M'Zab valley of Wadi

600 km south of Algiers, beyond the mountains of the Saharan Atlas, cities to pink stucco, soft light and narrow streets often covered, strung out along the river Zab, which winds through the plateaus along the Great Western Erg. The climate is harsh, hot and windy and the rare rain. But cities, established by Mozabites the eleventh century, are marvels that have continued to amaze the greatest architects such as Le Corbusier, André Ravéreau or Frank Lloyd Wright. In a special unit, the cities of the Oued M'Zab Valley are all built in height to prevent flooding, rare but violent, and obey the same plane: the houses are built starting from the mosque to the top of the city, down where the walls are located, while the palm trees provide fruit, vegetables and cool during the hot. The houses are organized around a main room whose ceiling pierced by a large square opening delimits the central patio where the family was found. A staircase leads to the terrace, sometimes surrounded with small rooms in which it happens that people are sleeping the winter.