ALGIERS ARCHIVE
STUDENTS Fatema Al-Sehlawi Lilin Chen Yi-Ru Chen Dimitra Christodoulou Odysseas Diakakis Di Feng Georgios Garofalakis, Zheye Li Katarzyna Plis Stefanie Sebald Tong Shen Jie Yu Meihui Yin
24-28 SEPTEMBER B-PRO Show 2013 21 Capper Street, WC1E 2QG, London
INTRODUCTION Beth Hughes & DaeWha Kang Our unit begins with the optimistic idea that we stand at a turning point in history that demands new methods for making cities. The global financial crisis, the Arab Spring, and the Occupy movements are only a few of the major events of our time that have brought us to question the fundamental value systems that are driving large swaths of development today. We see the Gulf model, popularised by Dubai and exported to the rest of the world, as a symptom of an urban calculus gone awry, focused on speculative profits today and leading to catastrophic failure tomorrow.
The urban development of Algiers is a reflection of a chaotic political history and a fragmentary process of growth in the absence of an effectual or effected strategy. On the 50th anniversary of Algerian independence, the Wali of Algiers has announced the next future vision for Algiers. We propose a method founded on a transformation of typology, the basic building block of development. We undertook a deep study of historical examples up to the present, understanding where and how these have been used in the past. Our aim was to develop an extensive body of design research that enabled us to generate proposals that are credible and revolutionary: proposals that can change the course of Algiers’ future. Algiers was developed as a series of plans, decade after decade. This succession of plans were accompanied by specific building typologies emblematic of equally specific urban strategies: the ‘Grandes Ensembles’ of the colonial period that accompanied new axes and urban squares akin to Haussman’s activities in Paris, the ‘ZUHN” at the periphery of the city, a product of uncontrollable expansion, and the bidonville slums that still afflict the city and are the typology born out of no plan and the failure of all prior plans. Parallel to this, the government has proposed an ambitious plan to build 2.4 million units of social housing by 2017. With limited capacity to fund, design and realise these plans, the city has opened its doors to developers and contractors from China, Korea, and Dubai to manifest them. We pose the question: How can 4
we make this more than just another plan in a succession of plans, often contradictory and never properly implemented? The investigation began with understanding these distinct urban histories, understanding the basic building blocks of the city, through the analysis and development of new typologies of buildings, public spaces, and infrastructure. The work focuses on identifying the factors that promise value beyond economic wealth and success, broadening and redefining our understanding of the term ‘value’ to include things such as equality, religious and political freedom, social cohesion, energy and resource efficiency, access to transport, quality public space, and education within the urban realm. Through the approach of building up new pieces of urban fabric from individually considered elements, the aim is to reappropriate the public realm and breathe new life and new legibility into the plan of Algiers. This is not a mass-deployment of mono-types that has so definitively failed Algiers in the past, but a finer, elemental approach with variegated and adaptable typologies that can engage with the specific spatial, political, economic, and demographic conditions of their sites.
We address not only the performance of buildings themselves, but also the spaces they form. The research includes exploring this interstitial space and understanding the contribution of types to the public realm by way of their massing, articulation of the façade, relationship to the street, climate, and sense of ownership of the public realm. These new typologies have their own builtin tendencies and predispositions towards generating urban space. When deployed, they open up the possibility of developing public space through private development. Typology is used as a building block for the new civic territory of our cities, fulfilling our short-term economic goals while achieving long-term priorities - more precise and bespoke interventions in diverse territories of the city. By reconsidering type we can infiltrate the urban calculus logic and shift the balance.
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URBAN DEVELOPMENT OF ALGIERS
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Casbah
French City
Bidonville
Grands Ensembles
ZHUN
Gulf Recipe 7
CASBAH 1560 - today The ancient city of Algiers was revived by the Arab Zirid dynasty in the 10th century. Previously it was a Phonecian colony that was destroyed by the Germanic Vandals during the 5th century. It remained a minor North African port in until the Ottoman rule made it into the capital of Algieria in the 1569. At this time the majority of the population were Muslim refugees from Spain, resulting in a form of ‘reconquista’ as well as the local Berbers. The Ottomans and Berbers coexisted and coordinated in administering the Casbah. The remaining makeup of the population were Andalusian and Moorish families running commercial and artisanal enterprises, the working class Kabyles, Jewish tradespeople, the Saharans, and some Christian slaves. The Ottoman rule lasted 300 years, whilst also acting as the main base for the Barbary pirates. The fabric of the Casbah grew vertically on the slopes of the Sahil hill, circumscribed by high protective walls. Intricate spatial formations and spaces were built organically and managed locally, resulting in the deep shared and communal structure of the population.
