Abstract:

In contemporary cities, speed has transformed urban space into a field of circulation rather than inhabitation. Spaces are crossed rather than shared, weakening everyday encounters. Akkari Hub responds to this condition by transforming a former municipal building in Akkari, Rabat, into a vertical building dedicated to coexistence.

Rather than erasing the existing structure, the project preserves it as built memory and inserts a free and empty level marking the transition between its administrative past and the architectural intervention. Above, a lightweight extension in steel and translucent polycarbonate opens the building to light and views toward the Atlantic Ocean, establishing a renewed relationship between the neighborhood and its horizon.

Organized in superimposed layers, the building accommodates spaces for workshops, meetings, cultural initiatives, and informal exchanges. The programs remain flexible in order to encourage evolving uses over time. The building becomes an open vertical structure that fosters encounters — spontaneous discussions, small conversations over coffee, exchanges between generations — and supports collective initiatives.

By transforming a place of administration into a place of shared appropriation, Akkari Hub affirms that architecture can become a tool for social connection. Coexistence is not conceived as an abstract idea, but as a spatial condition produced through proximity, visibility, and shared use.