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…
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Published in Rethinking the Future Often called a cathedral, Casablanca’s Sacré-Cœur was in fact the Protectorate city’s main Catholic church. Built over twenty years to Paul Tournon’s design, it fell into disuse before Abderrahim Kassou’s renovation gave it a second life as a cultural centre. Read the original publication →
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Published in Rethinking the Future Natural light is the one element that carries an architect’s design decisions, from layout and materials to colour and scale. Two rooms can share the same enclosed composition, like a monastic cell and a prison cell, yet the placement, intensity, and framing of daylight decide whether one feels spiritual and the other confining. This essay…
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Published in Morocco World News A comparative look at Ricardo Bofill’s two campuses for UM6P in Benguerir and Rabat, tracing how an identical architectural vocabulary can be justified by two entirely different logics, one rooted in site and climate, the other in building a coherent university brand. Read the original publication →
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Published in Morocco World News An opinion piece examining how airport terminals communicate national identity through architecture, using Casablanca’s future terminal as a case study. Read the original publication →