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

Prevodilac: Mile Živković Lektor: Dejan Vicai

I would like to share with you today

Danas bih želela da podelim sa vama

a project that has changed how I approach

projekat koji je promenio način

and practice architecture:

na koji prilazim arhitekturi i bavim se njom:

the Fez River Rehabilitation Project.

Projekat rehabilitacije reke Fez.

My hometown of Fez, Morocco,

Moji rodni grad Fez u Maroku

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

može se pohvaliti time da je jedan od najvećih ograđenih srednjovekovnih

called the medina, nestled in a river valley.

gradova na svetu, koji se zovu medine, i postavljen je u dolini reke.

The entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ceo grad je Uneskovo mesto svetske baštine.

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

Od 50-tih godina, kako je rasla populacija medine,

basic urban infrastructure

osnovne urbane infrastrukture

such as green open spaces and sewage

poput otvorenih zelenih površina i kanalizacije

quickly changed and got highly stressed.

brzo su se izmenile i veoma opteretile.

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 reka Fez, koja seče medinu po sredini

and has been considered for many centuries

i vekovima se smatrala

as the city's very soul.

samom dušom grada.

In fact, one can witness the presence

Zapravo, možete videti prisustvo

of the river's extensive water network

pozamašne vodene mreže reke

all throughout the city,

kroz ceo grad,

in places such as private and public fountains.

na mestima poput privatnih i javnih fontana.

Unfortunately, because of the pollution of the river,

Nažalost, zbog zagađenja reke,

it has been covered little by little

malo-pomalo je pokrivana

by concrete slabs since 1952.

komadima betona od 1952.

This process of erasure was coupled

Ovaj proces brisanja je propratilo

with the destruction of many houses

rušenje velikog broja kuća

along the river banks

uz obalu reke

to be able to make machineries

kako bi mašinerija mogla

enter the narrow pedestrian network of the medina.

da priđe uskoj pešačkoj mreži medine.

Those urban voids quickly became illegal parking

Ove urbane praznine uskoro su postale ilegalni parkinzi

or trash yards.

ili smetlišta.

Actually, the state of the river

Zapravo, stanje reke

before entering the medina is pretty healthy.

pre nego što uđe u grad je prilično dobro.

Then pollution takes its toll,

Onda nastupa zagađenje,

mainly due to untreated sewage

uglavnom zbog nerešene kanalizacije

and chemical dumping from crafts such as tanning.

i bacanja hemijskog otpada kod zanata poput kožarstva.

At some point, I couldn't bear

U nekom trenutku, nisam mogla da izdržim

the desecration of the river,

skrnavljenje reke,

such an important part of my city,

tako bitnog dela mog grada

and I decided to take action,

i odlučila sam da uradim nešto,

especially after I heard that the city

naročito nakon što sam čula da je grad

received a grant to divert sewage water

dobio sredstva da izmesti vodu iz kanalizacije

and to treat it.

i da je obradi.

With clean water, suddenly

Uz čistu vodu, odjednom je

the uncovering of the river became possible,

otkrivanje reke postalo moguće,

and with luck and actually a lot of pushing,

a uz sreću i dosta guranja,

my partner Takako Tajima and I

moj partner Takako Tadžima i ja

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

smo bili zaduženi od strane grada da radimo sa timom inženjera

to uncover the river.

na otkrivanju reke.

However, we were sneaky,

Ipak, bili smo podmukli

and we proposed more:

i predložili smo više:

to convert riverbanks into pedestrian pathways,

da se obale reke pretvore u pešačke staze

and then to connect these pathways

i da se one onda povežu

back to the city fabric,

u samo središte grada

and finally to convert the urban voids

i da se konačno urbane praznine

along the riverbanks into public spaces

duž obale reke pretvore u javne prostore

that are lacking in the Medina of Fez.

koji nedostaju u medini Feza.

I will show you briefly now

Ukratko ću vam prikazati

two of these public spaces.

dva ovakva javna prostora.

The first one is the Rcif Plaza,

Prvi je trg Rcif,

which sits actually right on top of the river,

koji je zapravo povrh reke

which you can see here in dotted lines.

i koju ovde možete videti na isprekidanim crtama.

