Essaouira, located on the shore of the Atlantic, facing the ocean winds, with the dunes that hold the remains of the original lagoon at its back, has lost its role as an historic port of call and the site of a major Jewish community. The urban restoration project is meant to revive the landscape between the bodies of water – the sea and the lagoon – while restoring the town’s lost identity, initiating a process of restoration involving its entire historic core.
The coastal strip, along with the area just outside of town, in the direction of the dunes, are sites earmarked for experimentation, with further exploratory work to address the restoration of Mellah, the historic Jewish quarter, currently in a run-down state. Each project proposal combines features of traditional architecture with the idioms of modern-day life.