Today, housing remains central to Morocco’s ongoing transformations, as the country positions itself within international agendas—be they cultural, sporting, or geopolitical—that are reshaping urban priorities through large-scale flagship projects. These initiatives aim to present new showcases of a postmodern Morocco striving to affirm its role as a bridge between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa.
At a time of multiple climate urgencies, dwelling challenges need to be addressed in the context of multiple challenges including migration, digitization or the provision of water and energy. Considering this, in this programme, dwelling should be framed as a multi-scalar phenomenon, that transcends fixed disciplinary boundaries. It considers aspects that include, but are not limited to, spatial design (e.g. architecture, urbanism, landscape), anthropology (e.g. social ethnograpgy), policy (e.g. housing and development stuydies) and environmental sciences (e.g. biodiversity and sustainability).
This layered approach to dwelling bridges the macro and the micro: from public policy to domestic intimacy, from planning instruments to informal practices, from material choices to neighborhood configurations. Thus, researching current and projecting new dwelling environments in contemporary Morocco opens up a rich field of critical inquiry, grounded in territorial realities and societal shifts, to better understand the tensions and aspirations shaping lived space.
More details on the topics/challenges and possible research questions will be provided in the promotional booklet, which will be published here when application opens on September 15th!