[:nl]Tactical urbanism Marrakech[:en]Tactical urbanism Marrakech[:es]Urbanismo táctico en Marrakech[:]

Project Description

[:nl]Reclaiming space for the people, tactical urbanism intervention at Riad Larousse, Marrakech

Within two days, we turned the space in front of the Mohamed V lyceum in Marrakech from a space dominated by parked cars into a space for people passing-by, waiting, sitting and interacting.

While the scale, size and urban morphology of the Medina in Marrakech are perfect to walk and cycle everywhere, most of the space in streets and squares is utilized to park cars. In the space left, motorcycles race zigzagging, leaving a cloud of smog behind them. Pedestrians and cyclists need to accommodate to the space left for them by the other transport means.  How to reverse this hierarchy and give space back to the people? How to utilize and enhance the potential that the Medina has for active mobility by foot or by bike?

At Riad Larousse, in front of the Mohamed V lyceum, we started this paradigm change with a temporary intervention that reclaimed more space for people during a week.

The location: Children, youth, tourists and informal economy using flexibly the space. The street space is particularly flexible and active in the medina of Marrakech. It is a working area for many, like people repairing motorcycles or small electrical appliances, or is the marketplace to offer their services by exposing their working tools or transport means available for rent. At the same time, it is the meeting place for many various groups along the day and evening, from tourists to old men groups and mothers with children among others.

The area selected for the intervention, in front of the Mohamed V Lyceum at Riad Larousse is particularly rich in the different groups that use it and the forms of appropriation of the street space at different times of the day and night. The intervention can therefore exemplify the possibilities for change other similar areas in the Medina.

The entrance of the school is a very important function as the meeting place for children and youth going to school, it is also where the school breaks are hold, and the meeting place for parents and family waiting at the end of the day.  At the same time, the same space is a common pick up place for tourists, a bus stop and a waiting area for taxis. In the evening, when the school closes, groups of old men sit against the way to chat and observe the passers-by. Besides static people, the area has flows from different directions. It is the connection between two pedestrian streets from the medina so there are many passers by walking, cycling and in motorcycles. It is also an important car and bus connection through the Medina. At the same time, across the street from the school, there is the working space for many small businesses, transport rent and there is a carpenter atelier.

The goal, to reclaim more space for the people. When looking at the current organization of the space at the intervention area, it is clear that most of the space is dedicated to cars and buses. While there is a very large flow of pedestrians along the whole day, these need to accommodate to the space left for them between the cars, busses and motorcycles parked and riding across. In front of the school there are metal fences that avoid cars to park against the wall as they used to do it before. According to the director of the school, he asked many times the municipality to place those metal fences because there was not space for the children to leave the school. One day, a bus parked next to the entrance door of the school and nobody could enter or leave the school until 12 o clock when the driver of the bus arrived. Besides these metal fences, cars, vans and busses are continuously parked blocking the pedestrian flow and limiting the space for the groups of students leaving the school at the same time.

Therefore, we decided to reclaim more space in front of the school to give space for pedestrians passing by, to the students of the school entering or leaving the building and to all the different groups of locals and tourists that cross and wait in the area during the day.

 The intervention, reusing common objects. The intervention was realized with materials which are recurrent in the daily image of the urban space in Marrakech. The materials we used were picked up from what people already uses in the streets as a way to define and reserve their working area in the public space. They were all obtained at the scrap market of Marrakech.

To limit the reclaimed pedestrian space and avoid cars to park there, we used old paint barrels with plants. In many streets, squares and sidewalks in Marrakech, people are already using old painting and oil barrels with plants to mark certain space they are using in their daily work.

The floor was painted to give the road pavement a different meaning, to emulate a carpet. A carpet has the connotation of a living room, of a place to stay. Using the painted carpet, we wanted to change the imaginary from a road for cars to a place to stay, socialize and have some rest. The pattern of the painting was reminding common geometrical figures in the Marrakech buildings.

Sitting elements were created by reusing plastic water crates and wood extracted from leftover pieces of doors. The idea was that people could move them according to their needs at different times of the day.

