| Carrières Centrales | |
|---|---|
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 Interactive map of Carrières Centrales | |
| General information | |
| Location | Hay Mohammadi Morocco |
| Coordinates | 33°34′59″N7°33′50″W / 33.583°N 7.564°W /33.583; -7.564 |
| Completed | 1952 |
Carrières Centrales (Moroccan Arabic:كريان سنطرال) is a series ofmodernist housing developments inCasablanca, Morocco designed in the 1950s by architectsGeorges Candillis,Shadrach Woods,Alexis Josic.[1] The development aimed to create utopian "habitats" that would provide alternatives to slum life for working class residents of the city. Carrières Centrales has been noted as a prominent example of modernism within theMaghreb.[1]
Michel Écochard was appointed Director of theService de l’Urbanisme et de l’Architecture ofFrench Morocco in 1946. Following a multidisciplinary study of the nation's housing needs, Écochard established a plan to develop a number of housing projects for theworking poor at the outskirts of Morocco's major cities. Écochard conceived of a substantialprogram that included a specially designed 8 x 8 metergrid plan.[2]
Carrières Centrales, a site in theHay Mohammadi district ofCasablanca, was the first project to test Écochard's design. The development aimed to provide affordable housing for individuals working in a nearby factory and French homes.[2][3]
In 1952,Georges Candilis,Shadrach Woods, andAlexis Josic—the architects Écochard assigned to the project—designed a series of utopian modernist modular complexes for the site that additional educational, administrative, and religious facilities.[2] Influenced byLe Corbusier'sUnité d'habitation and the communal nature of slum life, the resulting mid-rise complexes featured highly collective multilevel living exemplified by myriad balconies.[4][5] The site's buildings became known by the residents asSemiramis andNid D'Abeille as references to their visual similarities to honeycombs and theHanging Gardens of Babylon respectively.[6]
Since their construction, many of the complex's residents have modified the buildings significantly, most frequently by walling off the original balconies.[1]