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CASBAH 1560 - today During the Ottoman Era in the 16th century, Algiers grew vertically and densely within the walls of the Casbah. Due to frequent attacks from Europe, the Ottomans built a continuous wall enclosing the Casbah from all sides. The Turkish dignitaries associated with the ruling power inhabited the lower quarter. The population of the Upper Casbah was a mix of different origins from Andalusia to Jewish tradespeople and Saharans. The governance of the Casbah was decentralized, having fifty sub districts, each supervised by its own leader, usually a prominent religious figure. The Casbah’s street network had a functional hierarchy that created a system of filtered accessibility. The main commercial street was the widest, dividing the Casbah into two parts.
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FRENCH QUARTER 1830 France occupied and colonised Algeria from 1830 to 1962. Contrary to other colonies in the Maghreb that were protectorates of France, maintain their own power structure, France exercised absolute foreign rule on Algeria, implementing, urban transformations, social changes and economic control, achieving complete dominance and subjugation of the territory. During 132 years of colonization, Algiers remained France’s most important and valued territory. The city was the grounds for experimentation: political, military, spatial, architectural, and social. The initial French urban interventions of the 19th century were focused on military functionality and control. Later urban interventions of the 1900’s created largescale housing developments, referred to as the Grands Ensembles. Many of these developments segregated the native Algerian communities from the European residents of Algiers. The period from 1930 and 1939 was characterized by sweeping attempts to bring order to the entire city through zoning and development master plans.
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LE CORBUSIER’S ALGIERS 1930s
“Le Corbusier’s 1932 Obus A plan (the word obus being a reference to the trajectory of an exploding shell) ignored the existing city by and large and superimposed a new system. A curvilinear viaduct along the waterfront connected Hussein-Dey to St. Eugène, emphasizing the linear development of the city and reinterpreting the corniche in the Prost plan. Le Corbusier’s progression from Obus A to the plan directeur reflected the architect’s persistent efforts to secure the commission by conforming to established norms. As argued by Mary McLeod, the architect’s involvement with the landscape became limited to details and moved away from broad gestures that had endowed Obus A with its lyrical plasticity. Not surprisingly, it is the more “realistic” aspects of Le Corbusier’s later plans that made an impact on the future architecture of Algiers. While the Algiers plans have become keystones in the architectural discourse on modernism, their impact on the city of Algiers itself remained minimal. The most memorable urbanistic aspects on paper— the daring proposals of Obus A—were the least influential, whereas the plan directeur surfaced in small fragments now and then in subsequent efforts to regulate the city. Le Corbusier’s influence on Algiers remained on the architectural level and manifested especially in the 1950s.” (Çelik 1997: 13-14) 14
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GRANDS ENSEMBLES 1920’s The Grands Ensembles modernist model of social housing was introduced to Algiers during the second half of the 1920’s. This model of housing became the basis for future housing developments in Algeria. These large housing complexes were built at the periphery of the city as an instrument for urban growth away from the congested center. Each complex formed an independent community, with little spatial or social integration with neighbouring communities. The developments followed a rigorous sociocultural guideline of maintaining the segregation between the Algerian and European communities.
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WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1954-1962 In 1954, the Casbah was the site of extreme guerilla warfare used by the National Liberation Front (FLN) as a battleground against the French colonisers. The FLN army grew rapidly and the French brought in tens of thousands of soldiers into Algiers. The war continued for 8 years, devastating the fabric of the city and halting all plans of development and construction projects. As a reaction, the French created a satellite town 50km to the East of Algiers called Rochet Noir, which during the war housed the provisional government. Algeria finally gained its independence in 1962, with a cost of 300,000 lives and the destruction of major districts within its capital city. Simultaneously there was extensive destruction of rural territories resulting in a mass migration from the hinterland to the capital. This sudden influx of people gave rise to a severe housing shortage that the city is yet to recover from.
