Morocco: Aziza Chaouni, the architect committed to sustainability

Aziza Chaouni, a Moroccan architect, specialized in ecotourism, is involved in sustainable construction projects, but also in the preservation of heritage in Morocco and several other African countries. As the head of the Aziza Chaouni Projects firm, she won last September, the 2024 Design Prize awarded by the Arab World Institute (IMA) for her prototype of a “sustainable anti-seismic house”.

For several years, Aziza Chaouni has been committed to restoring, conserving and building sustainable and inclusive constructions. Through her architecture, she also aims to solve challenges related to climate change and earthquakes, such as her “sustainable anti-seismic house” prototype project developed following the Al Haouz earthquake in 2023.

It was at Columbia University in the USA that she first studied civil engineering, before turning to architecture studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. As part of a scholarship dedicated to Saharan ecotourism, she spent a year in the desert areas of Mauritania, Mali, Libya, Sudan and Egypt. This experience greatly impacted her career.

In 2008, she became an associate professor of architecture at Daniels  Faculty of Architecture, landscape and design – University of Toronto (Canada),where she is director of the research platform “Designing ecological Tourism”. In 2011, she founded Aziza Chaouni Projects, a firm specializing in sustainable architecture, landscape, urban design and construction. She works, in particular, on development and heritage preservation projects. Her approach consists in engaging local populations as partners in the enhancement of their living spaces.

In Morocco, she worked, among other things, on the rehabilitation project of the Sidi Harazem Thermal Complex, on the building of a library using recycled sewer pipes in Beni Oulid in the Atlas. She also worked on the rehabilitation project of two resorts around the Targa N’Touchka and Boutbouqalt springs. In 2017, she co-created the Joudour Sahara association, which offers free music and anti-desertification courses to local children and young people in Oasis.

In 2024, she developed a “ sustainable anti-seismic house ” project. It is a prototype of a sustainable and earthquake-proof house made of compressed earth bricks and intended for populations affected by the Al Haouz earthquake to enable them to find comfortable and safe housing, which can be built with a low budget and quickly.

She has also carried out preservation and development projects in several West African countries. She worked on the rehabilitation of the « Maison du Peuple » in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. She was also involved in the elaboration of the development and rehabilitation plan for the International Centre for Foreign Trade in Dakar, built in 1971.

Throughout her career, Aziza Chaouni has received several prestigious awards, including the Holcim Foundation Gold Global and Gold Regional Africa and Middle East Sustainable Construction Awards; the Architectural League of New York Young Architects Award; the Environmental Design Research Association Great Places Award; the American Society of Landscape Architects Design Award; the ACSA Collaboration Award; and the Arab World Institute (IMA) 2024 Design Awards.