Kasserine’s main square was remodelled as a martyrs’ memorial after the January 2011 Tunisian revolution. The design borrows its pre-existing plan of central strip flanked by two squares, but makes each zone symbolic: a meeting space; a meditation space; and a filter space between, signifying transition from company to solitude and vice versa. The meeting space is grassy with benches and a corner amphitheatre. The meditation space features a central wound-like gash in the landscaping with a pointed, rust-red, Corten steel overhang, pierced into which is a poem that the sun’s rays project onto the ground. January-blossoming trees placed in the filter area - one for each of the region’s martyrs - have since been removed to make way for occasional events.
Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture
