses to abandon.
Naji, 47, daughter of a Moroccan father and French mother, started working with traditional construction methods and materials for private clients.
Then she realised that "it's all very well building for the rich but the landscape is in the process of falling apart," she said.
She started to restore old ksours, or fortified villages, former mosques and communal granaries at the oasis settlement of Amtoudi.
In Tiznit, a town about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Agadir where she lives in a small traditional house, she has stayed loyal to tradition with a new museum, the archives centre and a community hall.
Despite her aversion to the material, she had to use some concrete to respect Morocco's urban code for public buildings.
"I don't understand how we can credit this material that has no value, not historical, not in terms of climate control, not aesthetically, and its expensive!" she said.
"It's cold in winter, hot in summer."
'Traditions are alive'
The essential thing for Naji is that "in Morocco, traditions are alive, slowing down of course, but not dead like elsewhere".
She worked on the Amtoudi granaries with local artisans, although it was a challenge to persuade the youngest among them to learn old methods.
Apart from being an architect and anthropologist, she has also had to serve as an advocate for the use of local materials and ancestral techniques.
She was warned that her constructions would not hold up to the rains.
But she insists that sound construction and good maintenance provide a longer-term foil to the elements than concrete, as proven by the ancient ramparts of the Moroccan capital Rabat where she was born.
Her campaign is to find "alternatives to an all-concrete way of life" and she remains optimistic.
"I've seen people who want change in this country, who want something beautiful, intelligent, something which turns to the future without forgetting the past," she said.
© Agence France-Presse
|
|
Today's News
November 4, 2017
Frick Collection marks the 400th anniversary of the birth of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
Two simultaneous exhibitions of works by Hiroshi Sugimoto on view at Marian Goodman London and Paris
Rare Monet landscapes lead Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale
Exhibition of new watercolor paintings by Walton Ford on view at Gagosian Beverly Hills
Smithsonian adds Eliza Hamilton portrait and Hamilton costume from Broadway musical
New acquisitions go on display for the first time as new Early 20th Century galleries open to the public
Works by masters of modern art including Manet, Degas, Van Gogh, Matisse, and Picasso on view in Milwaukee
Indonesia to open first contemporary art gallery
Grayson Perry's dresses on show at Walker Art Gallery
Swann Galleries sets record for a print by Hopper at $317,000
Victory for veteran motor cars at Bonhams London to Brighton sale
Galerie Karsten Greve exhibits important paintings, watercolours, and drawings by Giorgio Morandi
Civil Rights photography exhibition at High Museum of Art commemorates 50th anniversary of 1968
Laumeier Sculpture Park opens "Yvonne Osei: Tailored Landscapes" for 2017 Kranzberg Exhibition Series
Postmasters presents an exhibition of contemporary garments designed by Olya Petrova Jackson
The IMMA Collection presents Coast-Lines, a major new exhibition in gallery and on twitter
John Baldessari's new series of large-scale paintings on view at Sprüth Magers Los Angeles
Part 2 of the Zumthurn collection will be held Dec. 2nd by Woody Auction
Morocco architect fights concrete with tradition
Maggi Hambling gives painting to Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery
Heimo Zobernig's first solo exhibition in the US since 1996 on view at MIT List Visual Arts Center
Crow beaded hide War Shirt may bring $40,000 at Heritage Auctions
Figurative works, a Pre-Raphaelite portrait and Japanese woodblock prints headline Michaan's auction
|
|
|
|
|
Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography, Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs, Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, . |
|
|
|
Royalville Communications, Inc produces:
|
|
|
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful
|
|