A number of experts, researchers, and practitioners discussed today, Saturday, in Fez, intangible practices that contribute to shaping urban identity, with the aim of developing a vibrant and evolving vision for historical heritage.
These experts and practitioners, who gathered within the framework of the closing symposium of the first session of the "Rehab" forum, a space for exchange between various actors interested in the public space, organized by the "Shams Fez" and Cobaty Horizons–Maroc associations, emphasized the importance of rethinking the heritage space of historical cities in a way that makes them livable and vibrant.
In a speech at the opening of this meeting, which revolved around four workshops discussing various topics, the director of the forum, Mohamed Amin Loukili, stated that the "Rehab" forum seeks to envision a "living, breathing, and evolving" heritage, capable of adapting to contemporary uses, in a break from the rigid approach that confines it to a fixed museum dimension.
Loukili stressed the importance of the exchanges that the forum witnessed over an entire week, which provided an opportunity to exchange views between residents, architects, and artists regarding the uses of spaces, the transformations that ancient cities are undergoing, and how they can accommodate new lifestyles without losing their original identity.
Within the framework of this symposium, students from participating educational institutions, including the Euro-Mediterranean University of Fez and the National School of Architecture of Fez, presented their projects that addressed specific locations within the ancient city, with the aim of re-imagining and transforming them from neglected or rigid spaces into vibrant spaces open to their urban environment.
Thus, Anas Manji, a student at the Euro-Mediterranean University of Fez, explained in a statement to the Moroccan News Agency that his team's project aims to rethink the public space within the fabric of the ancient city by studying a small, neglected square, but one that has great potential to be transformed into a space for interaction and social interaction.
Thirteen teams representing public and private institutions presented their proposals for the rehabilitation of a number of unknown sites, with the aim of highlighting them and transforming them into living spaces integrated into the urban fabric of the ancient city.
The symposium's work was distributed across four thematic workshops that addressed multiple topics, including: "Living in the Heritage Space Between Yesterday's Uses and Today's Practices," "Orality and Memory as Drivers of Urban Narrative," "Art in Public Space: Joint Creation on the Spot," and "Governance and Economy in Living Heritage."
The first edition of the "Rehab" forum, organized under the slogan "Towards a Joint and Sustainable Production of Social and Heritage Space in Historical Cities – Orality as a Means of Recovering Identity," was an opportunity to highlight narratives, testimonies, and intangible practices that shape the urban identity of historical cities, and to develop a joint and sustainable vision for living heritage.
Participants also exchanged views on the ways and mechanisms to produce jointly and sustainably the social and heritage spaces in historical cities, while emphasizing the importance of orality as an essential means of preserving memory and transmitting it across generations.
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