 Realizing the intervention and the generated local commitment. On a Monday morning, we stood in front of the school with the elements we had prepared beforehand: barrels, plants, soil, water sitting elements, paint and stencils waiting for the parked cars to leave and occupy the space with the orange painted barrels and sacks full of soil. The whole process of painting, waiting for the paint to dry and planting the plants in the barrels attracted a lot of attention from the school, the passers-by (walking and by bike) and all the people working in the streets around (taxi drivers, mechanics, cigarette vendor, shop workers). The interaction between the team working in the intervention and people around increased during the day. Children of the school helped us painting some of the ground carpet. In the afternoon, when we started planting, they also helped us and some of the taxi drivers and locals joined us. Many people wanted to help with the plants and suddenly they were bringing water and watering the plants by their own initiative.

At the end of the day, a square was created in front of the school and immediately there were people sited in the benches. This repeated in the evening and the days after with different groups of users that were sitting in the benches to have a chat, wait or just looking at the activity of the street. Also, passers-by had a space of their own and didn’t have to find their way in their route between two parts of the Medina between parked cars. The natural walking route was restored and widely used.

 How to continue:After the intervention was completed, people were very enthusiastic about the big impact it had in their daily use of the space; some asked us to do the same in their own neighbourhood, and somebody else said we could do the same in front of a hospital in the Medina. These reactions, and in general the reception of all the users and neighbours of the area of Riad Larousse towards the intervention shows the good response and positive attitude towards a definitive square in that place. It is therefore important that the different actors get together to start redesigning the area based on the lessons from the temporary intervention.

The creation of a definitive square in front of the school can be the first step in a process to redesign the public space in Riad Larousse. The following step can be to connect the new square in front of the Mohamed V lyceum with the garden.

Finally, we hope this way to work through experiments in the public space can be utilised in other areas of the Medina to inspire the local community about the possibilities to make the Medina more pedestrian and bike friendly and greener.

Team: Camila Pinzon (Urbanos), Angela Mimica and Christian Juica (Otro camino), Zahra , Youssef Sarhraoui, Iss Àm, (Pikala bikes). Many thanks to Cantal Bakker and the wonderful Pikala team, to the neighbours at Riad Larousse, the children and youth of the Lyceum Mohamed V, the taxi drivers, the cigar vendor, and the old men that sit every evening against the wall. Their enthusiasm and positive reaction to the intervention supported our work during this short but intense experience of reclaiming more space for the people in Marrakech.

More information: The Dutch national television (NOS) made an item about the seminar and the opening of Pikala bike’s new location as a close up of the seminar. The Dutch Cycling embassy wrote about the seminar and our tactical urbanism intervention in Marrakech.[:en]Reclaiming space for the people, tactical urbanism intervention at Riad Larousse, Marrakech

Within two days, we turned the space in front of the Mohamed V lyceum in Marrakech from a space dominated by parked cars into a space for people passing-by, waiting, sitting and interacting.

While the scale, size and urban morphology of the Medina in Marrakech are perfect to walk and cycle everywhere, most of the space in streets and squares is utilized to park cars. In the space left, motorcycles race zigzagging, leaving a cloud of smog behind them. Pedestrians and cyclists need to accommodate to the space left for them by the other transport means.  How to reverse this hierarchy and give space back to the people? How to utilize and enhance the potential that the Medina has for active mobility by foot or by bike?

At Riad Larousse, in front of the Mohamed V lyceum, we started this paradigm change with a temporary intervention that reclaimed more space for people during a week.

The location: Children, youth, tourists and informal economy using flexibly the space. The street space is particularly flexible and active in the medina of Marrakech. It is a working area for many, like people repairing motorcycles or small electrical appliances, or is the marketplace to offer their services by exposing their working tools or transport means available for rent. At the same time, it is the meeting place for many various groups along the day and evening, from tourists to old men groups and mothers with children among others.

The area selected for the intervention, in front of the Mohamed V Lyceum at Riad Larousse is particularly rich in the different groups that use it and the forms of appropriation of the street space at different times of the day and night. The intervention can therefore exemplify the possibilities for change other similar areas in the Medina.

The entrance of the school is a very important function as the meeting place for children and youth going to school, it is also where the school breaks are hold, and the meeting place for parents and family waiting at the end of the day.  At the same time, the same space is a common pick up place for tourists, a bus stop and a waiting area for taxis. In the evening, when the school closes, groups of old men sit against the way to chat and observe the passers-by. Besides static people, the area has flows from different directions. It is the connection between two pedestrian streets from the medina so there are many passers by walking, cycling and in motorcycles. It is also an important car and bus connection through the Medina. At the same time, across the street from the school, there is the working space for many small businesses, transport rent and there is a carpenter atelier.

The goal, to reclaim more space for the people. When looking at the current organization of the space at the intervention area, it is clear that most of the space is dedicated to cars and buses. While there is a very large flow of pedestrians along the whole day, these need to accommodate to the space left for them between the cars, busses and motorcycles parked and riding across. In front of the school there are metal fences that avoid cars to park against the wall as they used to do it before. According to the director of the school, he asked many times the municipality to place those metal fences because there was not space for the children to leave the school. One day, a bus parked next to the entrance door of the school and nobody could enter or leave the school until 12 o clock when the driver of the bus arrived. Besides these metal fences, cars, vans and busses are continuously parked blocking the pedestrian flow and limiting the space for the groups of students leaving the school at the same time.

Therefore, we decided to reclaim more space in front of the school to give space for pedestrians passing by, to the students of the school entering or leaving the building and to all the different groups of locals and tourists that cross and wait in the area during the day.

 The intervention, reusing common objects. The intervention was realized with materials which are recurrent in the daily image of the urban space in Marrakech. The materials we used were picked up from what people already uses in the streets as a way to define and reserve their working area in the public space. They were all obtained at the scrap market of Marrakech.

To limit the reclaimed pedestrian space and avoid cars to park there, we used old paint barrels with plants. In many streets, squares and sidewalks in Marrakech, people are already using old painting and oil barrels with plants to mark certain space they are using in their daily work.

The floor was painted to give the road pavement a different meaning, to emulate a carpet. A carpet has the connotation of a living room, of a place to stay. Using the painted carpet, we wanted to change the imaginary from a road for cars to a place to stay, socialize and have some rest. The pattern of the painting was reminding common geometrical figures in the Marrakech buildings.

Sitting elements were created by reusing plastic water crates and wood extracted from leftover pieces of doors. The idea was that people could move them according to their needs at different times of the day.

 Realizing the intervention and the generated local commitment. On a Monday morning, we stood in front of the school with the elements we had prepared beforehand: barrels, plants, soil, water sitting elements, paint and stencils waiting for the parked cars to leave and occupy the space with the orange painted barrels and sacks full of soil. The whole process of painting, waiting for the paint to dry and planting the plants in the barrels attracted a lot of attention from the school, the passers-by (walking and by bike) and all the people working in the streets around (taxi drivers, mechanics, cigarette vendor, shop workers). The interaction between the team working in the intervention and people around increased during the day. Children of the school helped us painting some of the ground carpet. In the afternoon, when we started planting, they also helped us and some of the taxi drivers and locals joined us. Many people wanted to help with the plants and suddenly they were bringing water and watering the plants by their own initiative.

At the end of the day, a square was created in front of the school and immediately there were people sited in the benches. This repeated in the evening and the days after with different groups of users that were sitting in the benches to have a chat, wait or just looking at the activity of the street. Also, passers-by had a space of their own and didn’t have to find their way in their route between two parts of the Medina between parked cars. The natural walking route was restored and widely used.

 How to continue:After the intervention was completed, people were very enthusiastic about the big impact it had in their daily use of the space; some asked us to do the same in their own neighbourhood, and somebody else said we could do the same in front of a hospital in the Medina. These reactions, and in general the reception of all the users and neighbours of the area of Riad Larousse towards the intervention shows the good response and positive attitude towards a definitive square in that place. It is therefore important that the different actors get together to start redesigning the area based on the lessons from the temporary intervention.

The creation of a definitive square in front of the school can be the first step in a process to redesign the public space in Riad Larousse. The following step can be to connect the new square in front of the Mohamed V lyceum with the garden.

Finally, we hope this way to work through experiments in the public space can be utilised in other areas of the Medina to inspire the local community about the possibilities to make the Medina more pedestrian and bike friendly and greener.

Team: Camila Pinzon (Urbanos), Angela Mimica and Christian Juica (Otro camino), Zahra Ait Boumessaoud, Youssef Sarhraoui, Iss Àm, (Pikala bikes). Many thanks to Cantal Bakker and the wonderful Pikala team, to the neighbours at Riad Larousse, the children and youth of the Lyceum Mohamed V, the taxi drivers, the cigar vendor, and the old men that sit every evening against the wall. Their enthusiasm and positive reaction to the intervention supported our work during this short but intense experience of reclaiming more space for the people in Marrakech.

