The club, the garden, the market
An investigation into the unique urban and social conditions of the city of Casablanca. As a result of its complex history and location, the city is defined by an ambiguous and often contradictory relations in the domain of power, body and community. The conditions of the city are encapsulated in the area of an illegal marketplace of Derb Ghallef, which was chosen for the site of the project.
Intervention uses an equally ambiguous figure of a garden to express and resolve tensions on the site. By clearing a rectangular fragment of the market and framing it, an orderly garden is created, manifesting the power of sovereign over the area and expressing the harmony and protection. At the same time, the frame provides a limit, beyond which all the resistance is possible. Connecting previously hidden spaces at the back of the shops, the frame allows for placing wild gardens and hiding hammams and night clubs in the area. There, the atmosphere of secrecy and wilderness emancipates and allows experiences which may not be openly approved.
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