This plaza used to be a chaotic transportation hub

Ovaj trg je bio haotično središte transporta

that actually compromised the urban integrity

koje je zapravo kompromitovalo urbani integritet

of the medina, that has the largest

medine, koja ima najveću

pedestrian network in the world.

pešačku mrežu na svetu.

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

A odmah iza istorijski bitnog mosta koga možete videti ovde,

right next to the plaza,

odmah pored trga,

you can see that the river looked like

možete videti da je reka izgledala

a river of trash.

kao reka smeća.

Instead, what we proposed is to make

Umesto toga, predložili smo da trg postane

the plaza entirely pedestrian,

potpuno za pešake,

to cover it with recycled leather canopies,

da se prekrije recikliranim kožnim baldahinima

and to connect it to the banks of the river.

i da se poveže sa obalama reke.

The second site of intervention

Drugo mesto intervencije

is also an urban void along the river banks,

je takođe urbana praznina uz obale reke

and it used to be an illegal parking,

i to je bio ilegalni parking,

and we proposed to transform it

i predložili smo da se transformiše

into the first playground in the medina.

u prvo 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 takođe je povezano sa konstruisanom močvarom

that not only cleans the water of the river

koja ne samo da čisti rečnu vodu

but also retains it when floods occur.

nego je i zadržava kada se dese poplave.

As the project progressed and received several design awards,

Kako je projekat napredovao i dobio nekoliko nagrada za dizajn,

new stakeholders intervened

umešali su se nove interesne grupe

and changed the project goals and design.

i promenile 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

was for us to do something very unusual

bio je da uradimo nešto veoma neobično

that usually architects don't do.

što arhitekte obično ne rade.

It was for us to take our design ego

To je bilo da uzmemo naš dizajnerski ego

and our sense of authorship

i osećaj za vlasništvo nad nečim

and put it in the backseat

i samo to sklonimo na stranu

and to focus mainly on being activists

i fokusiramo se uglavnom na aktivizam

and on trying to coalesce

i pokušavanje da se sretnemo

all of the agendas of stakeholders

sa ciljevima interesenata

and focus on the main goals of the project:

i fokusiramo se na glavne ciljeve projekta:

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

da se otkrije reka, tretira voda

and provide public spaces for all.

i pruže javni prostori za sve.

We were actually very lucky,

Zapravo smo imali dosta sreće,

and many of those goals happened

i dosta tih ciljeva se ostvarilo

or are in the process of happening.

ili se ostvaruje trenutno.

Like, you can see here in the Rcif Plaza.

Na primer, trg Rcif kojeg vidite ovde.

This is how it looked like about six years ago.

Ovako je izgledao pre oko šest godina.

This is how it looks like today.

Ovako izgleda danas.

It's still under construction,

Još uvek se radi,

but actually it is heavily used

ali ga lokalna populacija

by the local population.

dosta koristi.

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

Konačno, trg Rcif će ovako izgledati

when the project is completed.

kada projekat bude gotov.

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

Ovo je reka, pokrivena, i koristi se kao smetlište.

Then after many years of work,

Nakon mnogo godina rada,

the river with clean water, uncovered.

otkrivena reka sa čistom vodom.

And finally, you can see here the river

Konačno, ovde možete videti reku

when the project will be completed.

kada projekat bude gotov.

So for sure, the Fez River Rehabilitation

Sasvim sigurno, rehabilitacija reke Fez

will keep on changing and adapting

će nastaviti da menja i da se adaptira

to the sociopolitical landscape of the city,

sociopolitičkom pejzažu grada,

but we strongly believe that by reimagining

ali čvrsto verujemo da ćemo ponovnim stvaranjem

the role and the agency of the architect,

uloge i rada arhitekte

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

pokrenuti ključnu ideju projekta:

that is, to transform the river from sewage

to jest, da se transformiše reka iz kanalizacije

to public space for all,

u javni prostor za sve,

thereby making sure that the city of Fez

i pritom se postara da će grad Fez

will remain a living city for its inhabitants

ostati grad za život svojih stanovnika

rather than a mummified heritage.

umesto mumificiranog zaveštanja.

Thank you very much.

Mnogo vam hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)