Maryam Alaali

Shade for Culture

The design of the cultural center at the Lalla Takerkoust Dam, forty kilometers from the Moroccan city of Marrakech, was created as part of the Culture Oasis competition. The design concept is based on adaptability to weather conditions and is also based on the efficient use of environmental energy to improve the indoor climate in buildings. The design is based on the principle of desert tents, which people have built in a closed shape to create an internal leeward and more pleasant environment, a cactus that first had to adapt to these conditions to survive in extreme conditions and a ventilation tower typical of architecture in Morocco, but also Africa, and helps to create a better living environment for people in and around buildings. The typical shape of the floor plan of the tent in the desert is a rectangle, the closed arrangement creates a traditional common space and is energetically advantageous, and the shape and angle of the ventilation towers is adapted to the wind direction in the solved area. The mass of the design is the result of analyzes of weather and weather conditions and has been fully adapted to them. The location of the building is adapted to naturally created walking routes, which are also connected to roads. Dispositionally, the mass is divided into smaller units. In the underground spaces there is a technological background, warehouses and toilets. The first floor consists of spaces such as a theater, library, spaces for typical Moroccan crafts - pottery, cafeteria, music room and exhibition space. The second floor unfolds from the one below it. The building is designed from ecological, affordable materials and traditional construction techniques are also used. It is a combination of walls made of hammered clay with reinforced concrete ceiling panels.