FES

Fes is a city of many diverse sectors; the UNESCO protected Medina, the newer, adjacent Fes El-Jdid old Jewish quarter and the comparatively modern French built “Ville Nouvelle”. The main focus area is the Medina, lost in time and apparently spared from modernism and modernisation. 

This maze of pedestrian routes and building mass has been “awarded” UNESCO World Heritage Status since 1981, designed to conserve this site of historic interest. However, it also, almost in inevitably, has begun to see the Medina preserved and monitored and catalogued like a piece in a museum collection. 

There is very little differing opinion about the significance of the town in terms of its historic buildings, monuments, layout and infrastructure. The streets inter-weave and flow through the constant mass and solidity of the buildings. The vibrant and complex urban environment shows many conflicting characteristics; permanence with fragility, chaos with calm; detail with mass. Nothing exists without reason, but not always thorough thought. 

Time does not stand still here, the people adapt and thrive as problems arise, but often these measures appear temporary and random to the passer by.

The city is at a key moment in both its history and its future. Become an exhibit for the world to gaze and admire or adapt and strike a new balance between preservation and natural evolution. 

The Medina is in danger of becoming suspended in a state of flux, possibly damaging all that is romantic and charming as well as the social and economic development that is naturally required and needed in a developing city

 LISA BROWN 2011