Diachronic urban morphology: The formation process of Ait Ben Haddou, Morocco

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.