UH-Pan Africa Architecture

PAN AFRICA I MOROCCO Summer Abroad Program

University of Houston College of Architecture & Design

Contents 4

Program Description

6 Casablanca 8

Cultural Integrity

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Collaboration, Independence, Liberation

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Yeats and Decolonization

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There are Two Sides

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Camus and the French Imperial Experience

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Themes of Resistance Culture

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Essentialism or Historicism

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Images of the Past, Pure and Impure

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Empire, Geography, and Culture

77 Marrakech 78

The Pleasures of Imperialism

89 Dirt 99 Fes 103 Tangier 107 Extremadura 117 Lisboa 118 Exhibit

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Elvas

LISBOA MONSARAZ

Merida

Evora

Lisboa

Monsaraz

SP AIN

PO RT U

GA L

MERIDA

Sevilla

SEVILLA

plus the Extremadura of Spain and Portugal a key map for

TANGIER

travel & work

Tangier

ATLANTIC OCEAN

Fes

FES

Casablanca

CASABLANCA

MIDDLE ATLAS

MARRAKECH

Tsingir Boulmane Dades

MOROCCO

AIT BENHADDOU Marrakech

Ait Benhaddou

DADES MERZOUGA

MOROCCO

‫المغرب‬ 3

Ourzazete

Merzouga Erg Chebbi

ALGERIA

HIGH ATLAS

Description of Work

Experiments in Colonization History Elective 3 credits This history elective studies the effects of innovations in infrastructure as they create conditions of globalization on the past and present evolving city in Morocco. Each student will select a separate chapter of Said’s Culture and Imperialism text to quote and frame the rest of the writing. The text used should not reference the topic explicitly. It is the work of the writing that joins what is read in the initial text to what is seen and visited in Morocco.

Casablanca Professional Design Studio 5 credits Project 1 Students propose in 2 groups a large scale urban plan for the closest pier to the Casa Port train station. Careful attention to traditional, colonial and contemporary housing types, climate, and public space are crucial to a successful design.

Project 2 Students individually propose and design a souk and a hammam within the larger urban plan.

Project 3 Students document and draw (2 of 4) urban conditions of Casablanca and the medina of each city. Differences in the original settlement, French colonization, and contemporary economic forces explain the unique built environment of each city. Students witness and draw the important monumental and everyday urban space of Morocco. The drawing for each exercise includes some photography, some digital modeling. This is a designed and composed drawing.

Empire, Geography, and Culture Images of the Past, Pure and Impure Discrepant Experiences The Pleasures of Imperialism Camus and the French Imperial Experience The Cultural Integrity of Empire A Note on Modernism There are Two Sides Themes of Resistance Culture Yeats and Decolonization Collaboration, Independence and Liberation

Arcades of Casablanca Circles of Casablanca Housing of Casablanca Medina of every city

Drawing Dirt + City Elective 3 credits This elective will document the arid urban and rural landscape of Morocco and the Extremadura of Spain and Portugal.

Students use photography, 2d drawing and 3d modeling skills to create a collage that illustrates the unique landscape of each important site visited.

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The Group Claudia Chabokrow Peggy Cong-Huyen Wilson Nguyen Paul Molina Danielle Johnson-Hazlewood Constanza PeĂąa Cristobal PiĂąon Aspen Shariff-Bey Daniela Olivera-Gomez Benjamin Tonthat Cristina Trejo William Truitt Associate Professor Anne Haynes Visiting Critic, CEO Houston Land Bank

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“Late nineteenth-century artists like Kipling and Conrad, or for that matter mid-century figures like Gerome and Flaubert, do not merely reproduce the outlying territories they work them out, or animate them, using narrative technique and historical and exploratory attitudes and positive ideas of the sort provided by thinkers like Max Muller, Renan, Charles Temple, Darwin, Benjamin Kidd, Emerich de Vattel. All of these developed and accentuated the essentialist positions in European culture proclaiming that Europeans should rule, non-Europeans be ruled. And Europeans did rule.” (Said) CULTURAL INTEGRITY Modern Effects of the Protectorate Danielle Johnson-Hazlewood

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In other words, how does the protectorate impact the modernity of Casablanca? As for the question of how the protectorate affects the modernity of Casablanca, we must first take a step back to realize the significance of Casablanca as one of the critical modern port developments for Morocco and northern Africa as a whole. Casablanca is one of the largest towns in the country Morocco, located on the Northern, Atlantic coast of Africa.

Spreading across nearly 150 square miles and with a growing population of nearly 3.5 million people, Casablanca has become the economic center, port, industrial sector and major tourist attraction for Morocco. Directly, Casablanca can be seen as the bridge between nations, but to some is also the bridge across cultures. Historically, Casablanca has experienced numerous political changes from Berber to Roman to Arab to Portuguese to Spanish to French to British and above all independence to present day Moroccan control. Along each historic colonial period, Casablanca experienced a new interpretation of design, culture, and nationalist understanding. This paper will compare not only the major architectural trends of these periods but will also challenge the perspective of those projecting their design.

It appears the effects from so many protectorate influences throughout time have blended into present day Moroccan aesthetics and may influence the continual rise in capitalism and tourist popularity.

ne sees that literature reinforced a rising sense of worldwide European dominance and Casablanca’s development was certainly no exception to the spread of European influence. With Casablanca’s growing development in the modern world, the key goal of this investigation is to challenge the history, development, evolution of Casablanca’s design layout, culture, and economy.

