OFFICE 35

Cité de Refuge was developed within the context of the 2007 Rotterdam Architecture Biennale, the theme of which was ‘Power’. Ceuta is a Spanish enclave on Moroccan soil. The project gives a face to the politicized border crossing at Ceuta: a refugee city in the no-man’s-land between two cities (Ceuta and Tangier), between two countries (Spain and Morocco), between two continents (Europe and Africa). This city is formed by a large square of 482 x 482 metres that is surrounded by a colonnaded structure, like a thick rampart. Within this wall all the infrastructure elements of a border crossing are to be found: offices, hotels, stores... The walled plaza is left undisturbed, without a programme. It is a market square, a reception space, like a quay. In this way the Cité de Réfuge reflects the powerlessness to achieve solutions to the problems occurring on this border. At the same time the project investigates the city in its most radical, concise form: as a deliberate act, a political decision.