More information: The Dutch national television (NOS) made an item about the seminar and the opening of Pikala bike’s new location as a close up of the seminar. The Dutch Cycling embassy wrote about the seminar and our tactical urbanism intervention in Marrakech.[:es]

Reclamando espacio para la gente, intervención de urbanismo táctico en Riad Larousse, Marrakech

En dos días convertimos el espacio frente al Liceo Mohamed V en Marrakech de un espacio dominado por automóviles a un espacio para la gente. Se creó espacio para los pasantes, para la gente esperando, descansando e interactuando entre sí.

La escala, el tamaño y la morfología urbana de la Medina de Marrrakech la hacen perfecta para ser recorrida a pie o en bicicleta. Sin embargo, la mayoría del espacio en calles y plazas está dedicado a los automóviles parqueados o en movimiento. En el espacio que queda, motocicletas cruzan en zigzag rápidamente aterrorizando a los distraídos peatones y dejando nubes de smog tras ellas. Los peatones y ciclistas tienen que acomodarse en el espacio que sobra, insuficiente en la mayoría de los casos. Como invertir esta jerarquía y devolverle el espacio a la gente? Como aprovechar el potencial que la Medina tiene para movilidades a pie y en bici?

En Riad Larousse, frente al Liceo Mohamed V, iniciamos este cambio de paradigma con una pequeña intervención temporal que reclamo mas espacio para la gente durante una semana

El sitio: niños, jóvenes, turistas y una economía informal que utiliza de forma flexible el espacio: El espacio de la calle en la Medina se utiliza para una variedad de actividades en forma flexible a lo largo del día. Es el lugar de trabajo de gente reparando bicicletas o pequeños aparatos eléctricos o que ofrecen sus servicios al exponer sus herramientas o medios de transporte. Al tiempo, es el lugar de encuentro de diversos grupos a lo lardo del día y la noche, desde turistas hasta grupos de ancianos y madres con niños.

El sitio elegido para la intervención. Frente al Liceo Mohamed V es particularmente rico en diversos grupos que se apropian de el a lo largo del día y noche. Por esta razón, la intervención es ejemplar para otras áreas similares en la Medina.

La entrada de la escuela tiene un rol muy importante como lugar de encuentro entre los estudiantes el lugar donde están durante la pausa entre las clases y se encuentran al final del día escolar. Al mismo tiempo, el lugar es donde turistas son recogidos para distintas visitas fuera de la ciudad, una parada de bus y el sitio donde taxistas esperan clientes. En la noche, cuando la escuela está cerrada, grupos de ancianos se sientan contra el muro a charlar y ver pasar la gente. Además de estos grupos que usan el área como espacio de permanencia, hay una gran circulación de flujos de gente pasando en distintas direcciones a pie, en bici y moto y es un punto importante en la red de bus y automóvil de la medina. Al otro lado de la calle, además, es el lugar de trabajo de reparadores de motos, carpinteros y latoneros.

El objetivo, reclamar más espacio para la gente: Al observar la organización actual del espacio en el área de intervención, está claro que la mayor parte del espacio está dedicado a automóviles y autobuses. Si bien hay un gran flujo de peatones a lo largo de todo el día, estos deben acomodarse al poco espacio que les dejan autos, autobuses y motocicletas estacionados y moviéndose. Al frente de la escuela hay rejas de metal que evitan que los autos se estacionen contra la pared como solían hacerlo antes. Según el director de la escuela, tuvo que pedir muchas veces al municipio que las colocara, porque no había espacio para que los niños salieran de la escuela. Un día, un autobús estacionó frente a la puerta de entrada de la escuela y nadie pudo entrar o salir hasta las 12, cuando llegó el conductor del autobús. Al lado de las rejas de metal, los autos, camionetas y autobuses están continuamente estacionados bloqueando el flujo peatonal y limitando el espacio para los grupos de estudiantes que salen de la escuela al mismo tiempo.

Por lo tanto, decidimos reclamar más espacio frente a la escuela para los peatones que pasan, para los estudiantes de la escuela que entran o salen del edificio y para todos los diferentes grupos de locales y turistas que cruzan y esperan en el área durante el día.

La intervención, reutilizando objetos comunes
La intervención se realizó con materiales recurrentes en la imagen diaria del espacio urbano en Marrakech. Fueron inspirados de los que la gente ya usa en las calles para definir y reservar su área de trabajo en el espacio público y obtenidos en el mercado de chatarra de Marrakech.