Without delving too deeply into political or socio-economic details, this research will focus primarily on architecture’s reflection of cultural relationships with the intention of relating Casablanca’s architectural and social development. Architecture and master-planned communities tend to be a direct reflection of cultural development and migration. As such, we must compare various elements of design such as city layouts, social interaction, and even signature building creations that resulted from the spreading Western attitude. Through the lens of architecture, we can analyze and reflect upon the resultants of European imperialism as the now independent Moroccan nation continues to evolve. This paper strives to answer these basic questions: How does Moroccan tradition reflect European work? What traits define modernism for this culture? and Is today’s design more reflective of the present or past culture? By analyzing Casablanca’s existing architectural works and design strategies, we can see the impacts of European imperialism on the built environment throughout the latter portion of Western Civilization up to and including the present. In addition, by relating Casablanca’s modernism to that of overall modernist architecture, we can differentiate specific architectural traits by region, nation and even by locality within Morocco. These levels of differentiation aid us in understanding the relationship between existing and imperialistically acquired social, environmental, and cultural patterns.

Protectorate Modernism.

As a colonial city, Casablanca has benefited from economic advancements and interests of outside countries throughout its history. However, with the assistance of outside resources comes the cultural effects of foreign influence. During imperialism, literature was used as a device to construct and reinforce a false integrity to infuse surrounding nations with the idea that 8

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“Europeans should rule, non-Europeans be ruled....” As Europe grew in power, Europeans grew schematically as authority figures well-positioned to influence other cultures through education especially. For example, the English language was not only taught, English writings were used to imbue natives with the idea that English ideas should be taken as statements of fact. France, in particular, used this strategy to manipulate and further control Morocco as a protectorate prior to any significant dominance as a nation itself. “Before taking Algeria in 1830, France had no India and, I’ve [Said] argued elsewhere, it had momentarily brilliant experiences abroad that were returned to more in memory or literary trope than in actuality” . France’s imposed reality is not only evident in historic literature but is reflected throughout the design and layout of Casablanca. The integrity of Casablanca reflects French experimentation rather than the advertised intent to “preserve Moroccan design”. As a result, Casablanca is now further developing into a jumble of outside influence and modern collaboration of designer experimentations and abstractions rather than the cohesive, traditional Moroccan nor the organized planned network that was once envisioned for the growing city.

In the contemporary world, what some would describe as a historically European exceptionalism attitude has not only shaped the colonial world but has dramatic effects on the context and lifestyle of its territories. Casablanca, like many cities in Morocco and the surrounding world, has a history of control from a series of European protectorates that created their own version of colonialism through the area. Historically, the term protectorate tends to refer to the relationship between the stronger and weaker nation in which the stronger nation protects militarily and essentially controls the weaker area politically and economically. In some cases, this can be associated with imperialism perhaps best exemplified by the Napoleonic

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era. Imperialism was once in reference to total control over economic, cultural, and political rule of another country as a result of pure strength and power. The difference in Morocco’s case is that not all European influence was forced through brutal authoritarianism. Rather, Morocco’s more submissive culture was readily transformed and manipulated by the magnitude of France’s persistent dominance.

As time has progressed the definition of imperialism has evolved to not only refer Napoleon himself but to referring to an elite culture overpowering “others”. In Said’s Chapter, The Cultural Integrity of the Empire, he summarizes a few main modern studies of “culture and imperialism”. First, he posits that there is only west and the colonial western empire is therefore populated by other species. It is apparent in the regions and social analysis that there still remains a divide between the people who are considered native Moroccans, and those that are European or foreign tourists to the area. Second, Said draws attention to the contrasting evolution of various ethnicities that are apparent in linguistics and historical theories that contribute to the continuing divide. These contradicting perspectives are apparent throughout the world but have not necessarily manifested in the same manner. The idea of imperialism is stretched to include duties of the stronger nation to establish colonies and rule natives in order to universalize the culture. With the modernday, globalized economy, universalization is in high demand. “As part of universality, cultural domination is woven into literature, curriculum, philosophy, hegemony, and geography. Imperial influences affected the historical writing, painting, fiction, and pop culture.”(Said). In many cases, this evolution just continues to point back to the earlier stated direct relationship between culture and imperialism. As Casablanca has been ruled by many European countries, it is visible that Casablanca’s design has been affected by outside influence. From the city’s splayed yet organized street layout to the traditional yet modern design techniques to social interaction to capitalist tendencies, an assortment of cultures are compiled to make up what is now the modern city of Casablanca.

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While modernization and modernity are broad terms used to reference everything that is of recent environment, the modern effects of modernism [of Casablanca] specifically refers to art and architecture. As with many uprising architectural movements, Casablanca’s current popularity weighs heavily on the balance between the new thriving economy and the challenge to accommodate existing tradition. This form of modernism makes up the urban blend in Casablanca. Modernism in Casablanca has been described as “a laboratory of Western life and a conservatory of oriental life”(Said) . This statement may be an oversimplified explanation of the integration of old Arab towns with traditional Moroccan medinas with the new French cities that share boundaries. During the nineteenth century and early twenties, the goal for Moroccos’ creations was to continue to grow and modernize in order to produce and attract capital, while preserving what is true to the citizens of Morocco.

