When Reconversion doesn’t meet Sustainability: The Case of an abandoned Market In Casablanca.

Architecture and urban planning in African cities took a new turn during the colonial era, creating shared histories of urban development. However, this heritage remains underrated, especially in previously colonised countries. Some, such as Morocco, began to roll out initiatives to prevent demolition and inappropriate transformation. This research focuses on a number of buildings featuring distinctive typologies of buildings. Among the sample are industrial buildings and markets, which have been marginalised in cities such as Casablanca. The research examines how technologies such as Hbim and photoscan can be used to identify, record and design recovery strategies for disavowed heritage buildings. Interviews with urban residents showed that heritage buildings affected urban development, and evolved into deeper research into the abandoned Crio Market located in the formerly industrial zone of Roches Noires in Casablanca. The case study draws an historical timeline of the building, showing its progression from expressing modernism with its ‘thin concrete shell’ architecture, to becoming subject of several reconversions for private profit, resulting in a distortion of the building’s original architecture. The market offers proof that not demolishing a building does not necessarily guarantee successful and sustainable maintenance of modern heritage. The research culminated in the making of a 3D model alongside a set of recovery guidelines offered as a first step towards a sustainable reconversion project.