2. The RehabiMed project in Morocco

Transcription

1 2. The RehabiMed project in Morocco Place Jamaa el-fna, intangible world heritage 2.1. The objectives of RehabiMed The RehabiMed project forms part of the Euromed Heritage programme of the European Commission. It is a cultural programme that came into being after the Barcelona Euro-Mediterranean Conference in 1995 with the aim of creating a space of collaboration and peace in the Mediterranean basin. RehabiMed s highly ambitious international objective is to promote rehabilitation activity in all Mediterranean countries as a factor of sustainable development. Its departure point is thorough knowledge of the value of traditional architectural heritage, obtained during the preceding CORPUS project, and the problems it represents. Promoting rehabilitation activity is of particular significance, as it is a subsector with great economic potential and a clear indicator of development. We must not forget that in Europe, investment in building rehabilitation and maintenance accounts for 50% of the construction sector s activity, whereas in countries in the south and east of the Mediterranean it is less than 10%. These actions have a twofold value. They contribute to improving the living environment of inhabitants and to preserving the historic and cultural identity of traditional architectural heritage that is rapidly gaining in value. It is living heritage in that it provides shelter for millions of families and stands at the very heart of the present-day city. It is therefore subject to great economic and social pressure, as well as finding it difficult to respond to modern housing needs. 11

2 The objective of RehabiMed is, then, to find a path and establish a Method that make it easier to strike a balance between improving inhabitants living environment and preserving heritage, with reference to the three pillars of sustainability (economic, social and environmental). This process must always involve all the agents of rehabilitation and their participation (politicians, professionals and inhabitants). The Method proposed by RehabiMed addresses the rehabilitation of traditional architecture resituated in a process of revitalisation and regeneration of the territory. It is an intervention in the physical environment and the population that it shelters, by guaranteeing adaptation in keeping with today s needs. Rehabilitation has to be a thorough, planned process of transformation with mid- and long-term objectives. From a more technical point of view, the RehabiMed Method sets out to order and systematize the phases of the rehabilitation process (orientation, diagnosis, strategy, action and followup) with the identification of tools and instruments (technical, administrative and legal) needed to manage and develop them. At the same time, it also presents criteria for reflection on the problems and the strategies that need to be implemented to guarantee the success of the process Rehabilitation and social action: the operation in Marrakech When drafting the content of the RehabiMed project, in 2001, four vectors of rehabilitation were chosen and addressed: Rehabilitation and urban landscape (Lefkara, Cyprus); Rehabilitation and artisans (Cairo, Egypt); Rehabilitation and sustainable tourism (Kairouan, Tunisia) and Rehabilitation and social action. Why choose Marrakech to address rehabilitation centring on social aspects? Our knowledge of the Medina of Marrakech and the city s complex set of problems is the answer to this question. Strong real-estate pressure with property speculation on a scale unknown in other Maghreb countries give it a singular value with a range of social situations and major contrasts between the riads run by tourism agencies and guesthouses on the one hand, and, on the other, the homes of local inhabitants, with great heritage value and very poor conditions of construction and habitability. There are other places in the Mediterranean where social action would have been just as appropriate as in Marrakech, but several months of work and completion of the pilot operation have proved it an excellent choice. The experience is unique in technical terms, but most of all at the social level, as the results show. The skill and experience in the organization of international projects of the Centre Méditerranéen de l Environnement de Marrakech, responsible for the Moroccan partnership and the involvement of the Inspection des Monuments Historiques de Marrakech, and of the Ministry of Culture, which undertook all of RehabiMed s technical work in Morocco, guaranteed the quality and excellent results of the actions carried out and ensure that they will continue. The participation and commitment on the part of the inhabitants and local and national authorities have made this experience exemplary. The implementation of the RehabiMed process took the form of several phases. A seminar about Rehabilitation and social action was held at Marrakech City Hall from 26 March to 3 April 2006, with the participation of more than 50 experts of 15 different nationalities. Khadija El Feddy, a local representative, represented the City of Marrakech at the opening session and Omar El Jazuly, Mayor of Marrakech, took part in the closing session. The practical work of the seminar dealt with the houses that were to be the target of the pilot operation. These practical exercises served to trigger reflection on the social and heritage aspects of each 12

