Recording for the Conservation of the Kasbah of Taourirt in Ouarzazate (Morocco)

Carleton University faculty and students from Carleton’s Immersive Media Studio (CIMS) are performing an architectural survey and training module per request of the Getty Conservation Institution (GCI) and the Centre de conservation et réhabilitation du patrimoine architectural des zones atlasiques et sub-atlasiques (CERKAS) in order to prepare a series of architectural drawings for the earthen Kasbah de Taourirt, in the city of Ouarzazate, Morocco.

The principle investigators from Carleton are Stephen Fai (CIMS) and Mario Santana Quintero (CIMS and Department of Civil Engineering), along with their team, Marc Lèonard (CIMS); consultants Christian Ouimet, John Gregg, Bjorn Van Genechten and Laure Chandelier; and Carelton students Kenneth Percy, Sarah Ward and Zeynep Ekim. The group is undertaking a comprehensive survey using digital technology suitable for the region to document the Kasbah Taourirt. Carleton’s team is also building the capacity of CERKAS personnel in the process to document similar sites along the valleys around Ouarzazate.

The Kasbah of Taourirt is known for being one of the most beautiful sites in Morocco, is considered part of national heritage and is one of the most visited sites in the region. The site is a 1.6 hectare four-level complex constructed of rammed earth and adobe with beautiful decorated surfaces. The series of architectural drawings will be used by a team lead by Mohamed Boussalh, Claudia Cancino and Françoise Descamps from CERKAS and the GCI respectively that is currently undertaking a project that aims to develop and apply a methodology for the documentation, emergency stabilization, and the integrated conservation planning for the rehabilitation of earthen architecture settlements using the Kasbah de Taourirt as a case study.

For more information on CIMS, visit  http://www.cims.carleton.ca/. Amongst some of the exciting research and projects happening through CIMS, the studio is dedicated to exploring a symbiotic relationship between 2D and 3D, digital and fabricated, modes of representation.