Reactivating Abattoir of Casablanca

Abstract

Following the chair of Methods and Analysis, the Graduation studio took place in Casablanca, Morocco. The theme of the studio fell into the frame “constructing the commons”, which focused on the everyday life and everydayness of space. The design studio laid stress on two repeating loops as central approaches towards design. The loop of research and design emphasised that research and practice not be a single-direction linear development, but an interacting circle throughout the whole production of design. The loop between present and abstract underlined that students each explored their topical focus from a particular urban condition and in return projecting their studies on the selected themes to the sites throughout a concrete design. My graduation project was primarily constructed on these methods. The project started from micro-scoped field research into the ad hoc interventions and the underlying negotiations between different entities in the built environment. Inspired by the findings from field research, at the abstract level, I narrowed down my focus onto embracing the complexity of the built environment and changes over time. Finally, I projected the cognitive discoveries into practice by the transformation of Abattoir, the abandoned slaughterhouse of Casablanca, into a culture park. Reflecting on the spatial features of current Abattoir and those of its future visions, I intended to bring “Lightness“ into the project. The project consisted of two-part, a masterplan design and two pilot projects. The masterplan design followed a layering approach. Through adding two additional layers and manipulating on the relationships between layers, I reflected on the enclaves of Abattoir. On the architecture level, a refurbishment of the slaughterhouse and a new landmark design have been carried out under the theme of lightness.