Elie Azagury (; 1918-2009) was an influential Moroccan architect and director of the (GAMMA) after Moroccan independence in 1956. He is considered the first Moroccan modernist architect, with works in cities such as Casablanca, Tangier, and Agadir. Azagury was also a controversial and outspoken

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

, and was active designing ''cités'', or

social housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, d ...

projects made up of modular units, in places like

Hay Hassani Hay Hassani ( ar, الحي الحسني) is a district, arrondissement and suburb of southwestern Casablanca, in the Berrechid Province of the Casablanca-Settat region of Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the ...

in Casablanca. These projects combined elements of

modern Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

and

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

architecture, taking local culture and lifestyles into account.

Biography

Early life

Elie Azagury was born in Casablanca in 1918 to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family from the north of Morocco. His father, Judah-Haïm Azagury, was a businessman, the manager of a mercantile house in Casablanca. The surname Azagury is probably related to Zagora, the historical capital of the

Draa Valley :''Dra is also the abbreviation for the constellation Draco.'' The Draa ( ber, Asif en Dra, ⴰⵙⵉⴼ ⴻⵏ ⴷⵔⴰ, ary, واد درعة, wad dərʿa; also spelled Dra or Drâa, in older sources mostly Darha or Dara) is Morocco's longest ...

region. He grew up with his close friend and eventual colleague

Jean-François Zevaco Jean-François Zevaco (,1916–2003) was a French-Moroccan architect born in Casablanca. He is considered an emblematic figure of the modernist architectural movement in Morocco and in Africa, and his legacy is important in terms of the number of ...

. He worked briefly as an apprentice for Marius Boyer, a major figure in the

architecture of Casablanca The architecture of Casablanca is diverse and historically significant. Casablanca, Morocco's economic capital, has a rich urban history and is home to many notable buildings in a variety of styles. Throughout the 20th century, architecture and ur ...

in the period from the 1920s through the 1940s.

Studies

He left Casablanca for Paris in 1937, as there was no architecture school in Morocco. He worked as an apprentice at the Atelier of Hérault, Boutrin in Paris for two years while studying for the entrance exams of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, which he finally passed on his 4th attempt in 1939, placing 17th out of 1,000. The following year, he escaped Paris as it was in the Nazi-occupied , heading south for

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

alone on his bicycle. On his way, an architect in Pau offered him food, a place to stay, and a job, which Azagury held for a month and a half. In Marseille, he worked at the for two years, where he was inspired by

American architecture The architecture of the United States demonstrates a broad variety of architectural styles and built forms over the country's history of over two centuries of independence and former Spanish and British rule. Architecture in the United States ...

—especially the work of

Richard Neutra Richard Joseph Neutra ( ; April 8, 1892 – April 16, 1970) was an Austrian-American architect. Living and building for the majority of his career in Southern California, he came to be considered a prominent and important modernist architect. H ...

and

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

. He then took a job in

Megève Megève (; frp, Megéva) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France with a population of more than 3,000 residents. The town is well known as a ski resort near Mont Blanc in the French ...

, where he worked for an architect named Michel Aimé for two years during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The day after a neighbor exposed that he was Jewish, police officers came to him recommending that he skip town as they had received orders to arrest him. He took what possessions he could carry and returned to Paris on foot, taking backroads so as to avoid checkpoints. He finished his degree at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris in the Studio of

Auguste Perret Auguste Perret (12 February 1874 – 25 February 1954) was a French architect and a pioneer of the architectural use of reinforced concrete. His major works include the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the first Art Deco building in Paris; the ...

in 1944, at the time of the

Liberation of Paris The liberation of Paris (french: Libération de Paris) was a military battle that took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the German garrison surrendered the French capital on 25 August 1944. Paris had been occupied by Nazi Ger ...

. In the period immediately after his graduation, Azagury supported himself by washing dishes at the university cafeteria.

Early career

Shortly afterward, he moved to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

to work with Ralph Erskine for 2 years. Azagury was influenced by the artists and creatives he met in Stockholm, including

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known as "profoun ...

and Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe. Inspiration from Swedish architecture can be seen later in his projects (1954) and (1963; now the Ibrahim Roudani School). On his way back to Morocco, Azagury returned to Paris to assist Paul Nelson with the opening of his office, and stayed in Paris for 2 years. There, he socialized with leftist intellectuals such as

Jacques Prévert Jacques Prévert (; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the poetic realist moveme ...