Para limitar el espacio peatonal recuperado y evitar que los automóviles se estacionen allí, usamos barriles viejos de pintura con plantas. En muchas calles, plazas y aceras en Marrakech, las personas ya están usando barriles viejos de pintura y de aceite con plantas para marcar el espacio que están utilizando en su trabajo diario.

El piso fue pintado para darle al pavimento un significado diferente, para emular una alfombra. Una alfombra tiene la connotación de una sala de estar, de un lugar para quedarse. Usando la alfombra pintada, queríamos cambiar el imaginario de una vía para autos a un lugar para quedarse, socializar y descansar un poco. El patrón de la pintura se inspiró en figuras geométricas comunes en los edificios de Marrakech.

Los elementos para sentarse se crearon al reutilizar cajas plásticas de botellas de agua y madera extraída de piezas de puertas sobrantes. La idea era que las personas pudieran moverlos de acuerdo a sus necesidades en diferentes momentos del día.

Realizando la intervención y el compromiso local generado: El lunes por la mañana, nos paramos frente a la escuela con los elementos que habíamos preparado de antemano: barriles, plantas, tierra, agua, pintura y plantillas esperando que los autos estacionados se fueran y poder ocupar el espacio con los barriles pintados de naranja y sacos llenos de tierra. Todo el proceso de pintar, esperar a que la pintura se seque y plantar, atrajo mucha atención de la escuela, los transeúntes (caminando y en bicicleta) y todas las personas que trabajan en las calles (taxistas) , mecánicos, vendedores de cigarrillos, trabajadores de tiendas). La interacción entre el equipo trabajando en la intervención y las personas de alrededor aumentó durante el día. Los niños de la escuela nos ayudaron a pintar parte de la alfombra. En la tarde, muchas personas querían ayudar con las plantas y espontáneamente traían agua para las plantas.

Al final del día, se creó una plaza frente a la escuela e inmediatamente personas usaron los bancos. Esto se repitió por la tarde y los días posteriores con diferentes grupos de usuarios sentados en los bancos charlando, esperando o simplemente mirando la actividad de la calle. Además, los transeúntes tenían un espacio para seguir su ruta entre dos partes de la Medina. La ruta de caminata natural fue restaurada y ampliamente utilizada.

Cómo continuar: Después de que se completó la intervención, hubo mucho entusiasmo con el gran impacto que tuvo en su uso diario del espacio; algunos nos pidieron que hiciéramos lo mismo en su propio vecindario, y alguien más dijo que podíamos hacer lo mismo frente a un hospital en la Medina. Estas reacciones, y en general la recepción de todos los usuarios y vecinos del área de Riad Larousse hacia la intervención muestra la buena respuesta y actitud positiva hacia una plaza definitiva en ese lugar. Por lo tanto, es importante que los diferentes actores se reúnan para comenzar a rediseñar el área según las lecciones de la intervención temporal.

La creación de una plaza definitiva frente a la escuela puede ser el primer paso en un proceso para rediseñar el espacio público en Riad Larousse. El siguiente paso puede ser conectar la nueva plaza frente al Liceo de Mohamed V con el jardín.

Finalmente, esperamos que esta forma de trabajar a través de experimentos en el espacio público se pueda utilizar en otras áreas de la Medina para inspirar a la comunidad local sobre las posibilidades de hacer que la Medina sea más amigable con los peatones y las bicicletas y más ecológica.

Equipo: Camila Pinzon (Urbanos), Angela Mimica y Christian Juica (Un Otro camino), Zahra Ait Boumessaoud, Youssef Sarhraoui, Iss Àm, (Pikala bikes)

Muchas gracias a Cantal Bakker y el maravilloso equipo de Pikala bikes, a los vecinos de Riad Larousse, los niños y jóvenes del Liceo Mohamed V, los conductores de taxi, el vendedor de cigarrillos, y el grupo de la tercera edad que se sientan todas las noches contra la pared del Liceo. Su entusiasmo y positivismo hacia la intervención fueron gran apoyo durante la intensa semana de trabajo.

Mas información: La televisión nacional holandesa (NOS) escribió un artículo sobre el seminario y la inauguración de los nuevos talleres de Pikala bike. La Dutch Cycling embassy escribió sobre el seminario y nuestra intervención en Marrakech.[:]