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 Agadir. Azagury was also a controversial and outspoken

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

, and was active designing ''cités'', or

social housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

projects made up of modular units, in places like Hay Hassani in Casablanca. These projects combined elements of modern and

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

architecture, taking local culture and lifestyles into account.

Biography

Early life

Elie Azagury was born in Casablanca in 1918 to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family from the north of Morocco. His father, Judah-Haïm Azagury, was a businessman, the manager of a mercantile house in Casablanca. The surname Azagury is probably related to Zagora, the historical capital of the Draa Valley region. He grew up with his close friend and eventual colleague Jean-François Zevaco. He worked briefly as an apprentice for Marius Boyer, a major figure in the architecture of Casablanca in the period from the 1920s through the 1940s.

Studies

He left Casablanca for Paris in 1937, as there was no architecture school in Morocco. He worked as an apprentice at the Atelier of Hérault, Boutrin in Paris for two years while studying for the entrance exams of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, which he finally passed on his 4th attempt in 1939, placing 17th out of 1,000. The following year, he escaped Paris as it was in the Nazi-occupied , heading south for

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

alone on his bicycle. On his way, an architect in Pau offered him food, a place to stay, and a job, which Azagury held for a month and a half. In Marseille, he worked at the for two years, where he was inspired by American architecture—especially the work of

Richard Neutra Richard Joseph Neutra ( ; 8 April 1892 – 16 April 1970) was an Austrian-American architect. Living and building for most of his career in Southern California, he came to be considered a prominent and important modernist architect. His most ...

and

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...

. He then took a job in

Megève Megève (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France with a population of more than 3,000 residents. The town is well known as a ski resort near Mont Blanc in the French Alps. Co ...

, where he worked for an architect named Michel Aimé for two years during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The day after a neighbor exposed that he was Jewish, police officers came to him recommending that he skip town as they had received orders to arrest him. He took what possessions he could carry and returned to Paris on foot, taking backroads so as to avoid checkpoints. He finished his degree at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris in the Studio of Auguste Perret in 1944, at the time of the Liberation of Paris. In the period immediately after his graduation, Azagury supported himself by washing dishes at the university cafeteria.

Early career

Shortly afterward, he moved to

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

to work with Ralph Erskine for 2 years. Azagury was influenced by the artists and creatives he met in Stockholm, including

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...

and Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe. Inspiration from Swedish architecture can be seen later in his projects (1954) and (1963; now the Ibrahim Roudani School). On his way back to Morocco, Azagury returned to Paris to assist Paul Nelson with the opening of his office, and stayed in Paris for 2 years. There, he socialized with leftist intellectuals such as

Jacques Prévert Jacques Prévert (; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the Poetic realism, poetic ...

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...

, and

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, c ...

. He then continued his journey south and met with

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

for a day in

, where they toured the construction site of (). Azagury was inspired by Le Corbusier's thinking on " vertical living" and use of concrete, and since always employed the

golden ratio In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their summation, sum to the larger of the two quantities. Expressed algebraically, for quantities and with , is in a golden ratio to if \fr ...

in his architectural designs. He returned to Casablanca in 1949. His first projects were designing furniture and private villas, such as Villa Dahon and Villa Shullman (1951). He also won a competition to design the science building for Lycée Lyautey on Blvd. Mers Sultan (now Muhammad V High School).

GAMMA

Azagury was the only "native" Moroccan in the (

GAMMA Gamma (; uppercase , lowercase ; ) is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 3. In Ancient Greek, the letter gamma represented a voiced velar stop . In Modern Greek, this letter normally repr ...

). He and Georges Candilis pushed Michel Écochard, director of urban planning at the end of the French Protectorate, for higher density housing in the "Housing for the Greatest Number" project at Carrières Centrales, presented at the 1953 . Azagury described his relationship with Écochard as "tumultuous;" while he respected his intellect and work ethic, Ecochard was "clearly an active instrument of the French colonial power." Ecochard was convinced that Moroccans could not live in high-rises, while Azagury considered verticalization "an economic and social necessity." Azagury led GAMMA after Morocco's independence in 1956. He feared throughout the following decade that independence would come with a return to

vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture (also folk architecture) is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. It is not a particular architectural movement or style but rather a broad category, encompassing a wide range a ...

instead of

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

, but was relieved that this wasn't the case. Azagury's '' Derb Jdid'' housing project (1957-1960) in Hay Hassani was a response to Ecochard's belief that Moroccans could not live in vertical housing.

Agadir reconstruction

He often worked with his close friend Jean-François Zevaco, including in the reconstruction of

Agadir Agadir (, ; ) is a major List of cities in Morocco, city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Sous River, Souss River flows into the ocean, and south of Casabla ...

after the

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

that destroyed it in 1960. Azagury arrived in Agadir on March 8, 1960–8 days after the earthquake—and was "traumatized" by the devastation. He was compelled to design architecture that "inspired strength, endurance, and domination over the forces of nature; an architecture that could help the healing process for survivors." Azagury was disappointed that the project was led by Pierre Mas, who "was trained neither as an architect nor as a planner," and who severed the core of the city from the beach with a tourist district. Azagury led the Cabo Negro Mediterranean resort project from 1970 to 1980.

Legacy

On December 20, 2019, MAMMA. sponsored an event dedicated to the architectural legacy of Elie Azagury, the first Moroccan modernist architect. This event included guided tours of the Ibrahim Roudani School and a lecture hosted at the Saudi Library.

References

External links

* MAMMA.'s archives of Azagury's works: https://mammagroup.org/elie-azagury {{DEFAULTSORT:Azagury, Elie Moroccan architects 1918 births 2009 deaths Modernist architects 20th-century Moroccan Jews People from Casablanca Moroccan communists Jewish communists