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as " tubism") which he gradually modified into a more figurative, p ...

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( , ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century French painter, collagist, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with Fauvism from 1905, and the role he play ...

, and

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...

. He then continued his journey south and met with

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

for a day in

, where they toured the construction site of (). Azagury was inspired by Le Corbusier's thinking on "

vertical Vertical is a geometric term of location which may refer to: * Vertical direction, the direction aligned with the direction of the force of gravity, up or down * Vertical (angles), a pair of angles opposite each other, formed by two intersecting s ...

living" and use of concrete, and since always employed the

golden ratio In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities. Expressed algebraically, for quantities a and b with a > b > 0, where the Greek letter phi ( ...

in his architectural designs. He returned to Casablanca in 1949. His first projects were designing furniture and private villas, such as Villa Dahon and Villa Shullman (1951). He also won a competition to design the science building for

Lycée Lyautey In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

on Blvd. Mers Sultan (now Muhammad V High School).

GAMMA

Azagury was the only "native" Moroccan in the (

GAMMA Gamma (uppercase , lowercase ; ''gámma'') is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 3. In Ancient Greek, the letter gamma represented a voiced velar stop . In Modern Greek, this letter r ...

). He and

Georges Candilis Georges Candilis ( el, Γεώργιος Κανδύλης; 29 March 1913 – 10 May 1995) was a Greek-French architect and urbanist. Biography Born in Azerbaijan, he moved to Greece and graduated from the Polytechnic School of Athens between 19 ...

pushed Michel Écochard, director of urban planning at the end of the French Protectorate, for higher density housing in the "Housing for the Greatest Number" project at Carrières Centrales, presented at the 1953 . Azagury described his relationship with Écochard as "tumultuous;" while he respected his intellect and work ethic, Ecochard was "clearly an active instrument of the French colonial power." Ecochard was convinced that Moroccans could not live in high-rises, while Azagury considered

verticalization In urbanism, verticalization is the rapid increase of inner city apartment high-rise buildings, resulting in the development of "vertical" city parts and urban densification. Although both verticalization and densification processes in cities can ...

"an economic and social necessity." Azagury led GAMMA after Morocco's independence in 1956. He feared throughout the following decade that independence would come with a return to

vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...

instead of

modernism Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

, but was relieved that this wasn't the case. Azagury's '' Derb Jdid'' housing project (1957-1960) in

was a response to Ecochard's belief that Moroccans could not live in vertical housing.

Agadir reconstruction

He often worked with his close friend

, including in the reconstruction of

Agadir Agadir ( ar, أݣادير, ʾagādīr; shi, ⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔ) is a major city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Souss River flows into the ocean, and south ...

after the

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

that destroyed it in 1960. Azagury arrived in Agadir on March 8, 1960–8 days after the earthquake—and was "traumatized" by the devastation. He was compelled to design architecture that "inspired strength, endurance, and domination over the forces of nature; an architecture that could help the healing process for survivors." Azagury was disappointed that the project was led by Pierre Mas, who "was trained neither as an architect nor as a planner," and who severed the core of the city from the beach with a tourist district. Azagury led the Cabo Negro Mediterranean resort project from 1970 to 1980.

Legacy

On December 20, 2019,

MAMMA. The Modernist Architects of Morocco Memorial Association (, ), or MAMMA., is an architectural heritage association based in Casablanca, Morocco. It's dedicated to the preservation of modernist and post-independence architectural heritage. Activit ...

sponsored an event dedicated to the architectural legacy of Elie Azagury, the first Moroccan modernist architect. This event included guided tours of the Ibrahim Roudani School and a lecture hosted at the Saudi Library.

References

External links

's archives of Azagury's works: https://mammagroup.org/elie-azagury {{DEFAULTSORT:Azagury, Elie Moroccan architects 1918 births 2009 deaths Modernist architects 20th-century Moroccan Jews People from Casablanca Moroccan communists Jewish communists