In Conversation with Salima Naji

Abstract

Salima Naji is a registered architect (Paris La Villette School of Architecture, Paris) with a PhD in social anthropology from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. She is based in Morocco and has been working on projects to protect southern Morocco’s oasis heritage for the past twenty years. She has designed, restored, or built over thirty bioclimatic buildings in unfired clay and/or stone: maternity hospitals, cultural and women’s centers, eco-lodges or hostels, boarding schools, museums, etc. She established her practice in Morocco in 2004, a studio specializing in the innovative use of sustainable raw materials and biosourced technologies (earth, stone, and palm tree fiber). In addition to her professional work, she also participates in sustainable research and action programs for environmental development in collaboration with local communities. She has published extensively, both in academia and for a larger audience, in French, English, and Arabic. Naji was awarded the Young Architects Prize from the EDF Foundation (Paris, 2004), the Holcim Prize for Sustainable Development, Africa-Middle East (2011), Takrim of the Order of Architects of Morocco (2010 and 2019), and the Chevalier Arts & Lettres de la République Française (2017). She was also twice shortlisted for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2013 and 2022).