From the ground up
An architect develops an anti-seismic, earth-brick house for Morocco’s High Atlas.
By Warren Singh-Bartlett
In September 2023, an earthquake devastated the remote Al Haouz region of Morocco’s High Atlas, killing 3,500 and leaving 400,000 homeless or in need of aid. As the government scrambled to respond, offering a reconstruction package worth up to $14,000 per home, architect Aziza Chaouni set to work on developing a housing prototype to meet the brief. She turned to rammed earth, a method of construction used for millennia in Morocco.
Rammed-earth architecture ticks multiple contemporary boxes: it’s sustainable, affordable, adaptable, and energy efficient—cool in summer and warm in winter. It’s also environmentally sensitive, eliminating the need to use and transport modern materials like concrete. The only problem was that residents were sceptical about rammed earth.
“It’s been the hardest thing to convince people because rammed earth is seen as very backward,” Chaouni explains. “Anyone who has money leaves their animals in their rammed-earth house, and builds in concrete.”
An additional issue was that while the compensation package was enough for construction, it wasn’t enough for essentials like a septic tank or proper water access. To resolve this, Chaouni partnered with Amal Biladi, an NGO dedicated to rural development, and designed a home that also included grey-water recycling and, in a region with erratic access to electricity even before the quake, solar panels, for the higher figure of $20,000.
Drawing inspiration from late Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi, the modular design is envisaged as a “kit of parts”. Crucially, it removes the stigma of rammed earth by using a brick made of earth mixed with 5% concrete that Chaouni dubs the Durabrick.
Standing in the hamlet of Talat N’Yaaqoub, the resulting house is not only more appealing to residents, but it is seismically sound. And its use of Durabricks means it can be insured, something not possible for traditional rammed-earth structures in Morocco.
The brick’s potential for the Global South is not lost on Chaouni. “You don’t need as much air conditioning. You don’t need heating in the winter. It comes out of the ground where you’re building your house. It has huge potential for affordable housing and to diminish the carbon footprint,” she says. “And this innovation was all done by Moroccans.”
Photograph courtesy of Aziza Chaouni
