(photo Elena Cattani, Jeroen van der Drift, Ivan Thung)

Half way the previous century large scale modernist mass housing was widely introduced in the world to overcome the lack of housing capacity. What many people do not know is that prior to this the city of Casablanca served as a testing ground. European architects experimented with new housing models before applying these principles worldwide. In the Netherlands, many of the urban extension areas in that period were realised following these principles. However, today many of them are seen as problematic and as ghetto’s where minorities of different background live together and crime rates are high. 

Meanwhile, in the modern experimental areas in Casablanca a true bottom-up makeover occured. Since completion of these neighbourhoods, the inhabitants transformed, expanded and adapted the dwellings and public spaces. In particular, the Cité Horizonale in the district of Hay Mohammadi, based or the famous 8 x 8 Ecochard grid , underwent one of the most successful privately developed and informal transformations that resulted in a very pleasant and attractive area to live.

The “Learning from Casablanca ’ project explores the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of these transformations by the residents. The project started in January 2011 with research by students from Morocco and the Netherlands. The results of the survey were exhibited in the cathedral of Casablanca in November 2011. This exhibition ‘Learning from Casablanca’ was part of the African Perspectives conference organised by ArchiAfrika every other year and was opened by Wytze Patijn, former State Architect and former Dean of the faculty of Architecture of the Delft University of Technology.

The exhibition “Learning from Casablanca” is the conclusion of the first phase of a larger project entitled ‘Planning Thriving Cities’. The project promotes an international and multidisciplinary approach to design challenges and is based on dialogue. Through the study of the unplanned processes in Casablanca, planning processes in both Morocco and the Netherlands can be improved and lead to an inclusive sustainability.

“Planning Thriving Cities’ is a project, initiated and developed by Casamemoire and African Architecture Matters. It will be continued with a project in the Netherlands, aiming at implementing the successes of the studied processes in the Dutch context.

(above photos Elena Cattani, Jeroen van der Drift, Ivan Thung)

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2010 - 2012 // project initiation and coordination: African Architecture Matters (Belinda van Buiten, Berend van der Lans), Casamemoire (Abderrahim Kassou, Laure Augereau) // in collaboration with  Ecole Superieure de l’Architecture de Casablanca, Universite Hassan II, Delft University of Technology, Utrecht and Stockholm Universities, Netherlands Embassy Morocco, city council of Amsterdam, ARCAM and  Netherlands Architecture Fund // exhibition developed among others with Elena Cattani, Andrea Kurzbein, Brendan Culley, Jeroen van der Drift and Ivan Thung

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