Tafilelt, the Neo Traditional Model of Ksour in Algeria: Assessment of the Multi-functionality

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A B S T R A C T The new ksar of Tafilelt situated in Ghardaia in southern Algeria has attracted a lot of interest in scientific work, being a « neo traditional » urban model that reproduces the principles of composition and spatial organization of the ksour in the pentapolis of Ghardaia. This ksar embodies the adaptation between tradition and modernity: it refers to the local setting of the ksourien space production, contribute to the valorization of these ancient centers that date back to the XIth century. In parallel to the work of thesis undertaken on « the neo traditional models of reference in Algeria for the new cities », we ask the following questions according to the case of Tafilelt: Is this ksar really a model? Does it take the traditional model fully? Is this indeed a new city? In addition, speaking about the concept of multi-functionality. How to detect this integral reproduction in the urban spaces between the old and the new ksar? This work will be an analytical reading of the spaces of this ksar according to the four concepts above, namely: the urban model of reference, the criteria of the new city, the criteria of the former ksour and the multi-use character of their spaces. We will try to apply the concept of multi-functionality on urban spaces in different scales to assess the multi-functionality of the ksar’s spaces in a comparative approach between the old and the new ksour.

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Tafilelt, the Neo Traditional Model of Ksour in Algeria: Assessment of the Multi-functionality of Urban Spaces * PhD candidate SOUIDI MANEL1 and Dr. BESTANDJI SIHAM2 1 Laboratory of Mediterranean architecture (L.A.M), Institute of Architecture, Ferhat Abbas University, Setif 1, Algeria 2 Laboratory city and health, Faculty of Architecture, Salah Boubnider University, Constantine 3, Algeria E mail: souidi31manel@gmail.com Email: sihambestandji@yahoo.fr A B S T R A C T The new ksar of Tafilelt situated in Ghardaia in southern Algeria has attracted a lot of interest in scientific work, being a « neo traditional » urban model that reproduces the principles of composition and spatial organization of the ksour in the pentapolis of Ghardaia. This ksar embodies the adaptation between tradition and modernity: it refers to the local setting of the ksourien space production, contribute to the valorization of these ancient centers that date back to the XIth century. In parallel to the work of thesis undertaken on « the neo traditional models of reference in Algeria for the new cities », we ask the following questions according to the case of Tafilelt: Is this ksar really a model? Does it take the traditional model fully? Is this indeed a new city? In addition, speaking about the concept of multi-functionality. How to detect this integral reproduction in the urban spaces between the old and the new ksar? This work will be an analytical reading of the spaces of this ksar according to the four concepts above, namely: the urban model of reference, the criteria of the new city, the criteria of the former ksour and the multi-use character of their spaces. We will try to apply the concept of multi-functionality on urban spaces in different scales to assess the multi-functionality of the ksar’s spaces in a comparative approach between the old and the new ksour. CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS (2019), 3(2), 99-107. Doi:10.25034/ijcua.2018.4706 www.ijcua.com Copyright © 2018 Contemporary Urban Affairs. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The M’zab Valley in Algeria contains the most ancient urban centers in the world. The Ibadite Muslims have built these fortified cities in the XI the century after running of the Rostumids from their original settlement in western Algeria (Marçais, 2004). They tried to get along with the hard climate in the Sahara and kept the ksar’s houses for winter and the palm grove’s houses for summer (Addad, 2013). The Mozabite built the ksour in the slope of the M’zab River to protect them from the floods. Each ksar has several entrances and surveillance towers, a mosque in the top and a marketplace (Souk). The UNESCO listed them in the world heritage since 1982 (Bouali-Messahel, 2011). Since the 1990s, the Algerian government constructed new ksour beyond the old cores for many reasons (Gueliane, 2014): • Treat the crisis of housing due to the increasing number of population. • Improve the conditions of the framework built. • Protect the cultural and natural values of the tangible and intangible heritage of the Valley. • Have access to housing to the average class of Mozabite. These ksour have a modern spatial organization, different from the local typology in adaptation with the specific conditions in Ghardaia. The introduction of the modern lifestyle recently participates in a standard composition in new housing and the new built up areas seems to be similar in the north or the south of Algeria, which leads to a lack of the local identity in the architectural and the urban scale. The local foundations or the Mozabite themselves, fighting the loss of their model of reference, tried to build new cities that embodies the adaptation between tradition and modernity. It is the case of Tafilelt, it reproduces the traditional urban model of ksour, this study attempts to assess the multifuntionality of spaces in the new ksar according to the traditional model. The figure 1 is illustrated the structure of the study about the urban models in the M’zab Valley and its importance to preserve the local heritage of this ancestral region. Figure 1. Structure of the Study (Developed by Author). 2. The Neo traditional urban model in Ghardaia (Algeria) The first part of this study will attempt to present Beni Isguen as an urban model and Tafilelt as the modern adaptation of the fortified ancient city and will demonstrate that the former ksour were an urban model for the new ones. Ghardaïa is a well-known region in Algeria, since Marc Cote and André Ravéreau up to present, its ksour have fascinated many architects and planners who wrote on the M'zab and were inspired in their achievements. The M'zab is a Muslim community of the very conservative Ibadite Sect. They always have a tendency to build and go live in a new ksar if the former is no longer enough for the new population. The descendants of the same tribe will then build the extension of their own city. This community has since long respected a “sustainable” lifestyle: wise recycling of household waste, use of local building materials and economical use of space. These criteria have advanced the work on the multifunctionality because density and multi-use space go together. The pentapolis contains five former ksour: El Atteuf built in 1012, Melika in 1350, Bounoura in 1046, Beni Isguen in 1347 and Ghardaia in 1048 (OPVM, 2017). The Algerian Government named the entire city after the last one. Guerrara (1631) and Berriane (1679) are located in a few kilometers from the pentapolis (Chabi, 2008). The new ksour are Tinemmirine (1992) and Tafilelt (1997) fully completed and Thaounza (2004), which are the extension of Beni Isguen. The ksar of Ioumed (1995) belongs to Melika, Tineaâm (2008) annexed to Bounoura. Finally, the ksar of Hamrayat (1996), Agherm Ouazem (2007) and Ayrem Babaousmail (2008) located outside the Valley, belonging to the municipality of El Atteuf (Gueliane, 2015). 2.1 The new ksar of Tafilelt Tafilelt is a project initiated in 1997 by the “Amidoul” Foundation, completed in 2011 on an area of 22.5 hectares, it contains with the 1050 housing units intended for Mozabite young couples, non-existing equipment in the former ksour: Gym, party hall, madrasa, cultural center and an ecological park (Gueliane, 2014). The mode of funding to build the houses is tripartite between the government, the foundation and the population. Therefore, Tafilelt is not a new town, the foundation didn’t built it after a governmental decision and the laws, which regulate the new cities in Algeria, are not applied on this ksar. It is a purely an initiative from the foundation and the inhabitants. It is winner of the first prize of the "sustainable city" to the Conference of Parties (COP) 22 in Marrakech, Morocco in 2017. This ksar is the extension of the ksar of Beni Isguen. One of the objectives of Amidoul Foundation in the project was the reinterpretation of the principles of urban planning in the local traditional housing (Addad, 2013).

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