RIWAQ -Episode 03 - El Montacir BENSAID

Our guest today is Montacir Bensaid, a privately practicing architect, teacher, writer, and multilingual lecturer. Born in 1956 in Salé, France, Montacir Bensaid graduated from the Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark in 1983, after attending the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He furthered his studies with an internship at Harvard in 1993. His career spans over forty years. He has worked successively as an architect for the Ministry of Housing and then as the architect for Prince Saud bin Abdulmohsin in Saudi Arabia, where he notably participated in the construction of the Mecca Tunnels and designed several prestigious palaces and buildings. In 1987, upon returning to Morocco, he founded the MAWAZIN firm in Rabat, undertaking major urban planning projects such as the Tiflet and Khemisset Urban Development Master Plans (SDAU), the ANASR housing development in Ain Aouda, as well as residential and public facilities. He served as director of the National School of Architecture in Rabat from 2005 to 2013, and initiated the creation of its regional branches. He then served as an advisor to the Minister of Housing before returning to the private sector. Since 2016, he has headed the ArchiConcept agency, where he develops numerous large-scale residential projects, corporate headquarters, and high-end villas in Morocco and Spain. Finally, Montacir BENSAID is the author of the novel, Blood Diamonds.