Lalla Yeddouna - A Neighborhood in the Medina of Fez, Morocco
TEXT
An interpretation of the traditional Medina city structure of Fez, a spatial and functional equivalent, a translation into the present with potential for a future development according to a smooth renewal and revitalization.
the city - one city building
The solid buildings of the Medina are grown together and become one huge city building. The solid building is just like an urban brick, assembled to an indivisible structure. In this sense, one building project, at this time, leads to one piece of urban structure.
The location of the site within the Medina is quite special. At this point the urban tissue structure meets the linear element of the Fez-River – at the lowest point/valley and entrance north/gate to the Medina.
the new urban body
This design proposal connects the linear with the urban tissue structure to a homogeneous unit and emphasises the location in the valley of the Medina with a plane urban body. The flatness of the new urban body highlights the existing as well as the remaining historic houses within the new structure. The roof becomes to the 5th Facade in a UNESCO World Heritage.
The view to the roof landscape offers a kind of wideness and spatial generosity, which contrasts with the quite dense urban structure and its busy vitality. This common contrast of wideness and density you can also find in form of huge, empty places, which are often located in front of the „entrances“ to the Medina. In this project that is also implemented at Place Bin Lamdoun / Entrance North to Medina.
Only from the roof level the entire new urban body becomes visible. At the level of alleys and also the place Lalla Yeddouna the readability of the entire structure is reduced. The functionality of public space and everyday usability becomes important.
From urban planning scale to materiality this project deals with equivalents, translations and new interpretations. This adds a counterpart to the still very archaic character of the Medina, which is anchored in the present.
It is a finely tuned interplay of integration and being different according to a smooth renewal. A smooth renewal, which is important for the future of the Medina of Fez, as well as for the arabic old town in general.
JURY COMMENT
The jury values the ambitious urban strategy of the project. It is based on a single, large architectural intervention, in a way, a new type of mega structure, being no object building. In fact, it is a segment of an architectural tissue raised above the ground and objectified – turned into a mega structure. As such, it contains many courtyards and intimate streets. In this transformation lies the novelty of this project. The project is clear and rigorous, offering a very good urban elevation towards the arrival from the parking to the north as well as a very interesting small-scale series of elevations to the Place Lalla Yeddouna itself. The jury appreciated, in particular, the roof landscape with its potential for public use.
THE PROJECT - TASK (extract competition program)
The competition site of approx. 7,400 sqm is located in the Medina of Fez, which is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site since 1981. Place Lalla Yeddouna is a strategic location at the nucleus of this oldest part of Fez. The Medina is a mosaic of small-scale, modest, sand-colored houses, and its endless labyrinth of narrow streets, where we can find still preserved as a living museum, an antique mode of life, full of history and shrouded in mystery.
The area of Place Lalla Yeddouna, where the city was founded on the two banks of the main river in Fez (“Oued Al Jawahir”), used to be one of the key links between the two sides of the old city.
In the future, the area of Place Lalla Yeddouna shall be a vibrant mixed-use urban hub for the community as well as visitors to the Medina.
The site is expected to become a major catalyst for artisan development, with spaces for educational programs, residences, artisan production, shops, restaurants, cafés and other services. The new complex will support activities for youth and adults.
With its unique architectural character representing the regional building tradition and with its surrounding urban fabric, excellent accessibility and functionality, Place Lalla Yeddouna is expected to be a cultural site exemplary of our time and the region, and a stimulator and generator for the development of other projects in Fez, its region and Morocco.
The competition task comprises the urban design for the Place Lalla Yeddouna, the preservation of historic buildings as well as the design of new buildings.
PROMOTER
The Government of The Kingdom of Morocco
represented by
Agence du Partenariat pour le Progrès - APP
Rabat, Morocco
and the implementing entity
L’Agence pour le Developpement et la
Réhabilitation de la Ville de Fès - ADER-Fès
Fez, Morocco
with the financial support of the
United States of America
through the
Millennium Challenge Corporation
Washington, United States of America
and in Co-operation with:
Secrétariat d’État Chargé de l’Artisanat
Wilaya de la Région Fès Boulemane
Commune Urbaine de Fès
Commune Urbaine Méchouar Fès Jdid
Manager of the competition: [phase eins], Berlin/D
the city - one city building
The solid buildings of the Medina are grown together and become one huge city building. The solid building is just like an urban brick, assembled to an indivisible structure. In this sense, one building project, at this time, leads to one piece of urban structure.
