The star.com
Christopher HumeSTAR COLUMNISTBorn in Morocco, educated in the U.S., based in Toronto, architect Aziza Chaouni hopes to make a difference wherever she goes.
Since arriving here four years ago, the peripatetic designer has been travelling among various continents creating connections. Early in 2012, for example, she will lead a group of architectural students from the University of Toronto to Jordan, where they will help establish a national park.
In this city, Chaouni divides her time between teaching and designing. One overlooked aspect of Toronto that interests her is the laneway system that extends throughout much of the core.
“It has so much potential,” says the 34-year-old architect. “But it’s so difficult to get a permit. They say the issue is safety, but in other cities they have smaller vehicles and fire trucks. The laneways could help the city introduce density.”
Chaouni first gained attention in 2009 when she won a prestigious Global Holcim Award for her restoration of the Fez River in her hometown. It had been largely buried beneath concrete slabs when she proposed to uncover, clean and line it with public spaces.
“It was very dirty,” Chaouni recalls. “Much of it was illegally paved over. Then, its name was River of Trash. Now they call it River of Diamonds.”
Despite being unusually difficult, the scheme has worked out well, though it remains 20 or so years from completion. “I learned how to be humble,” she says. “But I’m very happy with the project.”
In Toronto, where she lives with her husband, a historian and “college sweetheart,” she’s working with friends to remake an old and unremarkable grocery store into a gastropub. “The building is set back from the sidewalk and we’d like to turn the space into a front patio. We’re going to salvage any materials we can find, like old wooden palettes. It’ll be like origami; it will fold and create a small but usable public space. It’ll be very simple.”
She’s also talking with the U of T Graduate Student Union about revitalizing downtown residences.
Closest to Chaouni’s heart, however, is her work with ecotourism projects in her homeland. “Every year I have taken my class to fragile areas in Morocco where tourism is bound to happen. They’re usually very remote places where nomads live. We’re trying to develop typologies that are sustainable.”
What excites her is the possibility that park management techniques learned here could play a role in Morocco. “Canada has such amazing experience with parks,” she says. “Despite the differences between the two countries, I was surprised by the similarities. Both have to deal with degraded natural conditions and indigenous populations.”
Through it all, Chaouni has been getting to know her new hometown: “Toronto is incredible,” she declares. “The multiculturalism is incredible. It’s so stimulating.”
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