Threats and opportunities in the documentation and typological study of

Mgoun Valley's traditional rammed-earth architecture, High Atlas,

Morocco.

GUIDO CIMADOMO
UNIVERSITY OF MALAGA
PLAZA EL EJIDO S/N 29071 MALAGA (SPAIN)
cimadomo@uma.es

ABSTRACT
Tourism in the presaharian Mgoun Valley (Morocco) focuses on the beauty of the landscape
and the rural entourage, with earthen architectures with great heritage values, and has to be
addressed, together with local human activities in a short period of time, in order to protect
the Valley's identity and its cultural heritage. Documentation of the earthen historical
buildings in the Valley has been carried out in the first Workshop held in 2011 by the School
of Architecture of Malaga, in a wider project for the proposal of responsible tourism models.
The objective of the paper is to understand the threats and opportunities that have to be
addressed in a rural context with scarce economic resources, in order to maintain the identity
of the inhabitants, and offering alternative responsible models that can protect the existing
architectural and landscape values.

KEYWORDS: Cultural heritage, methodologies for heritage conservation, rammed-earth

architecture, Morocco, tourism management, open source in documentation, Rammed-earth
conservation, Cultural tourism.

1.- INTRODUCTION

This paper presents the ongoing research that is developing eAM' Coopera, the cooperation
group created at the School of Architecture of the University of Malaga. Between the 20 th and
30th September, 2011 was held the First Workshop of Landscape and Heritage in the south of
Morocco: proposal for the development of a responsible tourism model in Mgoun Valley,
financed by the Andalusian Agency for International Cooperation and the University of
Malaga. The workshop was organized with the purpose of raise awareness in the students in
the field of international cooperation, and as a first step toward a more ambitious project
offering responsible tourism models connected to the cultural heritage related with
architecture, urban evolution and landscape. Of course it is an ambitious project that can be
understood only on a long term period, but as in the ongoing works we face to new and still
not resolved issues, it is presented with the aim to generate a reflexion and discussion in the
academic field to reach innovative approaches to issues that are common to many rural
regions with scarce economic resources. The necessity of a long term process in order to
obtain some effective and lasting result, as it would be only possible if the population and
Government understand the need of a similar approach to their reality, and the need of their
active participation, faces with the risks that these contexts are experimenting: actually we
observe a moderate tourism in the Valley that is introducing small transformations, it is
focused on the beauty of the landscape, the rural entourage and the offer of rocking and
walking routes, so that the profile of tourists coming to the Valley is not high demanding and
respectful with the entourage, but we all know that its evolution can be very fast, and the
actual model of subsistence based fundamentally on agriculture could be transformed forever,
with a definitive loss of cultural, natural and social values.

2.- DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKING AREA AND WORKSHOP DEVELOPMENT

The working area, that corresponds with the totality of the Mgoun Valley, is defined by very
strong natural limits. It is placed in the region of Souss-Massa-Draa, in the southern slope of
the Atlas, with the natural access from the city of Kelaat Mgouna in the south, head of the
valley and next to the N-10 highway that connects Ouarzazate with Er-Rachidia, the most
important cities of the region. From there on, the landscape changes slowly, the level grow up
to 2,200 meters where the northern settlement El Mrabtin is found, from where only migrant
groups find the way to reach the near valleys through the mountains (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 Mgoun Valley in the High Atlas context.

Many urban settlements, with different sizes, are located generally on the two banks of the
river and in some cases on the dry riverbed, becoming a well-organized system in the
territory. The city of Bou Taghrar (1,576 m.s.l.), settled in the center of the Valley, marks a
difference between the southern area, with the more inhabited settlements and good road
connections, and the northern areas that bifurcates into two river basins (the Dades and Assif
Oati rivers), where the landscape becomes arid, settlements are smaller and the roads that
connect them more difficult to drive. The highest zone in the north of the Valley is a very
different unit, and the smaller settlements, being El Mrabtin the most relevant, have different
typologies, organizing themselves along the migrant passage that follow the Atlas and that
characterizes the sector.

Fig. 2 Mgoun Valley (3123' N 607' W).

Understanding the landscape and the territory is necessary to recognize where we are acting,
the contradictions, threats, but also the opportunities that they bring to us. At the same time, it
is important to recognize the cultural heritage present in the Valley, all the elements that can
consolidate a touristic offer that is really singular and attracts travelers from many centuries
ago, like Terrasse (1938). The rammed-earth constructions found here, from Kasba to Ksar
and Dar (cf. Terminology), define the territory in a strong and linked system.
The students participants in the Workshop were divided into three small task groups, each one
recognizing and analyzing one of the following aspects of the Valley: Landscape, Urban
development and Architectural Heritage, considering also social aspects of the people living
there, a cross task that will be deepened in forthcoming workshops, for the difficulties found
with the different languages spoken in the area, Berber being the most common.

