Fairytale in the Enchanted Forest of Maghreb

Vincent Callebaut Architects have shared their proposals for a rest houses complex of chalets, located in King’s Forest, Morocco. Consisting of three general forms, Leaf, Nest, and Wave, each group of forms has its own unique language and dialogue with the surroundings. All are incorporated gracefully and beautifully into the landscape of the forest, and use substantial amounts of green/renewable energies to ensure that this continues to be the case.

КThe geography of Morocco spans from the Atlantic Ocean, to mountainous areas, to the Sahara desert. Morocco is a Northern African country, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria and the annexed Western Sahara. A large part of Morocco is mountainous. The Atlas Mountains are located mainly in the center and the south of the country. The Rif Mountains are located in the north of the country. A variety of its amazing landscapes is determined by the features of the county’s natural and geographical conditions. The most picturesque are mountain ranges of the Middle Atlas, called the Moroccan Switzerland covered by wild evergreen pine forests, interspersed with mountain meadows and waterfalls. In the Middle Atlas, there are several different climates: Mediterranean (with some more humid and fresher variants), Maritime Temperate (with some humid and fresher variants too) that allow different species of oaks, moss carpets, junipers, Atlantic cedars and many other plants, to form extensive and very rich humid cloud forests. Many of the trees are more than 1000 years old and, therefore, require special care that led to the creation of a large number of national parks, nature reserves, protected areas and sanctuaries. They include the largest national parks in the Middle Atlas Mountains - Ifrane - an area of 500 sq.km, where there is the largest pine forest in Morocco, and Tazekka with an area of 120 sq.km.

Kings Forest - is the name of the project, reminiscent of the term of “royal forest” in feudal law of medieval Europe, where forests were owned by kings and their use were regulated exclusively by royal legal system. Currently, these forests, for example, in England, are under the control and protection of the Forestry Commission, and a number of them turned into national parks. The concept of “royal forest” was transformed into a “protected forest”, that is, under the protection of the state. In the Kingdom of Morocco, in fact, all the forests are protected areas, therefore, the construction there can only be conducted under strict government control, so as not to disrupt uniqueness of these places.

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Materials provided by Vincent Callebaut Architectures