In response to a request made by the Sidi Bernoussi orphanage for the development of an adjacent wasteland, the collective of young architects "Pourquoi pas ?" and several other architecture students decided to lead a project to build a quality public space with diverse functions: a football pitch, reading areas, gardens, and a place to rest. Students from architecture schools in Rabat, Casablanca, and Lyon will work alongside local residents, professionals, and amateurs to design this space, which will allow the children from the orphanage to escape their daily lives, but which will also be open to the inhabitants of Sidi Bernoussi in particular and the public in general.

For two weeks (from 16 to 29 October), students from the three schools will transform this wasteland into a living space for the neighbourhood, as part of a workshop they have named Casa Lyon, which aims to bring the cultures of Lyon and Casablanca closer together.

"Our intervention involves the implementation of revisited traditional techniques and construction methods, which favour temporal and human investment to reduce costs. By preferring the use of earth available for free on the project site and wood made available by Moroccan companies, this project is anchored in a solidarity-based and participatory economic system," indicates the "Pourquoi pas ?" collective.

The renovation programme for the space will not be fixed; it will evolve according to the exchanges between the young architects and the residents, as well as the projects proposed by the students. To date, some requests are already becoming clearer: a football pitch, seating, a shared landscaped garden and its shed, a reading corner, rest areas, a covered and shaded meeting space... Participants will have to take a step back from the proposed programme and will be able to enrich it according to their meetings with the residents and the children from the orphanage.

The workshop will last for two weeks and will be divided into two phases. In this sense, upon the students' arrival, a first week of design will allow them to discover the neighbourhood and the city, as well as to understand Moroccan culture. The second week will be devoted to the construction and implementation of the projects developed by the students.

What about funding?

A large part of the budget allocated to this project was raised thanks to a call for donations launched on a crowdfunding site. The rest of the funding will come from public subsidies, corporate sponsorship, as well as the registration cost for students in the workshop. The collective plans to collect a sum equivalent to 1,600 euros. This budget will not allow them to buy all the tools that the young architects will need. This is why they also intend to borrow a certain number of tools from individuals or companies.