Project: Sustainable Market Square
Competition Organized by: [AC-CA]
Designed by TomDavid Architecten
Project Team: Tom van Odijk, David Baars, Alexine SammutSite
Area: 790 m2
Bldg. Area: 48 m2
GFA: 458 m2
Max. Height: 12.8 m
Landscape Area: 778 m2
Location: Casablanca, Morocco
Website: www.tomdavid.nl
Netherlands based TomDavid Architecten share with us their winning proposal for the much talked about Sustainable Market Square in Casablanca competition hosted by [AC-CA]. The architects found a balance in combining local techniques of shelter and heat control with the use of low-maintenance materials.
For more images as well as the architect's description continue after the jump:
From the Architects:
Context. The site is situated right next to the Medina and in consequence interwoven with the indispensable social and economic structures of the Old City.
Both legal and illegal markets dominate the streetscape and are vital to the local economy. The downside of this density of commercial street business is the pollution and the decay of the public space. The design will have to serve as an example on how to improve the practical aspects of the market but leaving the existing social economic structures intact.
Concept. We combine indigenous techniques for shelter and heat control, the accountability of it’s residence and innovative low-maintenance materials. In this way, we create an efficient and pragmatic icon for the next generation market which serves as a catalyst for improvement.
Design. The shape of the canopy refers to nature, providing shade and shelter like a tree. The overlapping of the canopy-leaves ensures the cascading drain of the rainwater and allows air circulation.
The curved concrete forms of the design are both a tribute to modern Casablanca architecture from the 50s as an endorsement of the beauty of the female form, as a nod to the dominant male culture on the street.
Sustainability / Positive development. How to define sustainability in the broader context of the reality of Casablanca?
Besides solely as a design-tool, in this case sustainability should be a societal journey. This journey brought about by acquiring new awareness and perceptions, by generating new solutions, activating new behavioural patterns and, hence, cultural change. This process must be seen as a positive development under the responsibility of the local residents to increase economic, social and ecological capital.
In our design proposal therefore, our sustainable contribution is twofold.
First by using low-tech techniques to collect and reuse rainwater to flush the toilets, clean the market-floor and applying evaporate cooling by using the heat of the sun and the wind to freshen the air under the roof.
Second, to be sure sustainability will be a collective agenda, negative environmental impact must be eliminated. By implementing a refuse and waste handling system for the market and using low-maintenance materials, liveability and durability will be improved.
