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The architect, who co-curated the exhibition with El Mehdi Belyasmine, explains how these structures function as sectional scale models manifesting the duo\u2019s ongoing research into how local construction know-how can be revitalized to shape earthquake-proof architecture. \u2018We\u2019ve been gathering around 136 completely different techniques and materialities from all around the country \u2014 from the north to the south \u2014 that we\u2019ve here integrated into 72 columns. These columns serve as a kind of guide for construction, particularly for architects interested in sustainable development,\u2019 he explains.<\/p>\n
![\"interview:](\"https:\/\/static.designboom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/moroccan-pavilion-venice-architecture-biennale-designboom-8.jpg\")
all images by Venice Documentation Project \u2014 Samuele Cherubini, courtesy of the Pavilion of the Kingdom of Morocco<\/p>\n
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celebrating material intelligence at venice architecture biennale<\/p>\n
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Materiae Palimpsest resonates in light of Morocco\u2019s devastating 2023 earthquake. In rebuilding affected rural settlements, Khalil Morad El Ghilali\u2019s practice<\/a>, and others like it, have demonstrated how heritage-based techniques can perform better than concrete in these particular contexts. The architect points out that some of his team\u2019s pilot structures near the epicentre remained undamaged, owing to a combination of local craftsmanship and adapted engineering, rooted in generational know-how. This extends El Ghilali\u2019s approach that is driven by the urgency to reframe ancestral methods as scalable, adaptive, and technically sound alternatives to industrial construction. \u2018Instead of abstract concepts, we aim to improve local crafts through practical upgrades in engineering and architecture, without losing sight of what people can really do at a large scale,\u2019 he shares. El Mehdi Belyasmine adds<\/a>: \u00a0\u2018Working with the land \u2014 using local soil, traditional tools, and ancestral know-how \u2014 allows us to reconnect with our heritage while also empowering local labor and craft. It\u2019s not nostalgia \u2014 it\u2019s continuity. It\u2019s about building with intention, with care, and with respect for the people and the place.\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This philosophy grounds the pavilion in a clear critique of contemporary architectural education and practice, which, the duo notes, often privileges conceptual gestures over material literacy. Calls for a broader reflection on how architectural knowledge is produced, as El Ghalili reflects: \u2018Too often today, architects don\u2019t know how to build with their hands. They\u2019re trained to be conceptual rather than constructive.\u2019 He frames revisiting these embodied modes of making is as a return to a collaborative, ground-up process that brings designers back into conversation with materials, with place, and with the people who build, as emphasized by the flickering hologram figure at the center of the space, and the traces of the human hand it confronts as carried in each of the columns. Read our full interview with the architects and co-curators below.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n interview with Khalil Morad El Ghilali & El Mehdi Belyasmine<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n designboom (DB): Can you introduce the idea behind the creation of the pavilion?<\/p>\n Khalil Morad El Ghilali (KMEG): The idea was to sublimate the materiality and showcase the diversity of local construction techniques across Morocco. We\u2019ve been gathering around 136 completely different techniques and materialities from all around the country \u2014 from the north to the south \u2014 that we\u2019ve here integrated into 72 columns. These columns serve as a kind of guide for construction, particularly for architects interested in sustainable development.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This pavilion is one of our latest experiments: we used post-tensioned, prefabricated blocks as a potential solution for rebuilding in earthquake-affected areas. The entire pavilion was also assembled in three days. The blocks are solid, not hollow, and actually the heaviest one weighs 500 kilograms, and yet they were mounted like Lego pieces.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n El Mehdi Belyasmine (EMB): The Moroccan Pavilion is conceived as an experimental space to deepen the understanding of cultural identity and highlight the significance of spatial performance \u2014 through visual aesthetics, scents, textures, and tactile sensations \u2014 creating an immersive and authentic experience within a dynamic environment. This approach should be implemented in all architectural projects. It is essential to design with a strong connection to the local context and its surroundings, recognizing these conditions as foundational architectural elements.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n DB: There are many layers to the scenography, from the almost ruins-like landscape of columns, to the textiles and the screen at the center. Can you share more about that?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n KMEG: We\u2019ve divided the scenography into three main elements.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The first is the columns, which reflect building, engineering, and architecture. The second is the tools. These are represented by the muqarnas hanging from the ceiling, which were historically used to construct such elements. We sourced them from different villages, and each tool carries the trace of a human hand and an imprint of collective engineering. The third element is the human condition, represented by a hologram. It\u2019s intentionally fragile and immaterial, confronting the physical nature of the materials around it.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n EMB: I wanted to create a space that pushes the boundaries of how we understand and express cultural identity. It\u2019s an experimental platform that explores spatial performance \u2014 not just through form and function, but through texture, scent, sound, and atmosphere. Architecture should be felt, not just seen.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n DB: The presence of the hologram was quite unexpected after walking through all these tactile details. What role does it play within the overall composition?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n KMEG: It raises a question about whether we should keep chasing extraordinary technologies to solve our problems, or whether we should instead ask what we can learn from our ancestors \u2014 not archaeologically, but humbly. There\u2019s a vast body of knowledge gathered over thousands of years, and this project is about reconnecting with that wisdom rather than erasing it and starting from scratch.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n So for us, this pavilion becomes a place of knowledge, collective intelligence, scent, fabric, texture, memory. Like a foyer, a place to gather. It reflects how Moroccans welcome people, how spaces are warm and inviting. Each brick, each tool, each trace carries human intelligence. Confronting these elements \u2014 between the artificial and the natural \u2014 was very important to us and the main idea of the pavilion.<\/p>\n![\"interview:](\"https:\/\/static.designboom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/moroccan-pavilion-venice-architecture-biennale-designboom-3.jpg\")
Materiae Palimpsest addresses challenges posed by earthquakes across the region<\/p>\n![\"interview:](\"https:\/\/static.designboom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/moroccan-pavilion-venice-architecture-biennale-designboom-7.jpg\")
A hologram sits at the center of the space, representing the human condition and ancestral knowledge<\/p>\n![\"interview:](\"https:\/\/static.designboom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/moroccan-pavilion-venice-architecture-biennale-designboom-1.jpg\")
the pavilion takes an elemental approach to material, memory, and seismic resilience<\/p>\n