Aziza Chaouni: How I brought a river, and my city, back to life

Prevoditelj: Ivan Stamenković Recezent: Senzos Osijek

I would like to share with you today

Htjela bih danas s vama podijeliti

a project that has changed how I approach

projekt koji je promijenio kako pristupam

and practice architecture:

i prakticiram arhitekturu:

the Fez River Rehabilitation Project.

Projekt Rehabilitacije Rijeke Fez.

My hometown of Fez, Morocco,

Moj rodni grad Fez u Maroku,

boasts one of the largest walled medieval cities in the world,

jedan je od najvećih ograđenih srednjevjekovnih gradova na svijetu,

called the medina, nestled in a river valley.

nazvan medina, smješten u riječnoj dolini.

The entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Cijeli grad je mjesto UNESCO Svjetske baštine.

Since the 1950s, as the population of the medina grew,

Od 1950-ih, kako je populacija medine rasla,

basic urban infrastructure

osnovna urbana infrastruktura

such as green open spaces and sewage

kao zeleni otvoreni prostori i kanalizacija

quickly changed and got highly stressed.

brzo su se izmjenili i postali izrazito opterećeni.

One of the biggest casualties of the situation

Jedna od najvećih žrtava situacije

was the Fez River, which bisects the medina in its middle

bila je rijeka Fez, koja presjeca medinu kroz njenu sredinu

and has been considered for many centuries

i stoljećima je smatrana

as the city's very soul.

kao duša grada.

In fact, one can witness the presence

Zapravo, možete svjedočiti prisutnosti

of the river's extensive water network

ekstenzivne riječne mreže

all throughout the city,

kroz čitav grad,

in places such as private and public fountains.

na mjestima kao što su javne i privatne fontane.

Unfortunately, because of the pollution of the river,

Na žalost, zbog zagađenosti rijeke,

it has been covered little by little

malo po malo prekrivena je

by concrete slabs since 1952.

betonskim pločama od 1952.

This process of erasure was coupled

Ovaj proces brisanja pratilo je

with the destruction of many houses

uništavanje mnogih kuća

along the river banks

uz obale rijeke

to be able to make machineries

kako bi strojevi

enter the narrow pedestrian network of the medina.

mogli ući u usku pješačku mrežu medine.

Those urban voids quickly became illegal parking

Te urbane praznine ubrzo su postale ilegalna parkirališta

or trash yards.

ili smetlišta.

Actually, the state of the river

Zapravo, stanje rijeke

before entering the medina is pretty healthy.

prije nego uđe u medinu je prilično zdravo.

Then pollution takes its toll,

Zagađenje uzima svoj danak,

mainly due to untreated sewage

većinom zbog netretirane kanalizacije

and chemical dumping from crafts such as tanning.

i bacanja kemikalija iz obrta kao što su bojanje.

At some point, I couldn't bear

U jednom trenutku nisam mogla podnijeti

the desecration of the river,

oskvrnjivanje rijeke,

such an important part of my city,

tako važnog dijela moga grada,

and I decided to take action,

i odlučila sam nešto poduzeti,

especially after I heard that the city

osobito nakon što sam čula da je grad

received a grant to divert sewage water

dobio poticaj da preusmjeri kanalizacijske vode

and to treat it.

i tretira ih.

With clean water, suddenly

Sa čistom vodom, iznenada

the uncovering of the river became possible,

je oktrivanje rijeke postalo moguće,

and with luck and actually a lot of pushing,

i uz sreću i puno guranja,

my partner Takako Tajima and I

moj partner Takako Tajima i ja

were commissioned by the city to work with a team of engineers

zaduženi smo od grada da radimo s timom inženjera

to uncover the river.

na otkrivanju rijeke.

However, we were sneaky,

No ipak, bili smo podmukli,

and we proposed more:

i predložili smo više:

to convert riverbanks into pedestrian pathways,

pretvoriti obale rijeke u šetnice,

and then to connect these pathways

i onda povezati te šetnice

back to the city fabric,

sa tkivom grada,

and finally to convert the urban voids

i da se pretvore urbane praznine

along the riverbanks into public spaces

uz riječnu obalu u javne prostore

that are lacking in the Medina of Fez.

kojih nedostaje u Fez Medini.

I will show you briefly now

Sada ću vam kratko pokazati

two of these public spaces.

dva ova javna prostora.

The first one is the Rcif Plaza,

Prvi je trg Rcif,

which sits actually right on top of the river,

koji je točno iznad rijeke,

which you can see here in dotted lines.

što možete vidjeti po ovim iscrtanim linijama.