The landscape group realized a deep identification of the territorial context of the valley, from
its origins and historical definition to its actual development, founding five significant
landscape units, that will help to deeper understand the relations between architectural
heritage and the territory where it is settled. The first conclusions realized by the group
consider the valley and its earthen architecture as a living cultural landscape, in order to foster
its enhancement and guarantee its survival and development (Nogueira Bernrdez et al
2012:545). This group is actually working on the definitions of the different landscape units,
that will help in the ongoing works. The second group studied the evolution of the urban
villages in the Valley, in order to understand the dynamics involved in their transformations,
finding alterations of building's materials in administrative and residential buildings, as a
reflection of a more relevant social status of the owners, derived by the use of more expensive
construction systems. The first conclusions realized by this group are related with the lack of
strategies in urban planning, with an evident loss of unity and landscape values due to the
incoherent and informal growing of the settlements, and also the new ways in which the land
is occupied (Garcia Ramos et al 2012:517).

3.- CATALOGING AND TYPOLOGICAL STUDY

The third group was dedicated to document and catalogue the architectural heritage of the
Valley, aspect that will be discussed deeper in this paper, for the relevant aspects that it
generated. The development of this group was based mainly in the necessity to realize a deep
study of this Valley's rammed-earth architectural constructions, focusing on the Kasbah,
Tighremt and Agadir (cf Terminology) as they are with no doubt the elements which stand out
in these settlements, not only for their height but also for their meaning and relevance. This
kind of constructions are part of the landscape where they are found, where the observers can
experience the contrast of the earth chromatic tones of the buildings and the mountains and
the green of the oasis, without doubt a unique experience for the tourist (Fig. 3).

The field work developed during the workshop by this third group is detailed in the acts of
Restapia 2012 International conference (Cimadomo et al 2012:493), so that here we will just
resume the most relevant aspects of this work, developed only in the northern part of the
valley, considered by the team the most interesting area for the fewer transformations due to
its relative distance from the more populated and vital areas of the region. The survey will be
completed in the next workshop, programmed for September 2012, in order to fully document
the buildings with heritage value present in the Valley. Eighty-eight elements with heritage
interest constructed with rammed-earth and at times accompanied with adobe were identified
and cataloged (Fig. 4 and 5). Between them were also identified buildings in ruins, considered
a relevant part to be documented, in order to make possible different lectures of the historical
development of the area and of a cultural civilization in general (Klbl et al 2003:159), also in
the case that they may disappear totally, as one of the most important problems of rammed-
earth constructions is the fast deterioration once abandoned, aspect that will be retaken later
on in this paper (Fig. 6).

Fig. 3 (left) Landscape unit with the contrast between

earth and vegetation. (Image: Pedro Garca Sez).
Fig. 4 Identification of earthen buildings in the Valley (higher bar means major number of evidences
documented).
Fig. 5 Classification according with typological use of the buildings identified.

Fig. 6 Abandoned Kasbah in the Valley suffer an high degradation.

Relational forms were used during the field work, and later on when graphical plans and
drawings were digitized, in order to be able to use database software to organize and analyze
the results, according with different criteria that could be considered, like construction
materials, number of stores, uses or typologies, (Fig. 7). A typological classification has been
also carried out, recognizing the more common solutions used in the valley, usually without
courtyards, a more common solution in good climatic locations (Terrasse 1938:64). The more
common typology found is the one with central corridor and stairs next to the back side of the
building, that distribute to the rooms located at each side of the staircase and next to the main
faade (Fig. 8). This solution is repeated through the whole valley, but isn't used only for
Kasbah, as it was encountered in a barn in Issoumar, where the scale of the whole building is
reduced, maintaining the construction process and only substituting rooms for cells (Fig. 9).
The second typology found is the one with staircases next to one of the towers, whose number
is varying. This solution respond to a different interior distribution, usually with a main
corridor distributing to collective spaces and rooms. In this case we have observed as it is
quiet common that the tower near the stairs differ in size from the others, usually to make
possible a better vertical communication, or to be used as guests' rooms. Kasbah that adopt
this typology suffer also slight differences in their distribution, being a more flexible type to
fulfill the needs of the families that constructed them (Fig. 10).
Fig. 7 First page of the PDF Form edited after the field work, that offer a link with relational
databases.
 4.- THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES

In this chapter we attempt to address the

threats and opportunities identified during the
field works, in order to have the possibility to
reflect on the tools required to be implemented
for the development of the area.

Threats:
1. A
b
a
n

Fig. 8 Kasbah in Ighremt Aquid, representing d

the central stair and corridor typology. o

n

o
r

f
u
Fig. 9 Barn in Issoumar with the central stair n
and corridor typology. (Image: A. Montiel). c
t
i
o
n

t
Fig. 9 Different Kasbah adopting the typology r
of stair next to a tower. a
 nsformation.
2. Fast deterioration and collapse.
3. Lack of conservation rules.
4. Lack of economical support.

Opportunities:
1. Foster the living conditions of the
population.
2. Inhabitants should promote and
participate of the touristic model for the
Valley, for the possibilities it brings to
them.
3. Promotion of Mgoun's identity.

