A picture taken on September 14 , 2017 inside the museum in the village of Amtoudi near the city of Tiznit shows a view of a fortified village rehabilitated by a Moroccan architect committed to traditions and the environment. Salima Naji revives ancestral techniques and uses them to restore collective granaries, rehabilitate fortified villages or build a museum to defend traditions and the environment. (AFP Photo)
Tiznit: An unexpected gust of cool air greets visitors to the new archives centre in Tiznit in the mountains of southern Morocco, even without air-conditioning despite extreme heat outside its walls.
That is thanks to the ancestral building methods used by Salima Naji, a French-educated Moroccan architect who specialises in construction that blends in with the environment and local traditions.
Rather than concrete, she used adobe and mudbrick, and built in high air vents for circulation.
"First I look at what's available on the scene, rather than bring things in from elsewhere," said the architect who has a second degree in anthropology and who has restored several historical buildings.
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