Modernism and preservation are often contradictory goals but it is important for Morocco to protect certain cultural traditions while stimulating modern development in hopes of resolving historic colonial imbalances.

administrative capitals oriented towards Europe. From there, “Prost organized the city in a fan pattern around the Place de France and its two economic poles: the port and the railway station.” The major roads outside of the old Arab medina are distinctly intersected by intentional nodes with traffic circles in the middle. From these nodes we can see a secondary system for which the smaller roads which are primarily orthogonal or parallel to the major roads axis, creating a semi-regular grid pattern in contrast to the irregular intersection patterns of the existing, pre-French streets. This broad city organization correlates directly to the axial, symmetric system throughout European cities and completely overrides what may seem to be the winding, somewhat chaotic roads of older Arabic towns that seemed to have been built for immediacy and convenience as opposed to long-term planning.

The most direct comparison of the colliding design layouts is visible between the old and new medinas of Casablanca. The “Old Medina”, also known as Medina Qdima created sometime before _year__, is composed of winding alleyways and roads that lack orientation or definition. The streets reflect those of old Arab colonies for which streets were informal and layout was determined by boundaries rather than circulation and ease of transition amongst territories. Ideally, these winding alleys create private residential areas around a public center where the majority of souks or markets are located. The layout may seem to be a confusing maze of dimly lit dead-ends combined with the busy social-life of locals, but the chaotic layout style is indeed purposeful. It is intended to provide real pockets of privacy deep within the medina while creating social space for economic attraction and regular passage. In addition, the layout allows semi-public function for traditional Islamic religion of the Mosque or the traditional bathing of the Hammam or Bathhouse. The old medina is preserved from the new developing surroundings by a tall earth-covered wall along the outer boundary. Entry is controlled and signaled by a large ornament covered archway. In Casablanca, the city outside the Old Medina is laid out conceptually as a tribute to the “godlike” protectorate country whose ways are noted throughout historic propaganda as superior.

Broad City: European or African In comparing Casablanca to the most popular neighboring cities, one will immediately notice a distinct difference in the style, layout and adaptation of the city. The city’s uniqueness is apparent in the housing, medinas, and even street layouts.

Overall, Casablanca can be described as aged, informal and splayed, descriptions of a city that might normally be perceived as negative. However, in present day, Casablanca’s age and oddness of design likely correlates with international capital, attraction, and mystique. It is useful then to be reminded that significant aspects of Casablanca’s development are the results of previous French colonialism. There exists a distinct incompatibility between what is considered traditional urbanism and the foreign colonial fabric. Urban Casablanca contains the characteristics of an old Arab town, adjacent to the French protectorate designed Ville Nouvelle, adjacent to the modernity of present day high-rises and Arab abstractions.

The juxtaposition of these contrasting development types are shown throughout the city’s street layout and zoning principles.

In order to make sense of the heavily varied design strategies, some historical contextualization is necessary.

Modern neighbourhoods and districts in Morocco are very different from the old medinas, planning of roads and As French colonialists reigned over the country, many of the neighbourhoods are very European influenced, with big, wide Moroccan community development methods were either avenues, square blocks, and they follow a structured pattern. overlooked or deemed impossible to change by the French. “At The new medina, otherwise known for the Derb el Habous, first glance, it was unbelievable chaos…It was impossible to was laid out in 1920’s with the intention of resembling colonial grasp the actual density of buildings; impossible to decipher the European architecture and influence of the French protectorate. path of any street…always bear the mark of its chaotic origins” The design aimed to present the same axial geometry used to was said to be the first impression of Prost, Casablanca’s master suit vehicular travel and the overall legibility found in most planner from Paris. It is clear from his initial statement that he European cities. The medina is organized with a central route associates a negative historic weakness with the chaos noted in connecting the two main plazas with shops lining the sides of the existing layout, “the implied energetic development but also this route. Beyond the main route lies a residential fabric. Each anarchic growth, determined solely by the fluctuation for the component collaged with traditional architectural features is market, with no direction over how land was used or streets were in relation to the organized road alignment. It is apparent that laid out” His resultant design proposals reflect the dominance throughout the design of the new medina, the medina reflects of the protectorate background and education. Prost began his very little of how a traditional medina is spatially organized. design at the periphery of the medina using similar principles The pre-existing Old Medina streets turn and maneuver in to those of Europe’s large symmetrical boulevards. Along the every direction with no visible axial system to be determined. city’s coast lies the original dual axis with both the cultural and The French protectorate design dominates the new medina as 12

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a method to try to control and better the conditions for the underlying society. “Despite the excessive formal emphasis, the pilot project of the Der el-Habous started above all from a global vision of the problem relating to the native habitat and not from the desire to create a simple Arab urban scenario.” In spite of the architect’s desire to resolve or change an existing tradition in order to equip the new medina with the capacity to grow economically with the modern world, the rapid expansion outgrew the design and brought about new problems for the modern Arab World.

With new problems, designers were challenged to rethink their attempts at universalizing the Colonial world with the European one, in which Casablanca was undoubtedly one of the testing grounds. The designer attitude evolved from the domination of one culture over all others to seeking new solutions for a renewed environment. “The dialogue between tradition and modernity, based on a relation that is no longer one of oppression of one system by another, is instead the main feature of the work.” It can be seen that the new medina was aimed at Arab-izing colonial architecture by taking traditional typology and modernizing it with a European interpretation. In turn, developments like the new medina may have contributed to the abstract collage of Arabic features that decorate the city’s architecture today.

The Architect Rubric: Design influence and style.

Casablanca’s architecture is a collage of colonial design remnants and abstract interpretations of colonial design. The Casablanca style of architecture, taken as a whole, reads distinctly from that of Morocco’s other larger cities, such as Fez or Marrakesh.

Main characteristics such as color, shapes, and variety exhibit many versions of modernist ideals and throughout Casablanca, various architecture is exhibited in a very non-cohesive way.

Some exhibit simple white or taupe colored geometric forms such as the Boulevard Mohammed V, while some newer creations incorporate more organic elements and represent elaborate design risks, such as the Port Train Station. These featured buildings illustrate the French imperial influence in a historic and contemporary technique.

For the French protectorate, Morocco allowed opportunity to experiment architecturally. In comparison with other major Moroccan cities, Casablanca had not received much development attention until the creation of the harbor. After the city’s newfound growth as a coastal attraction, Casablanca grew in popularity initially not for tourism but for industrial business and trade as a major port for connecting inland cities to Europe. The French seized this opportunity to create the city as an extension of European design and were successful in convincing Moroccan communities and government that this would be necessary for economic growth and beneficial for the overall health of the city. While it is arguable that European organization, axial orientations, and symmetry are more legible and indirectly may have benefitted the future growth of the city, it’s initial colonial motives are further illustrated as a way of a continually promoting an overturn of the native culture of Casablanca.

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Many architectural features reflect a physical transformation of historical persuasion and the long-term evolution of a dominant attitude of European, particularly French, exceptionalism. Given the degree to which the French promoted their exceptionalism via architecture, perhaps the longest lasting cultural evidence we have in most cases, there was undoubtedly a very serious push of colonialism throughout the Protectorate period. Similar to the controlled layout across the city, Casablanca’s overall building aesthetics and features reflect a strategic change in culture. Many architects sought to implement familiar foreign design tactics to the new developing environment. Casablanca’s French designer, Prost, sought to constrain architectural liberty within the laidout context by setting guidelines that would be allowed or open to architectural interpretation. Within these guidelines, he laid out some key features, such as the use of terraces, courtyards, and arcades to adapt to climate and economic attractions of Morocco that are still present in Casablanca. Indeed, it is not an overstatement to say that the architectural order imposed on Casablanca was an extension of the enlightenment tendencies and notions promulgated perhaps most notably by the French. In the broadest sense, the French sought to make the world reasonable and ordered and colonized regions such as Casablanca served as excellent new territory for ordering the existing chaos. Architecture and design were then and continue to be paramount in this ordering scheme.

One of the most prominent characteristics exhibited throughout housing projects and commercial establishments is the use of the courtyard or inward focused building. Courtyards are exhibited through various scales of Morocco’s modern-day architecture and have become a feature for natural ventilation and high-quality daylighting. The central orientation was used to transform the interior space into a means of elaborate decoration and focus. The use of the courtyard coincided with the religious imperative to remain conservative. This feature blended the interior with exterior allowing residents the benefits of outdoor circulation within the privacy of their residency or commercial establishment. Meanwhile, the centralization justified the rather vacant exterior of buildings, “the inward focus on the family that explained the modest domestic facades.. [which] again, the parallels with contemporary artistic and intellectual movements in France help explain the attraction” In other words, the exteriors of the building would be allowed to mirror that of European architecture, while allowing the central core to translate to traditional Moroccan culture.

The attraction to French principles has also promoted the incorporation of loggias and arcades, or arched pathways, both at street level and throughout Casablanca’s architecture.

Similar to the use of these typologies in French architecture, these motifs were used to denote certain spaces and transition from outdoor to indoor spaces. In Morocco, the use of arcades climatically created shaded pathways, protecting the population from direct sun exposure. For example, in Casablanca’s Central Post Office, the entire façade is composed of white stucco with a variety of archways. These archways tend to run adjacent to the thoroughfare or facing open space plazas as an extension of public space. They engage a pedestrian safe zone with the benefits of solar shading.

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The motifs are said to be comparable to those exhibited during the European 14th century Renaissance which was particular to the French and Italian architecture. They were initially implemented in Casablanca as a form of acknowledgement to the superiority of Europe. On another hand, it has been said that the Moroccan government wanted to use aesthetics as a means of attracting and controlling outside capital inflow by using engendering familiarity among visitors. In either case, the streetscapes have transformed the urban language of the city.

In the Central Post Office, it’s arguable that such an important government building should avoid such foreign influence, however with the infusion of Western cultural bias, this renovated design was deemed best suited for the warm climate of Casablanca. Over time, the use of arcades and loggias has become a key feature and attraction for Casablanca’s architecture and now decorates the facades of public buildings across the city. In a sense, this can be seen as a triumphant balancing of the old and new, native and foreign cultures which, once properly balanced, create something uniquely appealing.

The French protectorate continued to influence design of the Moroccan ornament as time lapsed through educational influence. Not only was the French literary system manipulating the power and dominance of protectorate, it was educating uprising Islamic architects a style of Moroccan architecture that read less and less ornament and more and more abstract. As a result, the city is socially and culturally divided. It is noticeable that segregation and stratification exists economically through Casablanca, and some of the best visible examples of these differences are reflected in the architecture. General class and cultural divisions can be examined in many sectors throughout the world; however, in Casablanca the divisions extend beyond materials and the quality thereof. The divide is perhaps best exhibited in the rate at which development is occurring.

On the___ side of the city resides a significantly wealthier population and corresponding high standard of living when contrasted with those that live on the ___side. And the entirety of the city surrounding the medina continues to grow and develop at a faster rate than the life within its walls.

Details in Design: Subtle social effects and cultural detailing.

The French architect, Joseph Marrast, reveled in the elemental volumes and intricate detailing of Moroccan architecture.

During the 18th and 19th century, architectural movements in France emphasized the internalization of elaborate forms.

As many other universalized forms transferred to Moroccan, this trend complemented the natural decorative forms that were associated with Islamic design. Some architects sought to preserve Moroccan culture through material usage and the enhanced details with the intent of giving respect to the Moroccan culture even as the French colonized them. This was mostly exhibited with the French design controlling the hierarchy of the architecture while Moroccan detail enhancements were only noticeable at the human scale. This is a simple example of political representation in colonial architecture and overall structure; a European building with reminders of Moroccan location paralleling the European rule of native peoples. Details were expressed everywhere from floral blue tiling, to wooden carved wall covering, to the symmetrically patterned interiors.

These design elements make traditional Moroccan architecture is difficult to decipher after the collage of cultural invasions.

With the steady advancement of colonially driven development throughout Morocco, cultural and social divisions widened. The contrast between the exceedingly modest Islamic religion and the incoming foreign investors pushed local tradition into small isolated pockets of Casablanca. With tradition tucked away, the separation of culture grew exponentially, allowing architecture to completely divert to new European towns. “Even years later Prost would argue that ‘it was never in the ResidentGeneral’s mind to prevent natives from living in the European new towns if they would adapt to our customs’...culture and aesthetic differences became the focus of benign protection” Giving locals the ultimatum to adapt to the invasive European environment or conglomerate within local communities, many residents separated themselves as a way to prevent European and other outside influence from living within the medinas.

These contrasts are evident today and continue to grow separately, forcing two totally different sets of economically competing interests to coexist. The market of Casablanca thrives on the comparative efficiency of European capitalism and is best suited for foreign investment. These factors continue to push natives away from rapid commercial expansion along the coast. This motion is supported through the dynamic collage of architecture continually being implemented in Casablanca today. There is no longer a simple divide of French and Moroccan cultures and architecture. Now, there is a range of various forms of modernist tactics, promoted by the highest investor or the newest influential designer.

European influence translates through the guidelines of Prost’s that are explained as more aesthetically controlled mechanisms rather than literal features. The idea was not to eliminate Moroccan details but to limit or mitigate the usage of them on the exterior of the building itself. Casablanca’s Boulevard Mohamed V achieved Prost’s vision of unified arcades, building heights, setbacks, and ornament pattern. In an effort to blend a rather intricate architecture with the simplified legibility that is shown throughout Europe, Prost’s earliest guidelines collaborated the ornament of Morocco “in a restrained but impressive manner” . As Wright would say “Behind the research lies a concern to analyze relations between culture and politics, specifically efforts to use architecture and urban design, ranging from ornamental details to municipal regulation.” Ornament and materiality of Casablanca have become the major staple for Moroccan design and, consistent to Moroccan tradition, are subtle along exteriors and strongest within the interiors of the buildings.

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It seems that the architectural landscape of the city is currently dominated by those who are using Casablanca as a design playground and those who are making the effort to incorporate modernism into the existing context. It seems that neither group is putting much effort into reflecting true Moroccan ideals as more than an intricate detail or feature to be worked into their designs. While the combination of abstract architecture is not necessarily a negative for the city’s future attention and economic growth, it is an ever present reminder of the forceful nature of the colonialist past or the city and the future architectural path forward. It slowly diminishes the few preserved qualities that make Casablanca a unique city. Furthermore, the odd

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contrasts and, in some cases contradictions, create a very interesting combination of architecture and social interaction in the city. Colonial urbanism relies heavily on social science in order to balance historical community, profitable economic development, and public amenities. In Casablanca, the resulting community navigates around “a field of passages, of crossing and crisscrossing ideas” that visually commemorate an colonized past, but also a modern future. From a social standpoint, there is an interesting interaction between architecture and those occupying or passing by that can only be explained by uneven modernization.

Contemporary Walk: Effects of Today.

There are many factors that the protectorate influence still dominates to the present day. Upon arrival, it is apparent that there are basic cultural distinctions between that of the Moroccans and the French, most notably religion and language.

In the long run, these characteristics are capable of creating an economic divide between local residents and foreigners in a heavy tourist-driven economy such as Morocco. This explains the divided city, as mentioned previously, that still exists today.

The city is divided into an old city, the French city of the Protectorate, and the modern city with many iterations and integrations between them. The modern creations after the 20th century read another level of design that in some ways is still a reflection of past historic influences. Consider the Grand Theatre of Casablanca, still under construction facing the same plaza as the Central Post Office analyzed earlier. The new development is composed of abstract volumes with abstract windows. The language contrasts the French architectural surroundings but can be an abstract comparison to another famous French building, Notre Dame Du Haut. This is one of many elaborate architecture projects under construction in modern Casablanca. Modern effects of Morocco’s colonization go beyond the protectorate era and continue to promulgate a global position and attitude.

While the architecture is different from that of the French protectorate, the dominant universal influence remains. New modernist works resemble characteristics of most large cities today. Modern building developments are tall skyscrapers with glass facades or simple forms flashing large signage, all with a touch of Moroccan detail worked in when possible or perhaps just when deemed necessary. Similar to historic dominance, Moroccan architecture has transformed to the universal cultural influence rather than the traditional origins. As the country of Morocco and the city of Casablanca continue to grow economically, the general reliance on capitalist trends continues to drive not only architecture but business, social, and arts abroad.

“First, we show that in this context prestige projects are very powerful frameworks for the design and implementation of complex urban operations driven by capital.” As Casablanca continues to grow economically for Morocco, larger projects of greater significance and financial importance can reflect design intent. “And it would seem that major tensions between the common interest and the profit imperative in some ways weaken this new form of global spatial production.” It is important to note that as these major developments come into play, the dynamics and priorities of their surroundings change.

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In the global economy, there is a tendency to use capital alone as the measure of success. This habit is a large contributor of the economic division between the feeling of place and the feeling of space. In this context, place refers to the characteristics that make an area unique or suitable for those who reside and use the town as a means of function. Space refers to another generic tourist marker which in most cases can have many qualities of replication. The local residents are the first to suffer the effects of space-making rather than place-making. Designers that are too focused on creating space are not designing with the entire context in mind but just designing to attract new attention and capital.

“Secondly, beyond the official discourses, prestige projects seem to be taking territorial governance in new directions: multi-scale partnerships; commitment of local representatives; and contests with the residents because of a lack of genuine participation” These projects challenge designers to question who the design is for. Do you just design for the needs/wants of people? Do you simply design for global investment? Is there a balance for both? Architecture has a way of reflecting these ideas in modern day proposals just as it does when we analyze the historical effects of imperialism. When the French protectorate designed for Casablanca, the French wanted to display an energetic testimony of French architecture collaged with climate strategies and accented with Moroccan detail.

Although this colonialist design tactic may have in some ways stirred Casablanca’s growth, the air of the architecture reflected in the asserted European attitude and has a negative connotation associated with it. The same challenges are faced exponentially in our more recent global economy. “Even if the developers play the game of participation, the gap between the holdings and local government in terms of power, financial means, and the social and technical abilities of the developers and the civil society is so great that it pushes local people and their representatives out of the design and management of the operations, and sometimes out of their own neighbourhood when the project arrives in their backyard.” The impact of capitalism continues to affect Casablanca overtime and with the large “prestigious” projects such as the Casa-Marina, there are significant questions to which the past cultural domination continues to affect modern day influence.

Conclusion.

Architecture, similar to literature, was used as a device to assert European dominance. After centuries of outside influences, pressure from local government, advancing urbanism, and modernization, it is hard to decipher what would be considered traditional to Casablanca outside of the somewhat preserved historic medina. Casablanca’s design, context, and social development is a product of historical dominance and asserted through arts and media. Although the initial manipulation may have created a false impression on the submissive society, it has forever changed the culture of Casablanca to create the modern-day community where tactics are implemented based on climate, status, and organization. The current city is heavily focused on modernization in order to drive more capital into their commercial and industrial sectors.

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“Cultural texts imported the foreign into Europe in ways that very clearly bear the mark of the imperial enterprise, of explorers and ethnographers, geologists and geographers, merchants and soldiers. At first they stimulated the interest (romanticism) of European audiences; by the beginning of the twentieth century, they were used to convey an ironic sense of how vulnerable Europe was (skepticism), and how-in Conrad’s great phrase-’this also has been one of the dark places on the earth.” (Said).

A Note on Modernism Four Steps of Colonization Aspen Shariff-Bey

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dward Said describes four steps of colonization: opposition, acceptance, romanticism, and lastly, skepticism of the original romanticized idea which is then used for introspection. The last step of skepticism is often the step that triggers the process again. These steps are interchangeable and often happen simultaneously. The French understood these steps and their spontaneity prior to their arrival in Morocco from their experience in earlier conquests.

With this experience they were able to either speed up or bypass certain steps completely in the cycle towards acceptance. One can see the four steps of French colonization in the political history, urban planning, buildings and architectural details throughout Casablanca.

The first of the French deception was in 1907 when they sent a military force to occupy Morocco. They set up their posts on the Algerian border and in the port city of Casablanca alongside existing markets to “assure the future colons of commercial activity”. Although Morocco did not become and official protectorate until 1912, France started the architectural colonization immediately. They we able to justify their occupation under the guise of concern and well being of the port. The strategic location of outposts minimized the opposition towards the French. One was a small town along the border and the other was a shipping port, two locations the Moroccan government put little interest.

had a larger population and the “bled-es-siba” (the nomadic regions to the south, marginally Islami­cized and prone to revolt against the sultan’s rule)”. Meaning if the French had control over the Sultan then they would have control over the economic and social sectors of the country.

The second step towards French control has this information at its core, moving the political and economic capital of Morocco from Fez to Rabat and Casablanca respectively.

Creating a permanent seat of power of Morocco next to the French Administrative Headquarters shows that the Moroccan government recognizes the French authority, in turn legitimizing their power in the country. As a show of good will the French “... honor many of the sultan’s claims over the extensive royal gardens which surrounded the mid-nineteenth-century pal­ ace in Rabat, a palace the French expanded and “restored.””Wright. The French bribed the Sultan because they were aware that if they had the Sultan’s favor, they would essentially have the Moroccan people on their side. Turning Casablanca into the economic capital of the was a static move as well. It is located along the coast where the Sultan’s power is strong and as a small city it could offer no major resistance to the occupation.

The procurement of land in Casablanca started years before France became an official protectorate by adventurers and speculators hoping that their profits would increase one the colonization became official. Making Casablanca composed of “ ...plots laid out haphazardly...”

In March of 1912, the Treaty of Fez was signed making the French an official protectorate of Morocco. The French understood that they were only a power in Morocco in name only. To gain real power in the country they first needed to understand the social construct of it. In The Politics of Design in French Colonial Urbanism, Gwendolyn Wright writes how with the help of social scientist and ethnographers they were able to identify the difference potential between the “bled-elmakhzan” which were (the major cities and coastal areas of Morocco, strongly Islamic and accepting the sultan’s reign) and

The next step toward French control was the shaping of the once informal city. The dahir, or law, of 1914 put all of Morocco under strict regulations from mandatory height limits to minimum dimensions of rooms. One of the most stringent regulations were on the aesthetics of the buildings around the city in order to create visual unity and coherence. Prost set guidelines for the scale, materials, services, and alignment in various districts.

These guidelines changed Casablanca into a cheap romanticized version of what Europeans thought a Moroccan city “should” be 20

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or feel like. The introduction of the French ideals is, in fact, the introduction of Modernism to the Moroccan people. Even at the start, the French were using the occupation of Morocco as a means of introspection. When shaping the city, it was not in France’s image, but “...[as a] whole of the ville nouvelle, as it evolved over the next year, offered not so much an imitation of existing French cities as a vision of how they might look and function, just as the process behind the design suggested how planning might eventually be implemented at home” Wright.

pastel stucco. The geometry of volumes varied greatly, as did the landscaping, yet the predominant effect remained one of visual cohesion. Moroccan decorative ornament seemed less a preoccupation than in the downtown public areas, though it was often present. Most architects and builders sought a combination of economical simplicity, abstractions of Islamic motifs, and fashionable allusions to European Art Deco and modernist movements.”

The regulations took away the visual identity and navigation system of the city giving the French power. “Axes and symmetrical ordering are regularly used in Arab-Islamic composition, but one can only perceive axiality in a fragmentary manner, space after space. The view that encompasses the overall ordering of volumes is always blocked; the perception of symmetry can occur only in the mind’s eye of the viewer. This concept in part determines the labyrinthine pattern of streets and building complexes. French architects and their clients insisted upon visible control over such elusive patterns, making manifest their authority.” This concept can be seen when looking at the French boulevards, arcades, villas and public buildings.

These are examples of how the French romanticised the idea of imperialism.

One example is Boulevard Mohammed V “...evolved in a typically orderly, yet exuberant, manner during the early 1920s. Over a thousand meters long and twenty meters wide, including ample sidewalks shaded by a/lees of palm trees, this street joined the port with the railway station. Prost achieved a strong visual unity with continuous street-level arcades, uniform building heights and setbacks, and repeated but varied patterns of neo Moorish ornament along the bright white facades” Along boulevards such as this “Prost set aside space for theaters, department stores, a market, even an eventual maison de taus where the working class could gather. He thereby hoped to draw Moroccans and Europeans into a public life of leisure, consumerism, and civic pride.”

Next there are the arcades built along these new boulevards were required amenities but “for instance, different architects could interpret the forms in quite distinct ways, using graceful arches, heavy square columns, or geometric patterns to enliven the entrances from the street. Prost endorsed “great architectural liberty” for individual buildings, yet he insisted that all designs be carried out within the restraining context of the larger street, district, and cityscape.” These new arcades are a direct import from the Haussman ideals in France.

“The aesthetic strategy of inclusion, with its emphasis on cultural interplay within a strong and emphasized overall order, can be found in the French residential districts, too. Many villas were privately commissioned, but the majority of houses for Europeans were speculative ventures, much as the apartment buildings in the city centers were.”- Wright. Anfa is one of these major residential districts is located along the north west coast of Casablanca. The land in the area was bought outright and resold to private developers thus giving the district its modern appearance. “By and large, residences still followed common alignments for walls and setbacks, reinforcing the sense of uniformity with almost universal use of white or 22

These romanticized ideals can be seen in building such as The Grand Place in Morocco. It was built with distinct islamic motifs such as pools, fountains and lush tropical landscapes.

These designs were derived from the islamic patio house but that is where the similarity stops. The building has distinctly western proportion seen in the main entrance and the campanile tower. “...details are distinctly Islamic, while the symmetrical, centrally focused organization of the building and, even more so, the axial site plan of the whole assert French control of the setting and its institutions.”- Wright All of the romanticised ideals soon turned into introspection. “the French with an intriguingly complex image of colonial Morocco: exotic and experimental, traditional and modern.

Was collaboration possible between the French architect who designed a structure and the Moroccan building craftsman who would apply the essential ornament?” But “Despite good intentions and even a certain amount of historical knowledge, the result was inevitably an architecture of pastiche.” or as Lyautey branded it “a period of romantic bad taste when people believed they could create Arabic art by covering the facades with excessive exterior ornament. That is heresy.”\ The French knew that in order to gain full acceptance of the people and completely impose their power on Morocco they also had to change the perspective of its young people. While Prost was changing the urban framework of the city, the French wanted to ensure these ideals would last by educating the future designers of the country. From the start of the protectorate process there were political issues in the architectural choices of the education program. Similar to Prost’s urban regulations, the french wanted for the local to retain some of their existing customs and culture. “The first stage involved “saving” the Islamic tradition while introducing a small number of the elite to Western culture. Several long-established medersas (Quranic schools attached to major urban mosques) were rehabilitated, made more pleasing to the Western eye, in order to better reflect the desired image of unchanging Islamic culture” - Wright.

The French picked and chose what they deemed worthy in the Islamic tradition and taught it in their education system.

Some motifs they chose to keep were arcades and horseshoe arches. This was a major move to ensure the French power in the future and to bypass the opposition phase entirely. Through the education program the French were able to effectively brainwash the Moroccan people into think that what they were doing was the right.

