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Aziza Chaouni Projects is an award-winning design office based in Toronto, Canada and Fez, Morocco. We are a multi-disciplinary team of architects, urban planners, landscape architects, engineers, graphic designers, and visual artists who love to craft unique strategies for every project. 

Our projects have been featured in the New York Times, Domus, Designboom, and even a TED Talk!

Approach 
At the heart of our work is the integration of users and stakeholders throughout the design process. We are also committed to researching and making resilient and environmentally-sensitive designs, buildings, neighborhoods and cities.

Our Clients
Our client list is long and varied; including institutions, governments, and individuals. Our institutional clients have included NGO Save the Children, the Storefront for Art + Architecture (NYC), the City of Nouméa, The cabinet of his Majesty the King Mohammed VI, OCP Group, CDG Foundation, the Royal Society of Conservation of Nature (Jordan), the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism, the Province of Guelmim, the Province of Ifrane, the city of Fez, the Ministry of Commerce of Senegal, the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Sierra Leone and many more...

We often rely on grants and external funding to conduct research and run community co-design workshops. If you'd like to support us, please visit our shop!

Selected Awards 
Institut du Monde Arabe Impact Award (2024)
World Monuments Fund Watch Award (2024)
Holcim Global Award for Sustainable Construction (2021)
Holcim Global Award for Sustainable Construction (2009)
Progressive Architecture Award (2007)

 
Selected Grants
Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, Morocco (2021)
Getty Keeping it Modern Grant (2020)

Getty Keeping it Modern Grant (2017)
Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, Morocco (2016)

Meet our Team 

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Aziza Chaouni, Founding Principal

 

Aziza Chaouni, Founding Principal

 

Aziza Chaouni is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto, where she also serves as the Director of the Designing Ecological Tourism research platform. She is the founding principal of Aziza Chaouni Projects (ACP), a design-build practice with offices in Fez, Morocco, and Toronto, Canada. Her work lies at the intersection of architecture, landscape, and infrastructure, with a deep commitment to sustainability, social inclusion, and culturally rooted innovation. Trained as both an architect and civil engineer, Chaouni holds a Master of Architecture with distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering with Honors from Columbia University. Her multidisciplinary background informs a unique approach to design, one that bridges technical rigor and environmental sensitivity with social responsibility. Chaouni’s research, teaching, and professional practice center on sustainable design and construction in the Global South, with a particular emphasis on arid climates, vernacular techniques, and resource-conscious innovations. Her work explores the integration of landscape and architecture through regenerative approaches to water management, bio-based materials, and collaborative co-design processes. She is especially invested in working with underserved communities and sites of contested heritage, where she seeks to activate architecture as a catalyst for socio-ecological resilience. She is the author and editor of several influential publications, including Desert Tourism: Tracing the Fragile Edges of Development (with Virginie Lefebvre), Out of Water: Design Solutions for Arid Regions (with Liat Margolis), and Ecotourism, Nature Conservation and Development: Reimagining Jordan’s Shobak Arid Region. In 2007, she co-founded the Moroccan chapter of Docomomo with the late Mohammed El Hariri, helping to expand awareness and protection of modernist heritage across North Africa. Chaouni has led the rehabilitation of landmark heritage sites, most notably the Qarawiyyine Library in Fez, considered the world’s oldest continually operating library. Her work on the Sidi Harazem Thermal Bath Complex, a modernist masterpiece by Jean-François Zevaco, and the CICES Fairgrounds in Dakar, Senegal (with Mourtada Gueye), has been supported by the Getty Foundation’s Keeping it Modern initiative. Her recent conservation leadership includes post-earthquake diagnostics and rehabilitation of royal palaces in Marrakech, and the revitalization of the Jewish Mellah of Debdou in eastern Morocco. Her design work has garnered numerous awards, including top honors from the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction (both Global and Regional Africa and Middle East prizes), the Architectural League of New York’s Young Architects Award, the EDRA Great Places Award, the American Society of Landscape Architects Design Awards, and the ACSA Collaborative Practice Award. Her projects have been featured in major exhibitions and venues such as the Venice Architecture Biennale, the International Architecture Biennale in Rotterdam, INDEX: Design to Improve Life in Copenhagen, the UN-Habitat World Urban Forum, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen. Through her pedagogy, research platforms, and built work, Chaouni is committed to redefining architectural practice as a socially engaged, ecologically attuned, and historically grounded discipline—especially within contexts that are often overlooked or undervalued in global architectural discourse

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Dana Salama, Architectural Designer

Dana is a Designer and Researcher who grew up in Toronto. Dana completed her Master of Architecture at the University of British Columbia where she won the Abraham Rogatnick Book Prize and was nominated for a Canadian Architect Student Award of Excellence. Dana's previous experience includes several firms in Toronto and Vancouver which focused on exhibition design, public housing, and single-family residential projects. During her time at ACP, Dana has worked on Sidi Harazem Thermal Bath Station revitalization, Joudour Sahar Cultural Center, Design Your Dream School Sierra Leone, the CICES Complex, and others. Dana enjoys working at a variety of scales--from publication and furniture design, to master planning and large-scale curatorial work.

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Bassima Jazouli, Visualization Artist

 

Bassima is an architectural technician with more than 20 years of working experience. Bassima has been responsible for overseeing all phases of projects including design development, construction drawings, and construction administration. These projects include: community projects and affordable housing projects in Morocco. Bassima is also very knowledgeable about building codes and administrative permitting procedures at the Agence Urbaine of Fez. She has followed 22 projects through their permitting process in the city of Fez, and 15 across Morocco.

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Mohammed Ben Mohammed, Architectural Technician

Mohammed is an architectural technician with more than 25 years experience working in Fez and its surrounding area. He supervise all our construction site across Morocco. He makes sure our designer gets executed in a smooth and timely manner. Si Mohammed loves having coffee with colleagues and has a great sense of humour.

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Fadoua Hassani, Administrative Assistant 

 

Fadoua has a degree in Business Management. She is responsible for ACPs accounting, contractual and permitting paperwork, and daily administrative tasks. her skills at multitasking and her rigor make her a key team member.

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Radia El Hili, Architectural Technician

 

Radia studied drawing at the ISTA Narjiss School in Fez and obtained a Technician Diploma in Architecture in 2006. She has worked with several architects in Fez, such as Slaoui Youssef Reda and Talbi Lkhssaci Med Samir. She speaks French and Arabic, and has basic notions of English.

List of Past Collaborators
Edward Broeders, Veronica Gallego Sotelo, Yi Zhang, Zineb Tazi, Lamiss Ben El Haj, AbdelHamid Elfadil, Lahcen Alaoui, Cheryl Wei.

© 2022 by Aziza Chaouni Projects

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