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ZHUN 1962 - 1989 After the 1962 independence, the new independent Algerian government established a modern socialist movement. This period lasted from 1962 to 1989, bringing with it major reformations to the economy of the country. While some efforts were made to address the housing crisis, the majority of the focus was on developing the industrial sector. The rise of industrialization created thousands of job opportunities, which in turn lead to an increase in migration from rural areas of Algeria and the North African region. The result was a severe shortage in housing and overpopulation of existing housing units. The government responded by developing standardized complexes of social housing, known as the ZHUN.. Although offered to the residents at no cost, the housing units were not completed to acceptable standards and created extensive areas of very poor quality of living. A new layer of ‘socio-spatial marginality’ was added to the city.
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CIVIL WAR 1991 – 2002 Following the drop in oil prices in 1990, the Algerian government was forced to renounce its socialist structure. The government of Algiers resorted to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and agreed to open the Algerian market to international economic trade and foreign investment. The sudden change in the political and economic structure resulted in social insecurity, political failure, and the rise of terrorism. The dissatisfaction of the Algerian population created the protest of various Islamic rebel groups. In 1991, The Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) nearly won the presidential elections when the FLN cancelled the elections in order to retain power of the country. This caused uproar, which in turn lead to the Algerian Civil War between the FIS and FLN. Different conflicts occurred between rebel groups, which increased the levels of insecurity, and fragmentation of the country’s social structure. The consequences of the war have remained today with a continuous worrying state of security and stability in the country. The government finally won the war in 2002, but was left with major burdens. One main burden is the rise in levels of unemployment within the younger population. Limited education due to the war and the lack of job opportunities have both lead many youth Algerians to the streets, with high unemployment still a concern of today. The civil war also prompted further rural migration to Algiers further exacerbating the housing shortage.
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FIELDS OF ENQUIRY
Immigration Urban Sprawl The majority of housing developments are moving towards distant sites at the periphery of the city. Residents are dependent cars to travel to the city center and distant amenities, again creating disconnected communities. The city is vehicle oriented with divisive mega infrastructure. The dispersed character of housing complexes in Algiers creates a fragmented social and spatial structure. The ease of circulating from one district to another is untenable and districts become self-dependent and almost autonomous in character. The former cultural tradition of living close to extended family members has been broken down impacting of the social traditions of Algerians.
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Algeria has a long history of migration in and out of the country. The majority of Europeans (settled in Algeria during the colonial period) returned home at independence in 1962. Since the 2000s, Algeria has experienced a new type of immigration as a result of economic liberalization. Today, growing numbers of foreign firms and workers enter Algeria, especially from China (in the construction sector) and India (in the steel industry). Meanwhile, Algeria continues to play a relevant role in attracting Sub-Saharan migrants destined to cover labour shortages in a variety of sectors (e.g. agriculture, construction, tourism, domestic services, etc.). Algiers experiences a constant pressure from internal migration from rural territories to the capital fleeing war, natural disasters and in search of work.
Housing Shortage
Unemployment The lengthy civil war has been slow to recover from leaving behind many ongoing problems one of them being high youth unemployment due to a gap in education during the war. High unemployment is a threat to the stability of the country and talking this issue is a major political task for the Algerian government. In order to stimulate the economy, employment and consumption the country needs to diversify the economy and productivity..
Algiers suffers from a chronic shortage in housing for various reasons. One is the rapid pace of rural migration and resultant growth in population. An additional reason is the government’s monopoly of the housing market and the extreme limitations on private land ownership that inhibits private development. The affordability of housing is a further issue affecting the shortage of housing. The struggle leads to most households waiting extended periods of time for publicly funded and delivered housing units, which creates a strain on the capacity to meet the demand. The state hopes to deliver 1.4 million housing units by 2017. As a result of the current condition the development of informal alternative models has increased, contributing to the sprawl, disintegration, and fragmentation of the city triggering social unrest and low standards in quality.
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SELF-BUILT HOUSING The type of the imported high-rise apartment block develops a smaller building plan while increasing in height. It limits any structural and spatial adaptability, which would allow the resident to somehow achieve adaptability within the structure of their housing unit. The smaller constrained unit plans disable expansions due to family extensions and depletes the local traditional living standards. The limit of size and possibility of growth results in the dispersal of the Algerian extended family nature of living. Signs of re-appropriation and desired expansions are evident in various housing estates in Algiers. For example, the current situation in 200 Colonnes housing complex is rather different than the one imagined by Pouillon. Extended families have chosen to live under one roof due to the problematic shortage of housing. Therefore, the unit’s residents have found ways to take advantage of outdoor areas by incorporating them into their housing units for additional living space.
