Liaisons urbaines [Urban Connections] chronicles the development and implementation of an eponymous programme for enhancing public spaces in African cities by operations that combine urban planning and development, design, art and heritage.
Through three experiments conducted in Porto-Novo in Benin, N'Djaména in Chad and Casablanca in Morocco, the book presents the processes of design and completion of projects that involved local residents, municipal authorities, cultural operators, designers, architects and visual artists. The texts by contributors and partners of the three projects explain the stakes involved in this transAfrican programme exploring the question of public space in various different cultural and urban contexts. Liaisons Urbaines is backed by the “Afrique et Caraïbes en créations” programme of the Institut Français, in partnership with the Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine in Paris and EPA (Ecole du patrimoine africain). This publication was produced with the backing of the Institut Français in Benin, in Chad and in Casablanca, which are also partners in the Liaisons Urbaines projects in these three countries.
Edited by Gilles Coudert.
Texts by François Abléfonlin, Joseph Adandé, Guy Ansellem, Gérard Bassalé, Alban Corbier-Labasse, Luc Fabre, Bruno Foucher, Patrick Giraudo, Olivier Guiryanan, Franck Houndégla, Khadija Kabbaj, Samuel Kidiba, Hicham Lahlou, Ismail Lahlou, Valérie Lesbros, Malloum Hissein Mallah Adam, Fiona Meadows, Bertin Fali Padjonré, Francis Sessou, Saleh Tchéré Paru.
