Published in Rethinking the Future
This essay explores the evolution of Casablanca’s architectural identity through the intersection of Néo-Mauresque, Art Deco, and emerging modernist architecture during the French Protectorate. The essay examines how architecture became a medium through which French colonial ambitions, Moroccan cultural references, and changing social aspirations were negotiated.
Tracing the city’s transformation from the early Néo-Mauresque architecture of the 1910s and 1920s to the hybrid Art Deco buildings of the late 1920s, highlighting key examples including the Place Mohammed V, Palais de Justice, Immeuble IMCAMA, Wilaya, and Cinema Rialto.
The piece also reflects how Casablanca’s architecture is a layered and evolving negotiation between identity, modernity, colonial power, and memory.
