The requalification project of the Ksar of Assa has been selected with 19 other projects to compete for the final Aga Khan Award for Architecture which will be awarded to 5 or 6 projects.

The famous site of the Moroccan South, Ksar Assa, has just collected the fruits of the vast rehabilitation operation that affected it through its selection to compete for the final Aga Khan Award for Architecture as well as two other projects in Morocco, namely the Hassan II Bridge linking Rabat and Salé and the Mohammed VI Football Academy in Salé. The winners of this prize, worth 1 million dollars, will be announced during a ceremony that will take place in Lisbon next September.

The choice of Ksar Assa to appear on this list is due to several criteria relating to design, sustainability, the contribution to improving the living conditions of the populations concerned and the impact on economic and social development.

This operation was led by the Agency for the Promotion and Economic and Social Development of the Southern Provinces in partnership with local authorities, civil society and the elected officials of the city of Assa, and relied on the involvement of the populations concerned, local actors, as well as on the contribution of numerous partners to allow the rehabilitation and valorisation of this high place of national built heritage. The work launched focused on the restoration of the walls, the seven towers and the seven gates of the Ksar, the rehabilitation of streets and public spaces in anticipation of the installation of a tourist and commercial circuit, encompassing the Ksar and the palm grove of Assa, the strengthening of the surroundings and the construction of appropriate car parks below the Ksar promontory. This operation is part of a national programme for the restoration and renovation of historical sites.

It also aims to motivate, involve and empower the inhabitants for the creation of commercial or cultural functions inside the Ksar, support local, individual and associative initiatives, establish specific standards and specifications for future constructions in the Ksar and ensure reasonable quality control.

The requalification project of the Ksar of Assa also has the objectives of networking the Ksar, identifying and promoting the destination in order to register it sustainably in tourist circuits and collecting technical and methodological lessons from archaeological and architectural restitution experiences in order to put them to good use in other heritage rehabilitation projects. The originality of the approach adopted for this project stems from the real involvement of the families owning the houses in the Ksar.