• Name: TERRACHIDIA
  • Institution: THE TERRACHIDIA ASSOCIATION
  • Address: M’hamid Oasis located in the Draa valley, southeast of Morocco
  • Contact: info@terrachidia.es
  • Sustainable initiative kick-off: 2012
  • Goals: 1) The study, promotion, preservation and restoration of traditional architectural and cultural heritage. 2)The improvement of the living conditions of the places where we work through the restoration of this heritage. 3)Training in traditional building techniques, especially in earth building techniques. 4)Increasing awareness about the value of traditional architecture. 5) Raising awareness to the value of this heritage as a driver for development. 6)Promoting responsible tourism.
  • Features: Terrachidia is a NGO made up of a group of specialists in Heritage Preservation and in Cooperation for Development, who find traditional architecture and especially earth building as the point where both fields come together and where they can be also linked to Education and to Responsible Tourism Promotion. Based on this mentioned formula, we develop our project in Spain and Morocco, mostly in the M'Hamid oasis.
  • Results: Projects to restore public spaces and to improve the living conditions of traditional villages in southern Morocco.
    Architectural and construction workshops as part of a training project based on restoring the local built heritage, improving living conditions and generating development in the villages of the M'Hamid Oasis (Morocco). The workshops are developed in collaboration with different national and international educational institutions. People from different countries are involved.
    Educational workshops that bring children, parents and teachers to another way of building and living. Workshops are held in primary and secondary schools.
    Collaboration with students from different Spanish universities: mentoring and project development, monitoring works, documentation and research

Projects and Actions:

15 workshops have been organized between 2012 and 2017, in which more than 300 people from all over the world have participated. Several constructions have been restored within these workshops always in collaboration with the local population of the oasis.

  • Earth Building and Architecture Workshop in Southern Morocco
  • Workshop to build a house for the community in the ksar M’Hamid El Ghozlane
  • August 2012, M’Hamid (Morocco)
  • Earth Building and Architecture Workshop in Southern Morocco
  • Restoration of the fortified gate of the ksar Ouled Youssuf. September 2013, M’Hamid (Morocco)
  • Earth Building and Architecture Workshop in Southern Morocco
  • Restoration of the fortified gate of the ksar M’Hamid El Ghozlane. April 2013, M’Hamid (Morocco)
  • Earth Building and Architecture Workshop in Southern Morocco
  • Restoration of the fortified gate the main street of the ksar Bounou. January 2013, M’Hamid (Morocco)
  • Earth Building and Architecture Workshop in Southern Morocco
  • Restoration of the fortified gate of the ksar Talha. May 2014, M’Hamid (Morocco)
  • Earth Building and Architecture Workshop in Southern Morocco
  • Restoration of the fortified gate and the mosque exterior of the ksar Zaouïa El Henna. April 2014, M’Hamid (Morocco)
  • Earth Building and Architecture Workshop in Southern Morocco
  • Restoration of the fortified gate and the mosque exterior of the ksar Aït Aïssa Ou Brahim. January 2014, M’Hamid (Morocco).
  • Seminar on Cultural Heritage Awareness of the Oasis
  • The seminar aims at bringing the Cultural heritage of the Oasis closer both to the local population and to the attendants arrived from abroad. October 2015, M’Hamid (Morocco)
  • I Craft workshop at the South of Morocco. An approach to built and cultural heritage with the women of the oasis. October 2015, M’Hamid (Morocco).
  • Earth Building and Architecture Workshop in Southern Morocco.
  • Restoration of the fortified gate of the ksar Chourfa. October 2015, M’Hamid (Morocco).
  • Earth Building and Architecture Workshop in Southern Morocco
  • Restoration of the fortified gate of the ksar Znaga
  • Earth Building and Architecture Workshop in Southern Morocco
  • Restoration of the fortified gate of the ksar Ouled Mhia
  • Design project of the sewage network in the ksar M’Hamid el Ghozlane
  • Earth Building and Architecture Workshop in Southern Morocco
  • Earth Building and Architecture Workshop in Southern Morocco
  • Execution and site survey for the construction of the sewage network in the ksar M’Hamid el Ghozlane
  • Workshop on Restoration, Recording, and Documentation of Earthen Architectural Heritage
  • Documentación y restauración del espacio de entrada del ksar de Ouled Driss. April 2017, M’Hamid (Morocco)

Country: Morocco