Traditional Berber Architecture in Northern Morocco: Last Cry for its Salvation

Abstract

The phenomenon of globalization, multiculturalism, and the dominance of Western capitalism are on their way to ending local cultures if efforts are not made to preserve the heritage of indigenous peoples. Many languages and many cultures have disappeared due to the effect of colonialism, not only because of this fact, but also due to other factors that have contributed to their extinction, such as natural disasters and a lack of evolution. To deny, reject, and erase a people’s past is the same as losing the compass of history or suffering from what is called the Alzheimer’s of a people’s collective memory. Because if a people’s memory is lost, they can never assimilate the present and situate themselves in time and space. And through this study, we will try to recover a part of the Riffian heritage (northern Morocco-Africa) in the topic of their housing and construction architecture. We will explain how this people conceived and designed their homes and buildings based on a local experience lived through centuries. At the same time, we will focus on an important chapter of their history, specifically in the Spanish Protectorate era, after the Al Hoceima landing in 1925 until the independence of Morocco in 1956. An episode where there was contact between Riffians and Spaniards, and where the head of indigenous affairs at that time, Emilio Blanco Izaga, played a crucial role with his attempt to install a new architectural model inspired by other styles such as Art Deco, Egyptian, and the Berber style of southern Morocco.