GEO—DESIGN Exhibition Platform

Sand is found along the 3,500 kilometres of Moroccan coastline along the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, making up the seabed, the beach and the dunes. The coastline as natural capital is a key asset to the country’s economy, where tourism besides other economic sectors relies on natural ecosystems. In 2001, King Mohammed VI set forth a plan called Vision 2010 which involved a massive reorganisation of the government’s priorities, building six new seaside resorts and mobilising of the skills of people to prepare for the welcoming of more than twice the number of tourists by 2010, es…

Exhibition Debut

Photos by Joep Jacobs and Boudewijn Bollmann

Found Images and Maps of Moroccan Tourist Resorts

Daklha Ecoresort Google Earth Screenshot

Mazagan Beach And Golf Resort Youtube Screenshot

Oasis Saidia Blue Pearl Youtube Screenshot

Aerial Photos of North Douar Sand Dredging, 2006–2020

Aerial Photos of Mazagan Beach and Golf Resort, 2002–2020

Installation Process Photos

Installation Process Films

Political Speeches on Vision 2020 Film

Landscope

Baiba Soma and Romain Laval

In 2001, King Mohammed VI set forth a plan called Vision 2010 which involved a massive reorganisation of the government’s priorities, building six new seaside resorts and mobilising of the skills of people to prepare for the welcoming of more than twice the number of tourists by 2010, estimated to reach 9.28 million. After partially accomplishing its goals, a new plan called Vision 2020 was drawn up, which aimed to attract 20 million visitors and to expand hotel bed capacity to 375,000, all by the end of the decade. Ironically, this economic strategy identified sand as a tourist attraction while relying heavily on sand as a resource as a main component for construction.

Sand has been the subject of appropriation by the various sectors in Morocco such as environmental protection, equipment and transport, urban planning, tourism. Up until the end of 2014, the absence of a legislative framework protecting the Moroccan coastline as well as traditional measures for evaluating economic performance, such as produced and human capital, have often neglected the natural capital.

Since 2015, the Moroccan coastline is a physically definable zone by law: a space that extends over 100 meters on land beyond the highest sea, and 12 miles at sea; a zone that is now subject to legal texts, giving it a certain protection. In spite of this legislative framework, no managing entity for the coastline is defined. Instead, the Moroccan coastline is defined according to the needs of various sectors whose common denominator is sand.

References

Abdelmounim El Mrini et al., "The Coastal Sediment Provenance and Their Distribution in the Mediterranean Beaches of NW Morocco," in Sediment Fluxes in Coastal Areas, eds. M. Maanan and M. Robin (Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media, 2015), 91–120. Link

Academy for Cultural Diplomacy, "Lahcen Haddad (Minister of Tourism of Morocco)," YouTube, March 27, 2015. Link

Amyne Asmlal, “Carrières de sable: Amara met fin à l’abus des exploitants,” Le360, March 14, 2018. Link

Breaking Travel News, "AHIC 2015: Smit Morocco and the Vision 2020 tourism plan," YouTube, May 27, 2015. Link

Fatima Arib, “Le tourisme: atout durable du développement au Maroc?” Téoros 24, no. 1 (2005): 37–41. Link

Ghalia Kadiri, “Au Maroc, les marchands de sable dépouillent les plages,” Le Monde, November 23, 2017. Link

Gullapalli N. Rao, "In Focus: The achievements and lasting effects of Vision 2020," EyeNews, April 1, 2020. Link

L. Boumahrou, "Exploitation des carrières: Abdelkader Amara ira-t-il jusqu'au bout?" EcoActu, December 3, 2019. Link

Latifa Flayou et al., Contribution à la gestion durable du tourisme côtier au Maroc à travers l’évaluation du coût de dégradation des services écosystémiques du littoral: Cas du littoral de Tétouan (Washington, D.C.: Global Development Network, 2015). Link

“Le relief de l'invisible: Béton,” Alto-Média et la Cité des sciences et de l'industrie, 1997. Link

Marcopolis Net, "Morocco Minister of Tourism About Investments into Morocco Tourism," YouTube, July 28, 2011. Link

Marcopolis Net, "Morocco Tourism Strategy & Brand Morocco," YouTube, July 27, 2011. Link

Matthew Greene, “Why are beaches disappearing in Morocco?” Middle East Eye, September 1, 2016. Link

Mimoun Hillali, “Du tourisme et de la géopolitique au Maghreb: le cas du Maroc”, Hérodote 4, no., 127 (2007): 47–63. Link

“Mining of Coastal Sand: A Critical Environmental And Economic Problem For Morocco,” Coastal Care, March 25, 2009. Link

Mohamed Berriane, “Dynamiques territoriales et politiques publiques: territoires fonctionnels et territoires officiels,” in Le Maroc au Présent: D'une époque à l'autre, une société en mutation, eds. Baudouin Dupret et al. (Casablanca: Fondation du Roi Abdul-Aziz al-Saoud, 2015), 31–60. Link

"Morocco Tourism Destination: Land of the Setting Sun: Interview with Abdel Hamid Addou, Director General of Morocco National Tourist Office," Marcopolis, April 5, 2011. Link

Mounir Hakkou et al., “Perspectives d’optimisation technique de la gouvernance environnementale des activités du dragage du sable marin au Maroc,” Bulletin de l’Institut Scientifique, Rabat, Section Sciences de la Terre 37 (2015): 1–11. Link

"One of World's Best Resorts: Best Beach, Golf and Casino in Morocco," Marcopolis, February 5, 2011. Link

“Opportunités d’investissement,” SMIT Morocco Tourism Engineering and Investment, 2017. Link

"Projet de loi n°81-12 relative au littoral," Ministère de l’Energie, des Mines et de l’Environnement, 2015. Link

“Publication de la loi 81-12 relative au littoral au Bulletin Officiel,” Ministère de l’Energie, des Mines et de l’Environnement, August 6, 2015. Link

"Tourisme: le marché russe est une des priorités de Zouiten," Le360, January 22, 2016. Link

”Tourisme au Maroc: Les infrastructures d’abord et le capital humain ensuite?” HEM, April 17, 2015. Link

Bio

Baiba Soma is a Latvian designer based in Amsterdam. She graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven in Well-being, 2019. She is interested in human behaviour as it impacts their surroundings, using research as the basis for a design process. Romain Laval graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven in 2019. In his practice he focuses on materials and visual media, in dialogue with tangible components.

Contacts

baibasoma.com Link

@somabaiba Link

romainlaval.com Link

@r.laval Link