About the Course
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Thematic Studio A | Msc in Architecture and Urban Design | Politecnico di Milano | a.y. 2020 - 2021
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In Between Urban Design
Marrakech as a Multifaceted City
In Between Urban Design
Marrakech as a Multifaceted City
Urban design knows very different variations according to contexts and opportunities. If in the European cities the main challenge is today to rethink and rebuild their own identities, with a view on sustainable urban regeneration, in the Global South the challenges are quite diverse: from the upgrade of informal settlements and open spaces, to the construction of new low-cost residential neighbourhoods, from the major urban transformations as operations of the international capital, to the care of the historical heritage. In each case, the need to set appropriate, inventive, context-specific, and contemporary urban imaginaries is a crucial task.
The Studio addresses the question of Architectural and Urban Design, on the various scales, in its complexity and multi-disciplinary nature. The studio experience, which integrates various disciplines that contribute to design education, teaches students, in theory and in practice, to develop and formulate original ideas, including in a research context.
The thematic studio "In-Between Urban Design" focuses on a very dynamic North African city, Marrakech, seen as an in-between and multidimensional urban case, due to various geopolitical, morphological, climatic, socio-cultural and economici conditions.
The studio has been organized into three main stages:
Spatial Analysis of the Context
Urban Strategy
Urban Design Masterplan
Urban conditions, qualities and dynamics occurring in Marrakech have been explored through virtual explorations of the city, bibliographic research, visual and iconographic research and analysis, collection of case studies in similar contexts.
As a result of the first stage students have produced a series of thematic reports, collecting main data, information and interpretation through a set of thematic lenses (Housing, Climate & Water, Landscapes, Collective Services & Mobility, Tourism, Local and Global Economies).
During the first stage students have also explored a series of cross-topics through four pop-up activities, namely extemporary moments and products carried out during the classes:
1) Press Review; 2) Actors Networks Map; 3) Field Guide; 4) Case Studies.
The second stage has been devoted to identifying the main strategies at the urban scale, and the main areas of intervention (a sequence of public spaces and buildings, a neighborhood, or a “system” of areas, infrastructures, services) where to implement those strategies. Students have been asked to develop a series of narratives adopting a trans-scalar perspective, linking the analysis and the problem-setting with a selection of possible actions/guidelines to be implemented in space.
The third stage is finally devoted to the development of the masterplan and to specify and spatialize the strategy ta different scale, with a focus in the relation between built and open spaces, ecological systems, public services and infrastructures, housing facilities and agro-systems.
Three main thematic "clusters" emerged from the 15 projects:
Infrastructures and Urban Regeneration
Open Spaces and Socio-ecological Systems
Public Realm and Urban Playgrounds
The Digital Exhibition collects the results of the studio according to such thematic articulation.
The official page of the Studio > LINK
Urban Design
Laura Montedoro | laura.montedoro@polimi.it
Urban Planning
Alice Buoli | alice.buoli@polimi.it
Architectural and Urban Design
Alessandro Frigerio | alessandro.frigerio@polimi.it
Tutors
Michele Antinori, Teresa Di Muccio, Alessia Macchiavello, Silvia Sbattella
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