CUL

TURALCENT
ERI
NCASABL
ANCA
Cas abl
anca,Mor occo'seconomi ccapi talandAfri
ca'slargestmet r
opol i
s,hasundeni able
i
nternati
onali nfl
uence.Butbehi nditsairsofatrendymet r
opolisandi t
scont inuousmet amor phos es
r
eflecti
ngi t
sloveofnovel ty,Cas ablancai sacityerasedbyhabi tandr outine,acit
ywhos ehi s
tory,
f
oroner easonoranot her,hasbeenf orgotten.
..
I
twast hisattachmentt oitshist
orythatpr omptedmet oembar kont hi
sr esearchproject.Itwast his
att
achmentt hatover camet hedi s
enchant mentIfeltforthi
schaot i
cci t
yofmi ne,afeelingshar edby
t
her estofCas ablanca'sinhabitants.
Totaket hecas eofBoulevar dMohammedV,i t'
sar ealanachr onis
mi nt hi
sci t
y,whi
chi scons tantly
r
enewi ngi t
selfinlinewithnew t r
ends .
Thatsaid,it
sgl ori
ouspas tnow s eemsal ongwayof f,asitsconditi
ons hows .Thisdet
eriorat
ionnotonl y
aff
ectsitsbuildingsandpubl icspaces ,butalsothe"collecti
vememor y"oft hepeopl eofCas ablanca...

Afteri
ndependence,manyF renchpeopl eretur
nedt oF r
ance.Asar es ul
t,the" Europeancity"was
gradual l
yempt i
edofitsorigi
nalinhabit
ants,maki ngwayf ormor eandmor eMor occanswhobegan
t
ooccupyt hear ea.
Overtheyear s,theboulevardhasf all
enintodisrepair
,botharchitecturall
yands pati
all
y:i
thasbecome
as l
um,i t
sbui l
dingsdir
ty,run-downandabandonedi nsomecas es,withmor eandmor ehomel ess
people,andi t
sreputat
ionhasbeens ever
elydamagedasar esult
.
Wewi llcomebackt othedegr adationoftheboul evardinmor edet ailinthef oll
owingchapt er
s.
I
ns hort,Boulevar dMohammedVi snomor ethant hepaleimageofi tspas t.
TheissueofBoul evardMohammedVandi tsupgr adi
nghasof tenbeenont henegot iat
ingtabl
eof
l
ocalpol it
iciansandhasbeenment i
oneds everalti
mesinof f
ici
aldocument s
..
.

Eur
opeanhabi
tat

Por
t

Vi
l
laz
one

Habi
tat“
indi
genous
”

Arter
ialr
oadsli
nki
ng
t
ot hecentre
(curr
entplaceMohammedV)

Boul
evar
dwi
ths
emi
-ci
rcl
es

Themai ni
deaofthisprojecti
stopr oj
ectamul ti
-pur
pose,hybri
dculturalcentr
et hat
canencompas sallki
ndsofact i
vit
iesonthes i
teofwhathasal mostalwaysbeent he
HotelL
incolnandthustrytomaintainarelat
ionshipwit
hthecentralmar keti
nfrontof
i
tinordertoencouragebot htour
ist
sandlocal stovi
si
tit
,revi
tal
is
ingthear eathathas
beenneglectedforalongt i
me.

Whati st hei mpor t

anceofcul t
uralcent res ?
Culturalcent r
esar eofgr eati mpor t
ancei neducat i
on;theyal low t het rans ferofar tand
cult
ur efrom di f
ferentpar tsoft hewor ld.Theyf aci l
itatethecommuni cat i
on,pr omot i
on,
diss
emi nation,int erpretat i
onandpr acticeofar tinitsdiff
erentandvar iedexpr ess
ions.
CulturalCent resar ear eal it
yt hatmeett hisneedandar enots ustainedexcl us i
velyby
t
heent hus iasmt hatar tgener ates.
Allovert hewor l
d,ar tins ti
tutionsar emanagedont hebas i
sofpr of es s
ionaloper ati
ng
pri
nci ples,andt hati swhyt heyar egr owi ngi nt hequal i
tyandquant it
yoft hei rser
vices .
Thewel l
bei ngt hatcanbebr oughtaboutbys ti
mul ati
ngt hear tsincont ext sofpover tyis
evengr eat er,whi chi swhyi tiss oimpor tantt hatCommuni tyCul turalCent resar e
syst
emat i
callys uppor tedbyi ntermedi atei ns t
it
utionsofci vilsociet y,wi ththepos si
bil
ity
oftrans f
erringmanagementands us t
ainabi litytrainingforthepr oject sthatar iseinthe
mos tdi sadvant agednei ghbour hoods .
Communi tyAr tsCent resar ear eali
tyandar enots ustai
nedexcl us ivelybyt heent husiasm
t
hatar torcul turegener atesi npeopl e.Al lovert hewor l
d,ar ti
ns ti
tutionsar emanagedon
t
hebas i
sofpr ofes si
onaloper at i
ngpr inciples ,andt hatiswhyt heyar egr owi ngi nthequal i
ty
andquant it
yoft heirser vices .hewel l
bei ngt hatcanbebr oughtaboutbys ti
mul ati
ngt hear ts
i
ncont ext sofpover t
yi sevengr eater,whi chi swhyi tissoi mpor tantt hatCommuni t
yCul tural
Cent r
esar es ystemat i
cal lys uppor tedbyi nt ermedi ateinsti
tuti
onsofci vilsoci ety,withthe
poss i
bili
tyoft rans ferr
ingmanagementands ustainabi l
it
yt r
ainingf ort hepr oject st
hatar is
ei n
t
hemos tdi sadvant agednei ghbour hoods .

I
nthecit
yofCas abl
anca,asi nanyotherci
tyi
ntheworl
d,ther
eisaneedforcult
uralact
ivi
ti
es;
onceagain,themajorprobl
em ist
hatthenumberofcul
tur
alcent
resi
snotadequateandt hat
t
hecentr
est hatdoexis
tarenotinadequatecondi
ti
onst
ocar r
youtcert
ainact
ions.