The location of the site within the Medina is quite special. At this point the urban tissue structure meets the linear element of the Fez-River – at the lowest point/valley and entrance north/gate to the Medina.
the new urban body
This design proposal connects the linear with the urban tissue structure to a homogeneous unit and emphasises the location in the valley of the Medina with a plane urban body. The flatness of the new urban body highlights the existing as well as the remaining historic houses within the new structure. The roof becomes to the 5th Facade in a UNESCO World Heritage.
The view to the roof landscape offers a kind of wideness and spatial generosity, which contrasts with the quite dense urban structure and its busy vitality. This common contrast of wideness and density you can also find in form of huge, empty places, which are often located in front of the „entrances“ to the Medina. In this project that is also implemented at Place Bin Lamdoun / Entrance North to Medina.
Only from the roof level the entire new urban body becomes visible. At the level of alleys and also the place Lalla Yeddouna the readability of the entire structure is reduced. The functionality of public space and everyday usability becomes important.
From urban planning scale to materiality this project deals with equivalents, translations and new interpretations. This adds a counterpart to the still very archaic character of the Medina, which is anchored in the present.
It is a finely tuned interplay of integration and being different according to a smooth renewal. A smooth renewal, which is important for the future of the Medina of Fez, as well as for the arabic old town in general.
JURY COMMENT
The jury values the ambitious urban strategy of the project. It is based on a single, large architectural intervention, in a way, a new type of mega structure, being no object building. In fact, it is a segment of an architectural tissue raised above the ground and objectified – turned into a mega structure. As such, it contains many courtyards and intimate streets. In this transformation lies the novelty of this project. The project is clear and rigorous, offering a very good urban elevation towards the arrival from the parking to the north as well as a very interesting small-scale series of elevations to the Place Lalla Yeddouna itself. The jury appreciated, in particular, the roof landscape with its potential for public use.
THE PROJECT - TASK (extract competition program)
The competition site of approx. 7,400 sqm is located in the Medina of Fez, which is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site since 1981. Place Lalla Yeddouna is a strategic location at the nucleus of this oldest part of Fez. The Medina is a mosaic of small-scale, modest, sand-colored houses, and its endless labyrinth of narrow streets, where we can find still preserved as a living museum, an antique mode of life, full of history and shrouded in mystery.
The area of Place Lalla Yeddouna, where the city was founded on the two banks of the main river in Fez (“Oued Al Jawahir”), used to be one of the key links between the two sides of the old city.
In the future, the area of Place Lalla Yeddouna shall be a vibrant mixed-use urban hub for the community as well as visitors to the Medina.
The site is expected to become a major catalyst for artisan development, with spaces for educational programs, residences, artisan production, shops, restaurants, cafés and other services. The new complex will support activities for youth and adults.
With its unique architectural character representing the regional building tradition and with its surrounding urban fabric, excellent accessibility and functionality, Place Lalla Yeddouna is expected to be a cultural site exemplary of our time and the region, and a stimulator and generator for the development of other projects in Fez, its region and Morocco.
The competition task comprises the urban design for the Place Lalla Yeddouna, the preservation of historic buildings as well as the design of new buildings.
PROMOTER
The Government of The Kingdom of Morocco
represented by
Agence du Partenariat pour le Progrès - APP
Rabat, Morocco
and the implementing entity
L’Agence pour le Developpement et la
Réhabilitation de la Ville de Fès - ADER-Fès
Fez, Morocco
with the financial support of the
United States of America
through the
Millennium Challenge Corporation
Washington, United States of America
and in Co-operation with:
Secrétariat d’État Chargé de l’Artisanat
Wilaya de la Région Fès Boulemane
Commune Urbaine de Fès
Commune Urbaine Méchouar Fès Jdid
Manager of the competition: [phase eins], Berlin/D
