In March 2014, Aziza Chaouni presented a TED Talk in Vancouver that provides an update on the implementation of the Fez River remediation and urban development scheme. In the 6-minute presentation, she explains how the UNESCO World Heritage Site is being remediated following the city’s diversion of untreated sewage and industrial runoff from the river for treatment. The project converts riverbanks into pedestrian pathways, connects these pathways back to the city fabric, and finally converts the urban voids along the riverbanks into public spaces that are lacking in the Medina of Fez.

Watch TED Talk “How I brought a river, and my city, back to life”

One of the three precincts of the prize-winning scheme is close to completion. As the project is implemented, water quality in the River Fez has begun to be restored and the northern part of the river which was previously paved over with concrete slabs has been uncovered. There has been ongoing progress at the site of the Global Holcim Awards Gold 2009 winning project in the UNESCO World Heritage listed old town of Fez, Morocco.

Alongside growing interest in the Holcim Awards competition that is currently open for entries – there has been groundbreaking progress at the site of the Global Holcim Awards Gold 2009 winning project in the UNESCO World Heritage listed old town of Fez, Morocco. One of the three precincts of the prize-winning River remediation and urban development scheme is nearing completion.

This is a multi-sited, multi-functional project that is centered upon the recovery of a river. Work on restoring it triggers a range of interventions in the Medina. Outstanding features of this project are the strong emphasis on process and on the use of what is there. Core components are the rehabilitation of the old city’s architecture, revitalizing public spaces and traditional tanneries, and creating new pedestrian zones.

The second cycle of the Holcim Awards competition has reached its pinnacle: the top sustainable construction projects out of thousands of submissions from all continents have been selected. The four winning entries are a river remediation scheme in Morocco, a greenfield university campus in Vietnam, a rural planning strategy in China, and a shelter for day laborers in the USA. A series of prize-handovers will be held at the site of each project to celebrate the winners and their highly-acclaimed examples of sustainable construction.

The winners of the second Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction from across region Africa Middle East were announced at a ceremony in Marrakech. Total prize money of USD 270,000 was presented to eleven projects that illustrated the broad scope for applying sustainable construction approaches to the built environment across public and private architecture, urban planning, and environmental remediation.