Domestic architecture in the ground between conservation and modernity: If an oasis city in Algeria Aoulef [L'architecture domestique en terre entre préservation et modernité: Cas d'une ville oasienne d'Algérie Aoulef]

Living in the desert seems paradoxical because it is by definition a place that life gives up. however,there,people live,since forever and knew,with ingenuity,take advantage of the few available materials to build houses,and take shelter there in an unfriendly climate (le quellec,2006). since the dawn of time,the algerian southwest region was animated by a network of human settlements built according to the urban model of the islamic medina and its traditional habitat of adobe; collective hamlets known as ksours. being a place of transit of the great desert caravans,linking north africa to the rest of the continent,the city of aoulef was one of the old oasis cities of algeria who has known over the centuries an urban and architectural development. it was characterized by a set of ksour separated by the line of foggaras and embellished by the landscape oases. cradle of exceptional traditional earthen architecture,housing in the city of aoulef presents a perfect site integration and adaptation to harsh climatic conditions. this paper attempts to learn about the typological and conceptual feature of the domestic architecture of this region,its ancestral building techniques,specific to the southern regions,as well as the current constructive alternatives adopted by the local people.