Respecting Heritage, Celebrating the Future
Background and objective	The Agency of Partnership for Progress (APP), with its implementing partner, the Agency for the Development and Rehabilitation of the city of Fez (ADER-Fès), is issuing this competition for the design of a site in the Medina of Fez, Morocco, known as Place Lalla Yeddouna. The competition is being conducted in the context of an international development program funded by the United States of America, acting through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), in accordance with the Millennium Challenge Compact (the “Compact”) signed on August 31, 2007, between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Morocco. Place Lalla Yeddouna and typical street of the Medina of Fez
Promoter	The Government of The Kingdom of Morocco represented by Agence du Partenariat pour le Progrès - APP Rabat, Morocco and the implementing entity L’Agence pour le Developpement et la Réhabilitation de la Ville de Fès - ADER-Fès Fez, Morocco with the financial support of the United States of America through the Millennium Challenge Corporation Washington, United States of America and in Co-operation with: Secrétariat d’État Chargé de l’Artisanat Wilaya de la Région Fès Boulemane Commune Urbaine de Fès Commune Urbaine Méchouar Fès Jdid
The Project	The competition site of approx. 7,400 sqm is located in the Medina of Fez, which is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site since 1981. Place Lalla Yeddouna is a strategic location at the nucleus of this oldest part of Fez. The Medina is a mosaic of small-scale, modest, sand-colored houses, and its endless labyrinth of narrow streets, where we can find still preserved as a living museum, an antique mode of life, full of history and shrouded in mystery. The city of Fes and the Medina | Place Lalla Yeddouna site in the Medina of Fes (click to enlarge) The area of Place Lalla Yeddouna, where the city was founded on the two banks of the main river in Fez (“Oued Al Jawahir”), used to be one of the key links between the two sides of the old city. In the future, the area of Place Lalla Yeddouna shall be a vibrant mixed-use urban hub for the community as well as visitors to the Medina. The site is expected to become a major catalyst for artisan development, with spaces for educational programs, residences, artisan production, shops, restaurants, cafés and other services. The new complex will support activities for youth and adults. With its unique architectural character representing the regional building tradition and with its surrounding urban fabric, excellent accessibility and functionality, Place Lalla Yeddouna is expected to be a cultural site exemplary of our time and the region, and a stimulator and generator for the development of other projects in Fez, its region and Morocco. The competition task comprises the urban design for the Place Lalla Yeddouna, the preservation of historic buildings as well as the design of new buildings.