ARC3015YF
Fall 2024 Option Studio
Instructor: Aziza Chaouni
Meeting Section: L0103
Tuesdays, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., 2:00-6:00 p.m.

Zanzibar City is an exceptional melting pot of cultures, characterized by Swahili, Portuguese, Omani, Parsi, Indian, and British architectural heritage. Its core consists of two contrasting, adjacent neighborhoods that still reflect the segregation legacy of past colonial eras: Stone Town, the British political bastion and now a thriving UNESCO World Heritage site catering mainly to tourists, and Ng’ambo, where locals live in a rich mix of Swahili and post-independence modernist buildings.

This Option Studio will investigate how these two cores of Zanzibar City could be reconnected to form a new, expanded definition of heritage, one that includes indigenous, colonial, and post-colonial narratives. Through the reimagining and adaptive reuse of existing public spaces, unused landscapes, and public buildings such as closed parks and museums, students will attempt to meet the needs of both locals and tourists for leisure, cultural, and recreational spaces while addressing climate change challenges and embracing sustainable construction and landscape strategies.

The multi-scalar approach of the Option Studio welcomes students from all three design disciplines interested not only in contemporary approaches to heritage rehabilitation and reuse, but also in the challenges faced by cities of the Global South. Students will be encouraged to develop proposals at multiple scales, but if they wish, they can choose to focus on a specific scale: urban (masterplan), architectural (adaptive reuse or rehabilitation of an existing building), landscape (public park, mangrove, urban forest, series of pocket parks, beach), or infrastructural (avenue, bridge).

The Option Studio will involve several experts throughout the term: Beatrice Grenier, head of curatorial affairs at the Cartier Foundation in Paris; Bomani Khemet, Assistant Professor of Building Science at Daniels; Fadi Masoud, Landscape Associate Professor at Daniels; and Ali Bakar, the Director of the Stone Town Conservation Authority. These experts will give lectures and review students’ work throughout the term. Additionally, Khemet and Grenier will join us during the Fall Reading Week studio trip, where we will stay in Stone Town and collaborate with stakeholders, including members of the Stone Town Conservation Authority and students and faculty from the local Karume Institute of Technology. A visit to the island of Zanzibar and a walking tour of the historic center will be organized at the beginning of the trip.

We will stay in historic Stone Town and collaborate with stakeholders, including members of the Stone Town Conservation Authority and students and faculty from the local Karume Institute of Technology. The studio trip will be an opportunity to be introduced to local culture in situ, share ideas and design proposals with experts and stakeholders, and become familiar with the city. 

For the complete course schedule, click here. Follow us on Instagram @stonetown.ngambo.