Cataloging heritage buildings means first of all to give a subjective value to some of them, in
comparison with other buildings located in the same place, but that are considered careless of
interest. We consider this act as a first step that let the owners to realize the exceptional value
of their building, and to recognize them as something worth to protect and maintain, and
eventually as a possible source of new incomes. The Catalogue of heritage buildings realized
by the author for the city of Granada, Nicaragua showed this positive trend, converting all the
buildings included as high demanded by the growing amount of foreigners that are moving to
the city and looked at these buildings as a way to invest their capitals (Cimadomo 2008:259).

While in the past the most powerful families built Kasbah with a special pride and intent to
show the power of the family itself, so the taller, more decorated and outstanding buildings
reflected their owner status, actually these buildings are outdated, needing usually a huge
amount of money in order to be renewed, so that an increasing trend shows their owners to
abandon them, or transforming their use to storage or stables, and move to new houses, built
in the nearby with modern typologies and materials, as the subsistence economy of today is
quiet different to ancient models (Fig. 11). This trend is really risky and dangerous for the
buildings themselves, as only less important transformations, usually with concrete or PVC
materials are accomplished, and usually apart of distorting the building's appearance, they
generate new and more dangerous pathologies. During the workshop these trends were
identified, being the most outstanding example the Kasba in Bou Taghrar, one of the richest
decorated of the Valley, suffering abandon, collapse and unorthodox transformations
(Cimadomo et al 2012:497). We think that if properly recognized, renewing these buildings to
recover their use or for a new one, can be less expensive than abandoning them, apart of the
social, historical and heritage issues related, usually harder to be valued. Tourism can offer the
need for new necessities that can be easily hosted in these buildings, being the easiest and
actually more common, the remodelling of Kasbah into Riads (cf. Terminology). Moreover
we have a much more relevant issue, related with the construction with rammed-earth and
adobe, materials that if not correctly maintained, deteriorate fast, as their erosion and final
collapse is not a linear function of time (Bui et al 2009:918). Also if safety factors are large in
these kind of buildings, in the case of older than hundred years Kasbah we face an already
wide erosion, and the possibility of collapse increases, with the risk of a permanent loss.

Following the works and thoughts that are being developed by the Task-group 2 of the
ICOMOS and ISPRS Committee for Documentation of Cultural Heritage (CIPA) related with
the Open source in use for the cultural heritage communication processes, the work
developed in Mgoun Valley is going to be published on Internet, accessible through the
software Google Earth, an open source tool that is used not only to analyze the results of the
survey, as it is possible to observe in the same images of this paper, but also to make it
accessible to a wide audience, from researchers dealing with rammed-earth constructions in
the South of Morocco, to people interested in a cultural tourism. With this idea short
description forms are being prepared for any building identified in the field work, as a fast
access to the basic information of the building.

Aware of the threats related with a similar work, that can be resumed in the lack of State or
City norms that oblige to conserve properly the buildings recognized with a cultural value,
and also the lack of institutional aids dedicated to the conservation and rehabilitation of these
buildings, that together with the economic situation of many of the owners difficult the proper
conservation of this heritage, the proposition to generate a new trend in cultural tourism,
respectful with the habitat of the region is considered a way to generate incomes for the
inhabitants that will also oblige them to invest in the conservation of the buildings, in order to
maintain this flow.

Fig. 11 The old Kasbah in Tourzrikit, half collapsed, is used as a barn, while on the left a modern
construction has been built for the owners.(Image: A. Montiel).
5.- CONCLUSIONS

In this panorama, much has to be done, starting with the need to find general trends for the
protection of the cultural heritage, a value that if correctly administered, can be a detonator for
social and economic development. Protecting and maintaining heritage and landscape values
in contexts like the one found in the Mgoun Valley is only possible, from our personal point
of view, if they are recognized as relevant aspects that can foster the living conditions of their
population. Incomes from the correct use of these assets can generate pride in their owners,
like it was centuries ago when they were built, and a way to increase their economical status,
a relevant aspect for the subsistence economic model, but only if the people of the Valley is an
active part in the decisions related with it.
Touristic activities and models of exploitation have to be held and defined by local people,
and participation of other actors has to be agreed by all of them, in order to maintain cultural
values, and not to transform them into a plundering activity, with really few opportunities to
transform permanently the social situation of its inhabitants.

As a last consideration, this particular territory should be understood as a 'place capital' to be

promoted and expressed, and to do so, it is necessary to compare the area's identity with the
place's potential, something that not all the stakeholders realize or are aware of (Parente
2012:58, Kent), in order to define how to develop it without any loss of identity. A place's soul
is hardly affected and transformed when tourism pressures are not well controlled, and threats
like erosion, overcrowding, damage and conservations become real risks. But as the Periodic
Report and Regional Programme for Arab States reports (UNESCO 2004:40), more important
than tourism for the preservation of cultural heritage, are local human activities, with negative
effects that only education and other aspects mentioned earlier, as the recognition of being
member of a collective with its own identity can mitigate.

TERMINOLOGY
Arab/Berber English
Agadir Barn
Borj Tower
Kasba (pl. Kasbah) Fortified house
Ksar Fortified village
Riad Hotel
Tabut Rammed-earth
Tighremt (pl. Tighermatin) Fortified house
Tub Rammed-earth brick (Adobe)

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