Diachronic urban morphology: The formation process of Ait Ben Haddou, Morocco
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Type :
Book chapter
Publication Status :
Published
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http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Abstract
This research focuses on the Ksar (Ighrem) Ait Ben Haddou, an outstanding example
of well-preserved settlement in Southern Morocco. This fortified town is located in a semi-desert
basin near the city of Ouarzazate, on the side of a hill, and is constructed mainly using local
materials. The village is formed by an ensemble of residential building aggregates, which
present different characters in terms of their architectural style. In 1987, the settlement was
inscribed in the UNESCO’s World Heritage list, and several researches indicated that the oldest
constructions in Ait Ben Haddou do not date before the 17th century, although the building
techniques used in the South Morocco region have existed and survived for centuries, as
reported by Al-Wazzan (2005), he mentions the existence of Kasbahs in the 15th century along
the Drâa valley. That being the case, we aim to investigate the formation process of the
settlement by comparing the data provided by the fragmentary historical sources and the
results of a typo-morphological analysis, extended to the urban organisms and the surrounding
territory. The research will correlate chronologically the historical events and the urban form, by
building the typological process of the different types, houses and Kasbahs, as a tool to
comprehend the built environment. Finally, we will present the diachronic evolution indicating
the formation process of Ighrem Ait Ben Haddou, and explain the economic, social and political
factors determining the formation process of the settlement of Ait Ben Haddou.
Source :
Morphology and Urban Design: new strategies for a changing society, Book of Proceedings of the 6th ISUFitaly International Conference (Bologna, 8-10 June 2022)
Date :
2024
Publisher :
U+D edition, Rome
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