This plaza used to be a chaotic transportation hub

Ovaj trg je bio kaotični centar prijevoza

that actually compromised the urban integrity

koji je kompromitirao urbani integritet

of the medina, that has the largest

medine, koja ima najveću

pedestrian network in the world.

pješačku mrežu na svijetu.

And right beyond the historic bridge that you can see here,

I odmah iza povijesnog mosta koji možete vidjeti ovdje,

right next to the plaza,

odmah uz trg,

you can see that the river looked like

možete vidjeti da je rijeka izgledala

a river of trash.

kao rijeka smeća.

Instead, what we proposed is to make

Umjesto toga, predložili smo da napravimo

the plaza entirely pedestrian,

da čitav trg bude pješački,

to cover it with recycled leather canopies,

da ga prekrijemo nadstrešnicama od reciklirane kože,

and to connect it to the banks of the river.

i povežemo ga sa obalama rijeke.

The second site of intervention

Drugo mjesto intervencije

is also an urban void along the river banks,

je također urbana praznina uz obale rijeke,

and it used to be an illegal parking,

i to je bilo ilegalno parkiralište,

and we proposed to transform it

i predložili smo da ga pretvorimo

into the first playground in the medina.

u prvo dječje igralište u medini.

The playground is constructed using recycled tires

Igralište je napravljeno od recikliranih guma

and also is coupled with a constructed wetland

i također je upareno sa konstruiranom močvarom

that not only cleans the water of the river

koja ne samo da čisti vodu iz rijeke

but also retains it when floods occur.

ali također ju zadržava kod poplava.

As the project progressed and received several design awards,

Kako je projekt napredovao i primao različite nagrade za dizajn,

new stakeholders intervened

novi dioničari su intervenirali

and changed the project goals and design.

i promijenili ciljeve i dizajn projekta.

The only way for us to be able to bring

Jedini način za nas da proguramo

the main goals of the project ahead

glavne ciljeve projekta naprijed

was for us to do something very unusual

bio je da učinimo nešto neobično

that usually architects don't do.

što arhitekti ne čine.

It was for us to take our design ego

Bilo je vrijeme da uzmemo naš dizajnerski ego

and our sense of authorship

i naš smisao za autorstvo

and put it in the backseat

i da ga stavimo po strani

and to focus mainly on being activists

i fokusiramo se da budemo aktivisti

and on trying to coalesce

i pokušamo povezati

all of the agendas of stakeholders

sve planove dioničara

and focus on the main goals of the project:

i fokusiramo se na osnovne ciljeve projekta:

that is, to uncover the river, treat its water,

to je, otkriti rijeku, tretirati vodu,

and provide public spaces for all.

i dati javne prostore za sve.

We were actually very lucky,

Bili smo zapravo vrlo sretni,

and many of those goals happened

i puno tih ciljeva se dogodilo

or are in the process of happening.

ili je u procesu da se dogodi.

Like, you can see here in the Rcif Plaza.

Kao što vidite ovdje na trgu Rcif.

This is how it looked like about six years ago.

Ovako je izgledalo prije šest godina.

This is how it looks like today.

Ovako izgleda danas.

It's still under construction,

Još se gradi,

but actually it is heavily used

ali se zapravo koristi

by the local population.

od strane lokalne populacije.

And finally, this is how the Rcif Plaza will look like

I napokon, ovako će trg Rcif izgledati

when the project is completed.

kada se projekt dovrši.

This is the river, covered, used as a trash yard.

Ovo je rijeka, prekrivena, korištena kao smetlište.

Then after many years of work,

Nakon puno godina posla,

the river with clean water, uncovered.

rijeka sa čistom vodom, otkrivena.

And finally, you can see here the river

I napokon, možete ovdje vidjeti rijeku

when the project will be completed.

kada se projekt završi.

So for sure, the Fez River Rehabilitation

Zasigurno će Rehabilitacija rijeke Fez

will keep on changing and adapting

proći izmjene i prilagodbe

to the sociopolitical landscape of the city,

sociopolitčkom krajobrazu grada,

but we strongly believe that by reimagining

ali snažno vjerujemo da ponovnim promišljanjem

the role and the agency of the architect,

uloge i zadaće arhitekta

we have set up the core idea of the project into motion;

smo uspjeli pokrenuti osnovnu ideju projekta;

that is, to transform the river from sewage

a to je transformirati rijeku iz kanalizacije

to public space for all,

u javni prostor za sve,

thereby making sure that the city of Fez

i tako biti siguran da je Fez

will remain a living city for its inhabitants

živi grad za svoje stanovnike

rather than a mummified heritage.

umjesto mumificiranog nasljeđa.

Thank you very much.

Hvala vam puno.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)