مختارات من عمارة العالم العربي 1914-2014 (ص 46)

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مختارات من عمارة العالم العربي 1914-2014 (ص 46)

المحتوى

[rere ‏سكت‎
From the 1970s until the 1980s
This decade was marred by the structural adjustment program and
the reduction it implied in public spending and state investment; very
few large-scale public facility projects were launched, especially in
the fields of education and health, which had previously created many
opportunities for remarkable architectural projects.
These times were also marked by two speeches, one in 1979 and the
other in 1986, by the King to Morocean architects encouraging them
to produce higher quality work, and a greater “authenticity” through
inspiration drawn from regional and local specificities. In the political
backdrop of the times, the speeches had the reverse effect of creating
astereotyped architecture that went against previous work in terms of
creativity and contemporaneity; an architecture composed of cladding
of arches, green bricks, and zelliges all attempting to vie for ‘authentic-
ity’, thus losing touch with the project's scale, and failing to integrate
in the surrounding space.
Afew projects, mainly social housing projects such as Dar Lamane
by Abdelaziz Lazrak and Abderrahim Charai and Ai Massira by Elie
Mouyal, nevertheless provided interesting answers to the context
of the time. At the beginning of the 1980s, the National School of
Architecture was established under the auspices of the Ministry
of the Interior. It was the first, and for a long time, the only school of
architecture in the country.
The 2000s
The end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s witnessed a
major turn in architectural production. A new generation of archi-
tects, and new types of programs (commercial, third sector, tourism),
combined with the fact that the country was now open to large-scale
international investment, helped generate massive architectural
production often of the quality of comparable countries, Significant
projects carried out by young Moroccan firms or older ones able to
change with the times, testify to the influence of major trends in con-
temporary architecture.
Another phenomenon of note, was the arrival in the middle of the
2000s, of international “starchitects”. Approached directly by big
public or private operators, these “big names" of the international
scene - OMA, Norman Foster, Jean Nouvel, and others — found
clients in Morocco attracted by this “Star System” in architecture,
to such an extent that it became nearly impossible for a Moroccan
agency to make large-scale projects unless associated with a big
name. Such a trend is problematic and we are beginning to perceive
its limitations considering local reception of such projects.
Algeria
Boussad Aiche
The 1910s and 1920s:
Stylistic and Neo-Moorish Profusion
The Neo-Moorish style was added to the other architectural styles
that had been booming in Algeria since the beginning of the French
colonization. Decreed as the official style of the State by Governor
Jonnart, the Neo-Moorish style aimed at winning over the local popu-
lation. By selling France's image as a protector and a guardian of local
tradition, the enthusiasm for the Neo-Moorish style at the beginning
of the twentieth century would open new vistas for architecture in
Algeria. Along with strict aesthetic guidelines with respect to tradi-
tional arts, the style proliferated in many public monuments. One of
the most typical examples was the Galeries de France in Algiers by
Henri Louis Paul Petit. Inaugurated in 1914, it emphasized the legacy
of Islamic architectural typologies found in the Maghreb and in Spain.
These buildings became true icons and were present in the urban
landscape of many an Algerian city, and introduced new visual land-
marks resulting from cross-cultural mixing.
The 1930s: the Centennial Celebration
The celebration of the centennial of colonization inaugurated the
1930s in Aigeria. Celebrated with great pomp, this important event
was intended to give Algeria an international dimension in order to
legitimate the French presence there and praise colonial power. Even
though the event was unable to hide the political excesses it was
leading to, it helped nonetheless launch a large and ambitious major
public facilities program that brought innovation and modernity to
the country. By adopting architectural codes close to the modern
trend, many buildings broke with the Neo-Moorish aesthetic in favor
ofamodernism adapted to the country's context. Such an ideological
influence on the public commission (which wasn’t just political but
also had a material impact) was clearly visible in the Governmental
Palace, as well as the Maison de l'Agriculture, by architect Jacques
Guiauchain and the Perret firm. Such icons of modérnity should not
however overshadow the less radical and more Art Deco approach
of a few architects such as Georges Wollf and his Musée des Beaux-
Arts in Oran (formerly Demaéght Museum) or Charles Montaland
and the Municipal Theatre of Sidi Bel Abbes. The Art Deco trend was
commonly used in Paris and Casablanca, but took on a more local
form, such as in the Hotel de Ville of Skikda (formerly Philippeville)
by Montaland, which combined a modern spirit with traditional
references,
The 1940s and 1950s: Staging Modernity
World War Two caused a turning point in architectural and urban
production in Algeria, with a slowing down of all activities in the con-
struction sector. In a political climate of nationalist upheaval, the
issues of rural exodus and the housing crisis, which mainly affected
a Muslim population, posed the question of housing for the masses.
Discussed at the 9th Symposium of the CIAM in 1953, this crucial
question is at the core of Issues addressed by a new generation of
architects who favored the Corbusean school of thought. In Oran
and Sidi Bel Abbes, M.J. Mauri and D. Pons, revisited in 1956 the
idea of the beehive building built at the Carriéres Centrales projects
in Casablanca, Morocco, by Candilis, Woods and Bodiansky. The
historicist alternative offered by Fernand Pouillon follows another
line of thought; he combined the spirit of modernism with traditional
references for the development in 1953 and 1955 in Algiers of the cit-
ies of Diar Essada and Diar el Mahcoul, rallying behind him architects
in search of identity referents. The Girls' School of 1956 by J. Pigeon,
as well as the airport extension of 1957 in El Golea in the Algerian
South by Burgat and Challand, followed that same line of thought.
The architectural scene in Algeria in the 1950s is also characterized
by innovative experimentation; the 1956 market of Sidi Bel Abbes
by Mauri, and the cathedral of the Sacré-Coeur of Algiers by Herbe
and Le Couteur are proof of the dynamism and the innovative spirit
of architects of the time.
After the start of the Algerian War that deepened the trauma of
colonization, the Constantine Plan, completed just after the coun-
try’s independence, would try to accelerate the politics of social
housing by launching a vast housing initiative.

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مختارات من عمارة العالم العربي 1914-2014

تاريخ

2014

المنشئ

جورج عربيد