Preserving and managing ancient desert settlements: general and technical considerations = Preservación y gestión de asentamientos en el desierto: consideraciones generales y técnicas

Saharan oases are all suffering a severe abandonment due to economic, social and political reasons. Abandonment is also the main cause for decay, thus in turn affecting at the same time the primary economical resources, the palm grove and the built environment. The latter one is also fighting a common sense of rejection, resulting from the belief that traditional housing is uncomfortable, dirty, not lasting and unhealthy. A restoration project run by the University of Cagliari in Figuig (Morocco), opened to reflect on a new attitude in the intervention of conservation, showing that actions pointed to re-use of buildings, building traditions and traditional materials can bring to a win-win result where the memory joined to the habitat, the local identity and the local micro-economy are given a renewed and substantial significance.