Palm Bay Resort Community

AGADIR, MOROCCO

1990

All sites have more than one contextual level. While some levels may be visible, others lie beneath the surface and need to be uncovered to understand a site in its totality. This exploration yields an architecture which truly evokes a place rather than merely representing it. Clarifying what is present and amplifying it suggests what it might become. It is this investigation of site — physical, environmental, cultural, programmatic — that is explored here at the edge of Palm Bay and the twenty-first century. This project responds to the intersection of a mythic, timeless Morocco and the promise of its future with a catalytic architectural master plan

The site is rooted in the region’s varied landscape by its location at the end of a great descent from the Atlas Mountains, across a desert plateau and the Souss Valley to the sea. It is further defined by a nearby eucalyptus forest and the rise of sand dunes, both encompassing a depression with an underlying freshwater aquifer next to the bay. In the particular context of this convention-center resort, the crucial provision of shelter and respite from the harsh sun, wind and sand evokes an oasis.

The spirit of Morocco resonates strongly in the labyrinthine corridors of the souk, in the water’s presence in fragrant gardens, in its endless geometries, and in the haunting strain of repetitive Berber melodies. These things, among many others, give testament to a timeless, tenacious culture. The project, designed in 1990, seeks to nurture this spirit, embodying it in a facility with a programme embracing the future development of Agadir.

This project attempts to reveal the Palm Bay site in all of its complexities by grounding it in its geographical and historical context. Such an expansive view of its location enhances the original brief for the complex and reaffirms the existing presences on site, allowing them to posit a pattern towards the future. It is a specific response which avoids stylistic or formal imperatives in favour of a global understanding of Agadir Bay and its surroundings.

The essence of Predock’s architecture can be simply stated: He has found original ways to connect dramatic, abstract forms with both the natural and cultural conditions of a particular place. Predock’s best buildings tell stories in memorable forms and spaces, and this makes him different from most other modern architects. –Benjamin Forgey In the High Desert, An Oasis of Design THE WASHINGTON POST