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BIDONVILLES 1930s - today The areas of shanty houses, otherwise known as the bidonvilles, were a result of various socio political conditions as particularly exacerbated by the specific mechanisms of the colonial governance played a crucial role in the increase of this phenomenon in Algiers. The bidonvilles districts first appeared in the 1930’s, usually located at the edges of the city. The housing shortage in Algiers and the rise in rural migration, precipitated by increased employment opportunities in the capital city, contributed to the increasing emergence of bidonvilles.. The internal structure is defined by selforganized amenities and facilities such as mosques, schools and shops, forming smaller sub-communities. The limits of bidonvilles are constantly redefined as the limits of the city evolve respectively. Its residents were referred to as a “new type of man” distinct from the Muslim urban population and unaffected by the “European civilization” giving a third element to the dual system of Algerian cities. The urban fabric and social structure of the bidonvilles employed a similar model to that of the Algerian Casbah, with its irregular and narrow streets, attached houses, and paths leading to dead ends. Dwelling units were amended as families expanded and joined while the common spaces contained shared cooking areas and bathrooms. The tight urban and social structure resulted in selfgovernance, control, and management of such districts. What remains as informal and regularized, carried hints of a fabric familiar to and manageable by the Algerians.
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CIAM’S BIDONVILLE STUDY 1953 “The first comprehensive analysis of a bidonville was done by a young architect, Roland Simounet, and presented by the Algiers Group to the ninth meeting of CIAM (Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne) in Aix-en-Provence in 1953. The Groupe CIAM Alger chose Mahieddine as its bidonville case study because this settlement had already been documented to some degree by aerial photographs and an overall site plan. Simounet’s task involved documentation and analysis of the housing stock, as well as an inquiry into social conditions based on interviews with the residents. Simounet’s analysis led to a proposal to adopt the principles of the settlement that corresponded to “the best conditions defined by modern urbanism,” namely, principles concerning utilization of the site (based on a genuine respect for the site), topography, environment, greenery, provision of proximity to work, commerce, and recreation, as well as configuration of the main traffic arteries. Simounet and his colleagues especially appreciated the terraced use of land, the “organic” relationship between the buildings and the site (reminiscent of the casbah), the flexibility of spaces to accommodate diverse functions, and the changing needs of the users—all documented by Simounet’s attractive sketches.” (Çelik 1997: 13-14).
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PUBLIC HOUSING 1953 Today the government develops a model derived from the ZHUN housing model, in a form a high-rise apartment towers. The logic of standardization and adhering to the minimum qualities of design continues to be. Due to the intense time pressures and budget constraints Algerian companies are not able to deliver these projects and they are predominantly implemented by Chinese construction companies given design/build contracts. The resulta is repetitive clusters of housing towers lacking any variation in form or design. The result is the creation of housing districts where legibility, sense of identity and community character are bland and unclear.
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PRIVATE HOUSING PROJECTS The government’s focus is the creation of a new image for Algiers as a developing modern state. The ‘Gulf Recipe’, as a formula for urban development, has arrived in Algiers after an attempt to open the market to foreign investments as well as the aspiration to import celebrated development models from other cities. This model of development creates introverted fortresses within the already fragmented urban fabric of the city. An autonomous part of the city is created, consisting of any amenities that the residents and visitors of the complex might need. The ‘Gulf Recipe’ approach to urbanism brings with it consequences of socio-economic divisions within the society as an reuslt of containing people and targeting a specific sector of the society, mainly the upper class populations of Algiers and foreigners moving to the city.
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TYPOLOGICAL TIMELINE
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We would like to say thank you to the following people: To the other tutors in the studio who have offered on-going feedback to the cluster over the course of the year, to guest tutors and critics, including: Samia Henni, Naiara Vegara, Monika Bilska, Brian Dale, Jane Rendell, Jonathan Hill, Matthew Butcher, Godofredo Pereira, Christopher Choa, Tarsha Finney, Patrick Schumacher, and Hussam Chakouf, and Elia Zhengelis. Thank you to our hosts during our Morocco field trip: Omar Allaoui, Bernard Ghesquierre, and Jean Paul Ichter. 38