The Group of Moroccan Modern Architects () or GAMMA was a collective of

modernist architects Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...

working in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. It began under the direction of

Michel Écochard Michel Écochard (11 March 1905 - 24 May 1985) was a French architect and urban planner. He played a large part in the urban planning of Casablanca from 1946 to 1952 during the French Protectorate, then in the French redevelopment of Damascu ...

, director of urban planning in Morocco during the later years of the French protectorate, and was led by

Elie Azagury 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 Agadi ...

after Morocco's independence.

History

GAMMA initially included the architects George Candillis,

Alexis Josic Aljoša Josić ( sr, Аљоша Јосић), known in France as Alexis Josic (Bečej, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, 24 May 1921 - 10 March 2011) was a French architect. Son of the Serbian painter Mladen Josić, he studied architecture in ...

and

Shadrach Woods Shadrach Woods (June 30, 1923 – July 31, 1973) was an American architect, urban planner and theorist. Biography Schooled in engineering at New York University and in literature and philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin, Woods joined the Par ...

. In the early 1950s, Écochard commissioned GAMMA to design housing that provided a "culturally specific living tissue" for laborers and migrants from the countryside. Sémiramis, (Honeycomb), and

Carrières Centrales ''Carrières Centrales'' () is a series of modernist housing developments in Casablanca, Morocco designed in the 1950s by architects Georges Candillis, Shadrach Woods, Alexis Josic. The development aimed to create utopian "habitats" that would p ...

were some of the first examples of this style that came to be called

vernacular modernism 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 ...

. Ecochard's 8x8 meter model, designed to address Casablanca's issues with overpopulation and rural exodus, was pioneering in the architecture of

collective housing A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

. It was the first time the French Protectorate built housing for the colonized rather than the colonizers, and it did so to suppress the

Moroccan Nationalist Movement Moroccan may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to the country of Morocco * Moroccan people * Moroccan Arabic, spoken in Morocco * Moroccan Jews See also * Morocco leather Morocco leather (also known as Levant, the French Mar ...

, particularly after the 1952 protests following the assassination of the labor unionist

Farhat Hached Farhat Hached (; 2 February 1914 – 5 December 1952) was a Tunisian labor unionist and independence activist assassinated by the '' Main Rouge'', a French terrorist organization operated by French foreign intelligence. He was one of the leader ...

, which were centered in the bidonville of

(now

Hay Mohammadi Hay Mohammadi or Hay Mohammedi ( ar, الحي المحمدي) is an arrondissement of eastern Casablanca, in the Aïn Sebaâ - Hay Mohammadi district of the Casablanca-Settat region of Morocco. As of 2004 it had 156,501 inhabitants. Notable res ...

). At this time,

was the only "native" Moroccan architect in GAMMA. He and Candilis pushed Écochard for higher density development at

. 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 p ...

"an economic and social necessity," and was critical of Écochard and his idea that Moroccans could live in high-rises, considering him "an active instrument of the French colonial power." Azagury led GAMMA after Morocco's independence in 1956.{{Cite journal , last=Chaouni , first=Aziza , date=2014-07-03 , title=Interview with Elie Azagury , journal=Journal of Architectural Education , volume=68 , issue=2 , pages=210–216 , doi=10.1080/10464883.2014.943632 , issn=1046-4883 , s2cid=112234517 He feared throughout the following decade that independence would come with a return to vernacular architecture instead of

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

, but was relieved that this wasn't the case. Other architects associated with GAMMA include Jean-François Zevaco, Abdeslam Faraoui, Patrice de Mazières, and Mourad Ben Embarek.

References

Modernist architecture Moroccan culture French colonisation in Africa Nationalism and the arts