The 6.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Morocco’s High Atlas on September 8 claimed over 3,000 lives, with thousands more injured and some seven million affected. In the hours after the disaster, the top of Marrakech’s Koutoubia Mosque was seen emitting puffs of dust amid abject panic. The scene was testament to the fact that Morocco lost more than lives that day – lasting damage was done to the country’s material heritage. 

Faced with this disaster, the country’s gaze has now turned to reconstruction. Who will rebuild the historic buildings, the homes? Should the ruins be demolished or rebuilt on the remaining foundations? How can this be financed and according to what standards? Who is to take the lead?

Eric Falt, Regional Director at UNESCO’s Maghreb Office, drew up an initial assessment of the damage to Morocco’s historic sites the day after the earthquake: “We noted major cracks in the minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque, the most emblematic structure, as well as the almost complete destruction of the minaret of the Kharbouch Mosque in Jemaa El Fna square,” he told Tamooda. “The city walls were also damaged in many places. However, the most affected area is clearly the Mellah [the historic Jewish quarter in the Marrakech Medina] where the destruction of old houses is the most severe.”

According to Médias 24, 27 historical monuments in 10 towns were damaged by the earthquake. Interactive maps show the damages caused to world heritage sites. In Marrakech, the Medina district, where the city’s oldest buildings are found, was the most damaged part of the city. The minaret of the Kharbouch mosque, on Jemaa El-Fna square, for example, was cut roughly in half. The Mellah (historic Jewish quarter), which benefited from a recent renovation program, launched in 2015 by Mohammed VI, also suffered extensive damage. A system of crosses denotes the extent of the damage in the medina: red for buildings fully evacuated, orange for partial evacuation, and green for no damage. 

The Atlas valleys were worst affected. In the Al-Haouz province, 50km south-west of Marrakech, the historic 12th century Tinmel Mosque, emblem of the Almohad dynasty and included on UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List, was almost entirely destroyed. 

In an interview with Radio Télévision Suisse, Patrick Coulombel, co-founder of NGO Architectes de L’urgence, explained why the earthquake’s damages in the mountains were much greater than in major towns: firstly, the mountain villages are closer to the epicenter of the earthquake; secondly, few traditional buildings in the villages are designed to withstand earthquakes. The urgent question now is how to arrange the rehousing for the victims of the earthquake while preserving the landscapes of High Atlas, much of which consists of traditional berber mud dwellings.

Increasing concretization of High Atlas buildings is one option, but this comes with the risk to the cultural heritage of the region. The loss of traditional building techniques is also a concern, as it has been in Moroccan cities since the 1960s: “The great waves of rural exodus and natural disasters Morocco experienced have given rise to building typologies in concrete which have since been reproduced throughout the country,” explained Othmane Bengebara, a Moroccan architect and artist. “Our landscapes are often out of sync with our cultural wealth. In rural areas, concrete could stand for modernity. The loss of confidence in traditional techniques would be a real impoverishment in this situation,” he told Tamooda. 

Moroccan architects and other experts disagree on the way to reconstruct the affected areas: it is all about striking a balance between keeping the traditional way of building and making things safer.

Elie Mouyal, a Moroccan architect specializing in traditional earthen construction, has proposed a temporary housings prototype using local materials. These thermally insulated domiciles would cost at an estimated 10,000 dirhams (around $1,000) per unit. But this is not a long-term solution. 

“In the rural world, people can dispense with architects,” continued Othmane Bengebara. “Architecture and villages are self-built, and have been for centuries.” Bengebara quotes the famous Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy (1900-1989), founder of “self-construction,” a movement that advocates “architecture without architects.” Fathy’s book, Architecture for the Poor: An Experiment in Rural Egypt, describes his plan for building New Gourna, a village near Luxor. Between 1946 and 1952, the architect was asked to shelter the inhabitants of Old Gourna who had lived on a site located near the Pharaonic Tombs in the Thebes cemetery, in a way that avoided any damage to the historical site. Under Fathy’s leadership, New Gourna was built and designed by its future inhabitants, using a range of vernacular techniques inspired by local traditions.

A similar approach could be adopted in Morocco’s post-earthquake reconstruction. Yet for this to happen, Morocco’s building techniques need to evolve towards a different idea of modernity. Following Hassan Fathy's work, architects, engineers and experts should work with the government to develop a program to support, train, and raise awareness among locals and construction professionals. This program would need to include the new technical parameters (materials, earthquake-resistant standards, structures, etc.), environmental parameters (climate and bad weather resistance) and, above all, social and economic parameters, in order to reinvent systems that are already well established. It is then up to the locals to perpetuate their know-how over time to produce buildings that are safe, without losing their heritage. As Bengebara points out, “earth is earthquake-resistant compatible,” so there may be a way to have their cake and eat it. 

There is also the question of financing. The Moroccan government has set up an emergency aid program to help survivors – up to 140,000 dirhams will be paid to each destroyed home, with 80,000 dirhams for partially collapsed homes, in addition to 30,000 dirhams per household. In the meantime, all the people made homeless will be rehoused in temporary accommodation, the structure of which is yet to be determined. 

UNESCO will support Morocco in the reconstruction of cultural property and schools, although the exact budget has not yet been specified. The international alliance for the protection of heritage in conflict areas (ALIPH) will assist in the rehabilitation of certain buildings through funding paid to local operators selected by the Moroccan authorities, a person close to the matter told Tamooda. The road to reconstruction will be long but, if the right decisions are made, Marrakech and the Atlas valleys can be rebuilt stronger and safer, without consigning their cultural heritage to dust.