Adaptable Individual Housing

Laâyoune, Western Sahara

It's the job of the architect to provide a good base for housing, but the prerogative of the inhabitants to adapt it to their taste. That is the principle behind this housing for a formerly nomadic people. Two basic house formats (24.5 m2 and 34.6 m2) provide flexible, expandable accommodation. Both are entered through a small fountain court and have a second courtyard to the rear - an open living space for cooking and raising a goat. The houses, arranged in clusters according to tribal ties, are of reinforced concrete with rendered concrete block walls.

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture