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Paul Morel

Paul Morel van Stadsherstel Amsterdam zal deze werksessie leiden. Stadsherstel Amsterdam redt monumenten en beeldbepalende panden door de zorgvuldig te restaureren, een passende bestemming te geven en te verhuren. Sinds haar oprichting in 1956 heeft Stadsherstel 600 panden in en om de Stelling van Amsterdam gered. Na jaren gewerkt te hebben als aannemer, maakte hij in 1991 de stap naar het NV Amsterdams Monumentenfonds. In 2000 fuseerde zij met Stadsherstel, waar hij nu werkt als projectleider aan de grotere projecten. Hij droeg ook bij aan de totstandkoming van Stadsherstellen elders in de wereld (Paramaribo Suriname, Stonetown Zanzibar).

Curriculum Vitea (English)

Born in 1952 in Breda (Netherlands), he completed his higher professional education there and moved to Amsterdam to continue with Sociology at the University of Amsterdam. After reaching his Bachelor in 1977 – at that time not unusual – he was ready for more action and decided to leave the university. In boisterous Amsterdam of that period, his interest in building, architecture and urban planning awoke. After World War II, the city was still in a state of poverty, the practice of renovation and restauration was only at its beginning and the administrative mind-set was still focused on housing in the periphery and making way for the car by large breakthroughs in the fine-meshed structure of the city. The large scale Bijlmermeer housing complexes, which were built too late – were too far away from the city and were in need of a metro connection. This led to the demolition of the former Jewish neighbourhood. This was the context of a fierce discourse on the direction to follow in urban planning and on how to realise an urban habitat for its inhabitants.

Working with his hands from childhood, Morel decided to try out if he could master the construction profession. After 10 years of manual work as a contractor he decided to study architecture at the Polytechnic. After completion het started working for the Amsterdams Monumenten Fonds (AMF – Amsterdam Monuments Fund) where he specialised in restauration and re-use of non-residential building in Amsterdam. The AMF merged with Stadsherstel Amsterdam NV in 2000, where he since then has given new life to a series of buildings. On behalf of Stadsherstel he has set up a large number of international  relationships and through this contributed to the founding of similar companies elsewhere in the world (Paramaribo – Surinam, Stone Town – Zanzibar, Casablanca – Morocco). His interest spans from intangible heritage – that often is safeguarded in Stadsherstel projects – to developing a sustainable future for monumental buildings. He regularly is publishing and lecturing about the many aspects of his work.