African project
Marrakesh Congress Center – Morocco
M
arrakesh is a major city of Morocco, the fourth largest city in the
country, after Casablanca, Fes and Tangier. It is the capital city
of the mid-southwestern region of Marrakesh-Asfi. Located to
the north of the foothills of the snow-capped Atlas Mountains,
Marrakesh is located southwest of Tangier, southwest of the
Moroccan capital of Rabat, and south of Casablanca. Marrakesh
is one of Morocco’s four former imperial cities that were built
by Moroccan Berber empires. The region has been inhabited
by Berber farmers since Neolithic times, but the actual city was
founded in 1062. Madrasas (Koranic schools) and mosques
built under Andalusian influences in the 12th century. The red walls of the city and
various buildings constructed in red sandstone during this period, have given the city
the nickname of the “Red City” or “Ochre City”. Like many Moroccan cities, Marrakesh
comprises an old fortified city packed with vendors and their stalls (the medina),
bordered by modern neighborhoods.
Marrakesh grew rapidly and established itself as a cultural, religious, and trading
centre for the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa. Today it is one of the busiest cities in
Africa and serves as a major economic centre and tourist destination.
Strong in/out relations provided by transparency, integrated spaces and through
inner gardens and patios. Reference values of living culture and vernacular tradition,
grants the building an ability to make the user think and feel in local ambiance.
The robust looking structure enveloped by a natural stone façade articulated with
perforations that allow diffused light to fill interiors; endless geometric patterns like
mandalas unify the shell. During different hours of day, light shifts and plays across
interior spaces and gardens creating a serene and natural environment, and imbues
a hue while granting natural climate control system. Indentations create gardens
at upper levels and form unique modules, so spaces distinguished from outside. A
dynamic interior flow is initiated with the landscaped inner patio/atrium on the
ground floor, which is visible from the entrance of the building and is made through
porticos, the middle one being the sublime port that is also a reference to the striking
local doors of Morocco.