The notion of critical regionalism came about 35 years ago and was first used by Alexander Tzonis and Liane Lefaivre as well as Kenneth Frampton. Even before the term was used, there have been several notions about the sociology behind an approach that is pleading for a better understanding of the context. In smaller and medium Moroccan cities, strong urbanization has led to the creation of mass housing projects which are detached from their context. On the other side there is unorganized urbanization taking place, where organization is far to find. Adapting a critical regionalist approach in designing housing in smaller to medium cities in North-East Morocco, asks for a good understanding of the site and the social, political and cultural context.