The Commons and the Modern Afropolis

Agadir and Casablanca are two exceptional laboratories of modern urban architecture. Immediately after the Second World War, the authorities in Casablanca planned a radical expansion to become a city for millions. The historical town of Agadir, destroyed by an earthquake in 1960, rose from the ashes as a modern metropolis. In both cases, innovative buildings and infrastructure defined new common codes and conventions. During this seminar week, we explore the new typologies and morphologies that established the commons of these two modern cities. We pay special attention to the important but little-known urban project for the reconstruction of Agadir on which several international architects collaborated to create a Modern Afropolis; an urban reality developed according to its particular logic, generating different urban experiences from the Western city.