Built from Dust

With artworks by Younes Benslimane, M'barek Bouhchichi, Lungiswa Gqunta and Alexander Cyrus Poulikakos

Contributions by Tom Avermaete, Kenny Cupers, Madeleine de Colnet, Lahbib El Moumni, Sara Frikech, David Grandorge, Hannah le Roux, Morad Montazami, Salima Naji, Nadya Rouizem Labied, Giulia Scotto, Ola Uduku and Maxime Zaugg

A collaboration with the Chair of History and Theory of Urban Design (gta), Institute of Urban Landscape (IUL), ZHAW School of Architecture, Design and Civil Engineering, MAMMA Memory of Modern Moroccan Architects and Zamân Books & Curating

On 29 February 1960, a catastrophic earthquake devastated the Moroccan coastal city of Agadir, erasing it almost entirely and killing a third of its population. The world was shocked, and international aid quickly poured in. Following an emotional speech by King Mohammed V, the reconstruction of Agadir became a project of global solidarity. A new and unprecedented urban planning process was developed, allowing many architects – both national and international – to design the new city simultaneously.

The result of this joint effort was astounding. In a very short time, the new Agadir rose from the ashes. Moroccan and international architects experimented with new types of housing, mediating between ultramodern and traditional forms of living, complemented by innovative public structures such as schools, health centres and cinemas. The reconstruction of Agadir became a showcase for the aspirations, potentials and capacities of post-independence Morocco. All this combined to create an original urban reality: a new African city, a modern Afropolis. As part of nation-building and world-making efforts, many modern cities were born in post-independence Africa; Agadir was no exception.

The approaches of architects and urbanists to design within these diverse urban conditions, the effects of these urban constructs on local territories, and the tactics residents used to inhabit them are the subjects of new research. Starting from the Moroccan city of Agadir, a unique showcase of modern architecture and urban design, this exhibition brings together the research of a new generation of scholars and artists who have engaged with the Afropolis of the twentieth century.

The exhibition Built from Dust – Earth, Soil and the Modern Afropolis will serve as a forum for discussing the capacities and challenges of the Afropolis, reflecting not only on the often untold history of these African cities, but also holding up a mirror to the complex and frequently contested urban realities they have created.

Researchers and artists working on African cities as diverse as Casablanca, Algiers, Addis Ababa, Kinshasa and Accra will explore how urbanisation in Africa, sparked by colonialism in the nineteenth century and accelerated by industrialisation and modernisation in the twentieth century, has led to the rise of large urban centres in a decolonising world. It will challenge the notion that urbanisation and urban design are exclusively Western concepts, highlighting the essential role of cities like Agadir in decentering contemporary historiographies of architecture and urbanism.

Opening: 25.2.2025, 5 pm