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  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

    You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

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The Beauty of Morocco

September 12, 2012

My exposure to Moroccan architecture and design accents was, until last week, limited to what I’ve seen in Disney’s Epcot and any given West Elm catalogue. For whatever discernable reason, Moroccan-style has been trending in the design world, my guesses to that being because it embraces a desirable mix of modern-industrial cement and stone, and all of the colors of the rainbow in a way you don’t see in traditional American decor. The ability to match ornate accents, like hand carved cedar and hand painted tiles, with amazing geometric design and vibrant colors is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It’s no wonder consumers are going ga-ga for Moroccan touches wherever they can get their hands on it, but it’s still a bit different than the interpretative pieces we can buy retail.

We saw (and appreciated) a lot of beautiful things during our travels, so today I’m sharing some of them, like this:

Tile and painted detailing inside the hotel hosting our friend's wedding.

The hotels themselves were ornate. We split our days between our gorgeous hotel room, and the bar at the neighboring hotel (not as random as it sounds, it’s where the bride/groom/her family were staying). Both hotels featured an extreme level of detail in their respective design, beautiful views of the Atlantic Ocean, and enviable Café au lait.

Our hotel room was pretty classy. We didn’t set out to find a top-tier hotel for our stay or anything, only choosing Club Val D Anfa because it was both affordable, in the vacinity of where our friends were staying, rated as being accommodating for “business travelers,” and accepted online reservations via Expedia (1% cash back through Lucky Magazine Rewards, high-five). It was reasonably modern – we weren’t sure what to expect (I try never to let online reviews convince me that it’ll be a stellar experience), but it did have card security for room entry, and it was technologically advanced enough that the lighting in the room required the card to function. Light switches wouldn’t work unless the card was input into a wall-mounted card reader, which initiated electricity. It was a pretty room, with lots of light and herringbone marble tile:

Herringbone tile floors, plaster walls, and lots of sunlight in our hotel room in Morocco.

One of the most interesting things we learned about Moroccan architecture is that walls are commonly built using Tadelakt, a Moroccan Lime Plaster that’s preferable in humid environments, like the hammam (public bath), and even in our bedroom, hence the shiny walls in the above picture. It’s a super smooth texture, very silky and glossy to the touch.

The ceiling had exquisite inset cedar detailing. This accent flowed through the hallways of our hotel too, a really striking design feature that I’d love to be able to replicate someday, somewhere.

Cedar detailing in the hotel ceiling.

The bed was great too; it featured hand carved headboard and metallic accents. And the authentic carpets? Amazing in person, intricately woven, and way more colorful than anything “moroccan-inspired” that I’ve seen accessible via retail in the USA.

  • Hand carved headboard in our Moroccan hotel room.
  • Hand carved headboard, detailed bedside table, and a beautiful Moroccan area rug.
  • Up close look at the metal detailing in the headboard in our Moroccan hotel room.

There were two small area rugs in our room. The one shown above looked like this from above, a complete rainbow of colors to accent the otherwise neutral walls and bedding:

Up close look at one of the area rugs in our Moroccan hotel room.

The other rug in the room had more shag to it, but was equally as colorful.

Up close look at one of the area rugs in our Moroccan hotel room.

Our view, as I’ve mentioned, was an unobstructed view of the Atlantic and the beach, fully occupied by umbrellas and soccer players:

Looking out the balcony of our Moroccan hotel room.

Way to score us an amazing view, Expedia.

The neighboring hotel that housed our friends, in contrast, had keyed room entry managed by the front desk – they had to turn in their key when leaving the property, which isn’t something I’ve ever seen. In any case, the keychains were beautiful. One (not photographed) was ornate wood, the other was heavy metal:

A room key at Hotel Le Littoral.

One of the most magnificent of sights happened our very first day in Casablanca, when we took a guided tour of the Hassan II Mosque, the tallest and one of the largest mosques in the world. I still haven’t found a good way of explaining exactly how amazingly huge the mosque is, it’s one of those have-to-see-it-in-person phenomenons, but the details within and surrounding it were mind blowing.

Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco.

Everywhere, hand laid tile and hand carved cedar.

  • Tiles at the Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco.
  • Tiles at the Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco.
  • Carved cedar ceiling details at the Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco.

Outside, tile-coated benches lined the perimeter of the mosque, and common Casablanca apartments stood in the background.

Outside Hassan II Mosque, a common neighborhood.

Inside, it was grand, many football fields in length. These pictures don’t do it justice. It was so big that there was no echo, and not an unadorned surface in sight, everything hand carved, hand laid, and hand painted:

Inside Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco.

The ceiling was opened periodically to ventilate the mosque (pretty high tech as far as mosques go, I understand); as the mosque was located on the ocean, it couldn’t be left open all the time, but it happened to be when we were there, letting in so much light that you actually didn’t believe you were outside.

Inside Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco.

I can’t stress enough how amazing some of these accents were. The hand carved railings were immaculate, the chandeliers were gigantic, and little would you know that because it was a modern mosque (built in the late 80’s-early 90’s), a hidden audio system was integrated into the columns to echo the call for prayer. And the light bulbs were all CFL, WTG.

  • Carved cedar railings in the Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco.
  • Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco.
  • Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco.

I really liked this curved staircase in the mosque, walls lined with hand painted tile.

Tiled walls in the Hassan II Mosque.

We liked to watch construction around town too, spending time in the morning from our balcony watching a neighboring crew work to repair an old hotel; we have a hunch that the first floor was complete and open as a event hall (there was a wedding overflowing into the alley one night) but during the days a small team installed marble around the doorways.

Construction crew in Casablanca, Morocco.

And the infinity pool at our hotel was a pretty sight:

Pool at the hotel, Casablanca, Morocco.

As was the landscaping and potted plants:

Lush landscaping at the hotel, Casablanca, Morocco.

Lush landscaping at the hotel, Casablanca, Morocco.

Inside most homes and restaurants in Morocco, the decor shown in the next picture was commonplace. Heavy, layered curtains filtered the sun, and couches surround three walls of the room, also often serving also as beds and dining chairs. Homes in Morocco are small except for those owned by the highest class; it’s an amazing way of living, and makes one very thankful to be able to own a three bedroom house.

Lounge at the hotel, in Casablanca, Morocco.

The restaurants, in contrast, were often open air, bright, and airy. Some, this like ocean-side restaurant that Pete and I ate breakfast at one day, adopted a more modern aesthetic.

An open-air ocean front restaurant in Casablanca, Morocco.

We didn’t take many photos as we toured town, but this one I snapped happened to catch some pretty geometric railings.

Railings in Casablanca, Morocco.

It’s been so hard to narrow down our 900 photos into digestible posts for you guys, and I still have one more topic to focus on: the souvenirs. Will be back soon to highlight some of the fun things we bought on vacation.

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Merry Travels

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

2 Comments


Rachel
September 12, 2012 at 10:57 am
Reply

Love the Moroccan rugs and tiled walls, etc…. Beautiful! Looked like a nice room too :-)



Martina@Buidling Beauty
September 12, 2012 at 3:41 pm
Reply

All I can say is Wow! Everything in these pictures just looks so lovely and ornate, quite the difference from what you would see in North America on a daily basis. Thanks for sharing :)



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