3 house. Work carried out at the seminar produced excellent working materials for the local team. The participants proved to be very aware of the specific problem of overpopulated houses. This documentary base provided the starting point for diagnosis of the buildings, and the workshops organized with the participation of the houses inhabitants during the diagnosis phase and throughout the rehabilitation work provided in-depth knowledge that enabled us to adapt the projects and the work to their real needs and to help to improve social cohesion by means of rehabilitation. v Practical exercises in the houses. RehabiMed seminar Choosing houses for the pilot project In the case of the Medina of Marrakech, we looked for three houses that met the criterion of repetitiveness that is, that would enable the work carried out during the pilot operation to become an example and a model that could easily be repeated on other houses and similar situations. The choice of three different districts allowed us to establish three singular yet complementary models. The houses included in the pilot operation for Marrakech were therefore chosen according to criteria of heritage and social issues. It was also decided to choose untransferable properties to prevent subsequent property speculation with the work carried out as part of the RehabiMed project. Sidi Bel Abbes and Hart Soura houses are the property of the Ministry of Habous; they are therefore untransferable, which guarantees that the investment will continue to benefit social measures. These two houses (like numerous Habous properties) are also of very real heritage interest. Their structures and decoration have remained unchanged since they were ceded by their previous owners, who thereby prevented resale and preserved the buildings integrity. The house in the Mellah, like all those in this quarter, is not a freehold property. It is what is called, in Morocco, zina: ownership is limited to the built property, and the land is state-owned. The house situated in the Sidi Bel Abbes district, more recent and with simpler architectural elements, is exemplary for its dimensions, structure and location near one of the city s main sanctuaries. It is particularly interesting for its subdivision. The same problem applies to the house in the Hart Soura quarter, which also 13

4 represents a critical situation in an older heritage residence. The use of floor arches to span spaces (such as the large salon) is certainly the mark of ancient architecture using traditional construction techniques adapted to a region that did not produce timber for construction. The development of means of transport in the last century allowed importation to Marrakech of both cedar from the Middle Atlas and foreign soft wood. This led gradually to the replacement of the traditional technique of floor arches by timber structures: logs and reeds or beading (ikki) or rafters and boards (warka or geizat). The house in the Mellah quarter completes the picture: it stands in one of the city s most run-down areas (the old Jewish quarter), is the most densely populated of the chosen houses and its more fragile architecture obliged us to come up with more innovative solutions than elsewhere Principles of intervention In order to preserve the characteristics of the traditional Mediterranean architecture that make the selected houses so valuable, the operations carried out in the House in Zaouïa Abbassia Hart Soura house, Medina of Marrakech The Mellah, Medina of Marrakech 14

5 framework of the pilot project respected a series of basic rules as regards both the architecture and the materials used. The architecture of traditional houses in the Medina of Marrakech centres on the interior space, the wast ed-dar, a private space, often marked symbolically by the presence of a central tap and planted gardens. The overexploitation of available spaces and the subdivision of numerous houses in the medina (including those selected for the pilot project) often threaten the integrity of this essential element. One of the principles of intervention was therefore to restore, as far as possible, the integrity of this central space and its formal unity. Location of the project houses in the Medina of Marrakech This involved restoring the tiles around the top of the outer walls or crowning the lintels of the galleries around the wast ed-dar, standardizing the openings (arches or straight lintels), balustrades, renderings and ceilings, and installing unitary flooring but above all restoring the communal spaces that had been gradually privatized. With a view to restoring the identity and the integrity of each house as a specific architectural entity, within a built-up coherent urban fabric, particular attention was paid to the walls around the terrace-roofs, both to guarantee the privacy of the terraces and out of respect for the neighbours. Though the custom traditionally prohibiting men from using the terraces is widely ignored, it was imperative to try to adapt, wherever possible, the solution formerly reserved for middle-class residences: the construction of an enclosure to coincide with the party walls. Construction and rehabilitation using traditional techniques and materials requires a great deal of care and respect for drying times between the different interventions. Preference was given to using salvaged materials (bricks, logs, timber beams, lintels, frames) and the earth produced by removing, stripping or partially demolishing structures (from roof terraces, for example). In all cases, lime was used in preference to cement, as a binding agent in mortars and renderings, and for waterproofing work. In general, we avoided using reinforced concrete techniques that seriously spoil the traditional character of the medina. The work carried out on the pilot site in Marrakech had to be exemplary in this respect. 15

6 The specific interventions in the pilot project to improve the living conditions of inhabitants also followed certain principles. The first aim was safety ensuring that walls and roofs did not fall down. The house s bearing structures walls, columns, lintels, traditional floor slabs therefore had to be restored or consolidated. Then the terraces had to be waterproofed, respecting traditional methods. Basic facilities for each dwelling had to include at least one tap and an electrical power supply. Given the extreme density of population of the chosen houses, the sanitary installations had to be communal. Efforts were made to integrate these vital elements without spoiling the structure of the houses (visible installations, minimal chasing, clear identification of interventions using specific materials, etc.). The aim here was to safeguard these constructions in the hope that the social problems may one day be addressed by another method than subdivision and that these houses will be used as they deserve. 16