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N. Assali1, A. Fouil2
1 PhD student at the École Polytechnique d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme (EPAU) in Algiers /Algeria and member of the City, Urban Planning and Sustainable Development research laboratory, Algiers, Algeria
2 Lecturer and researcher at the École Polytechnique d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme (EPAU) in Algiers and a member of the City, Urban Planning and Sustainable Development research laboratory, Algiers, Algeria
Keywords: Heritage-making; Traditional housing; Algeria; Dwelling practices; Immaterial values; Vernacular architecture
Abstract. The deep attachment to traditional housing in Algeria, while expressing a strong desire for its preservation, paradoxically tends to stifle it. This tension becomes evident through the heritage-making processes implemented to ensure the protection of such built environments. With its remarkable architectural diversity—from the medinas of the North to the ksour of the South, passing through the villages of Kabylie and the Aurès—this traditional habitat represents a privileged field of action for heritage professionals engaged in safeguarding and classifying these structures as part of the national or international heritage, as exemplified by the Casbah of Algiers or the ksour of the M’Zab.
While these initiatives reflect a legitimate intention to preserve, they often remain disconnected from the expectations and everyday practices of the inhabitants. Indeed, the fundamental principle of conservation—maintaining the built environment in its original state—insufficiently accounts for the fact that these houses are still lived-in spaces. Some residents inhabit them out of necessity, but others do so by choice, believing that this type of housing better meets their material and symbolic needs.
Residents value not only the materiality of the building but also the social norms, values, and cultural codes it embodies and transmits. Consequently, the transformations they introduce aim less at altering the spirit of the place than at adapting it to the contemporary requirements of a decent life. This logic of appropriation, however, contrasts with the approach of certain experts whose exclusive focus on material conservation tends to turn these living environments into museums, risking the freezing of their social life.
Our analysis seeks to examine several points of tension between the logics of experts and those of inhabitants. These divergences stem, on the one hand, from the differing status assigned to the heritage object—viewed by some as a monument to be contemplated and by others as a space to be inhabited—and, on the other hand, from the insufficient consideration of the intangible dimensions of heritage.
For instance, traditional building materials, highly valued by specialists for their authenticity, are often seen by residents as constraints due to their maintenance difficulties and their negative symbolic connotation, often associated with poverty. Conversely, the social and cultural values that guide daily practices and are reflected in the spatial organization of the built environment remain largely overlooked by heritage policies.
Our reflection is based on the study of modes of inhabitation observed in several urban and rural contexts in Algeria, where the confrontation between a complex past and the desire for preservation—whether partial or total—appears with particular intensity: the villages of Kabylie, the ksour of Ghardaïa, and the Casbah of Algiers will serve as our main case studies.
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