ABSTRACT
Because it has retained its natural colours and textures, the village of Tiréli blends with the surrounding landscape of the cliffs from which stones, earth, and wood are extracted and used as construction materials. The building of the village seems to have depended on a process of containing that relates to the scree milieu, which shelters the village by disguising it, and on a process of de-containing, which concerns the exploitation of the materiality of the scree, as a means of building homes. Subjected in the past to many adversities and dangers, notably jihadi, slave traders, and wildlife (Chapter 2), the site of Tiréli offers particular defensive qualities through its elevation and the unevenness of its steep topography. Hence, the containment—the hidden and thus protective nature of the village environment—becomes defined through a natural aesthetic and the qualities of the place.
