The Narbonne Mill: Dawn of a Neo-Moorish Industrial Architecture in Algiers, Algeria

Since the arrival of the French in 1830, the city of Algiers has seen the emergence of several architectural languages. Numerous studies have focused on understanding Algerian architecture in the neo-Moorish style, a flagship emblem of Algiers’ public buildings during the in the early twentieth century. This article explores a new problematic: the use of neo-Moorish language in industrial architecture, which, by nature, prioritizes functional over representational concern, typically responds to functional requirements rather than representational ones. The objective is to identify this neo-Moorish style in Algerian industrial architecture through the analysis of the Narbonne mill—a former flour-and-semolina factory and major symbol of industry in Hussein Dey. The study of industrial architecture within this stylistic register is rare; it raises the issue of the new relationship between a modern program industry and Moorish architecture. Our methodological approach structures the research chronologically and thematically, supported firstly by a theoretical and conceptual approach based on the emergence of neo-Moorish style in its expression. Secondly, a methodological and operational approach establishes an in-depth monograph of the Narbonne Mill, which will facilitate understanding the historical context of this industrial heritage and documenting a now-disappeared building through firsthand archival sources and unpublished iconography. Thus, the descriptive analysis will demonstrate the architectural expression through a reading of the work (accessibility, spatial organization, facade composition…). Additionally, it will identify the formal characteristics and principles of neo-Moorish style introduced in this emblematic industrial work.