The heart of ancient cities in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco was often a granary, a communal structure in which grain, dried fruit, oil, jewelry, important documents, and other valuables were stored for safekeeping. But over the centuries, most of them have been destroyed due to earthquakes or deserted due to economic hardship, lack of natural resources to support the communities that built them, and migration to urban centers. And with them, traditional Berber culture and vernacular ways of building have been lost, too.
Salima Naji, an architect and anthropologist based in Southern Morocco, has spent the past 20 years restoring and reconstructing granaries and other ancient buildings in the region. In contemporary applications of historic preservation, a building’s physical appearance might remain the same, but its function changes to meet modern uses—factories transform into luxury lofts, a power station becomes a temple to contemporary art, and a public library finds a new life as an Apple store. Naji, however, treats historic preservation as a form of cultural repair and engages in projects that can continue to serve local communities in the way the buildings were intended. She prefers to build with natural materials like earth, stone, and palm fibers using traditional techniques. “For me, architecture is not aesthetics, but a respectful stance towards our earthly environments,” Naji says. “I want architecture in Morocco to meet the challenges of the ecological crisis and dwindling resources.”