The acceptance of the French colonization really came in the 1930’s and 40’s with the Art Deco and Modernism movement, or what it came to be known as Neo- Moroccan. “The obsession with facade decoration that had been the hallmark of the

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previous decade gave way to a rationalist treatment of volumes.” or as M. Christine Boyer states “The rule should be to banish all ornamental complexity which is a sign of bad taste, and instead seek effect through color and volumes, combined with a play of shadow and light.” The French at this point started to really accept and apply moroccan motifs, not for aesthetic purposes, but for functional practicality. In Jean Cotereau’s opinion, “what is to learned about moorish housing plans is not so much the aesthetic detail of their columns and arches - the focus of too many mediocre architects- but rather the way in which arcades, porticoes, and galleries deal with the heat factor.” These changes can be seen throughout the city, specifically in Pierre Jabin’s Villa Cohen and Biazzo’s Liscia Building. The facades of the building have colored tiles in order to accent opening in the facades. They also have screen walls that were designed to let in faint light from windows and to allow air to circulate, much like the mashrabies used throughout the Arabic world.

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The French came to Morocco with one goal in mind. “Their goal, in sum, was to protect certain aspects of cultural traditions while sponsoring other aspects of modernization and development, all in the interest of stabilizing colonial domination.” Through the four steps of colonialism you can see how they accomplished the goal. They overcame opposition by “allowing” the Saltan to retain his claims over the royal garden in Rabat thus turning him into an ally, in turn gaining the acceptance of the people.

Next the romanticism of Morocco can be seen in the extensive use in moroccan motif during this time they were more focused on “saving” the islamic traditions rather than embracing them.

These motif can be seen early French moroccan projects such as boulevards, arcades, Anfa Residential District and The Grand Place. The introspection step came at the beginning of the occupation of morocco when the French made the conscious decision to make the city into a vision of “how planning might eventually be implemented at home” The last step of acceptance came in the 1930’s and 40’s when the uses of moroccan motifs when from decoration to practical uses, seen in Pierre Jabin’s Villa Cohen and Biazzo’s Liscia Building. The steps, in this case, fall out of order but they still paint the picture of colonial domination in Morocco.

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“To tell a simple n ­ ational story therefore is to repeat, extend, and also to engender new forms of imperialism. Left to itself, nationalism after independence will ‘crumble into regionalisms inside the hollow shell of nationalism itself ’ ” (Said).

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Collaboration, Independence, Liberation Repeating Colonial Processes in Modernism Benjamin Tonthat

n Collaboration, Independence, and Liberation, Edward Said discusses the development of post-colonial nations that have evolved past imperial rule. Citing particular philosophies including those of Frantz Fanon, Said describes the inevitable move towards liberation from western powers as a process that is both specific to a particular nation and applicable to every country that has sought rule by its own native people. In Morocco, the French insertion of power during the country’s colonial regime is evidence of an imposed identity upon the country that still pervades in its contemporary state. Beginning with the city’s initial cooperation with France’s architectural agenda, Casablanca developed as place of varying ideals imposed upon it before eventually finding its independence through modernism in the mid-1900s; it is currently exploring what it means to be completely liberated as imperialism manages to pervade in the way the built environment is perceived.

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Said offers the perspective of a French colonizer, who would argue that they fostered collaboration with the native Moroccans in redeveloping the existing landscape. The early colonial work by the French in Morocco was developed to underscore the importance of European ideals as Said explains “that many of the classes and individuals collaborating with imperialism began by trying to emulate modern European ways, to modernize according to what was perceived of as European advancement” (Said 262). While it is apparent that the early French developers in Casablanca worked with the local craftsmen to realize their visions, the resulting architecture rarely relied on any design input from the Moroccan population. The French used this idea of collaboration as a way to underscore their image as benevolent overseers and hide that they alone dictated what formed Morocco’s cities. This reverence of French sensibilities imposed with the appropriation of traditional Moroccan culture is especially apparent in the works of Henri Prost as he planned the early urban networks of Casablanca.

foreclosing any of the regional adaptations to climate, such as terraces, courtyards, and screened balconies or loggias” (Wright 108). During the early twentieth century, public buildings in particular were designed in the Arabisances style, and Casablanca provided a broad backdrop for the ruling class’s new aesthetic preference. Prost, in working with architect Joseph Marrast on Casablanca’s municipal buildings, would effectively solidify France’s dominance over all public centers of the city.

The result of the Grand’Place (now known as the Place des Nations Unies) illustrates a form generated purely to serve the French ruling class by adopting specific Moroccan ornament without any intention to accurately exemplify the culture.

While Prost’s guidelines dictated that the various buildings along the site be designed by different French architects, each civic building still assumes a level of consideration for the Arabisances approach. Upon analysis of Marrast’s Palais de Justice (1921-25) located on the Grand’Place, one understands the architect’s attempt to embody typical Moroccan architecture with its collonade galleries and ornamented cedar brackets.

However, Wright’s critique on Marrast’s city hall can be similarly applied to the Palais de Justice, as “one could never mistake this building for an Islamic mahakma (the pasha’s administrative offices for a municipality), given the distinctly Western proportions, the formal main entrance at the center, disengaged siting… There can be no doubt that this building belongs to the tradition of European city halls rather than Islamic municipal institutions” (Wright 114). This reference to western building typologies is clearly intentional, for the developing architectural style of Casablanca was meant to solidify French sensibilities over Moroccan traditions within the city’s governing fabric.

Casablanca’s other civic buildings constructed during the early 1920s further reflect Prost’s promotion of the Arabisances style.

Consider the central post office built along the Boulevard de Paris, which clearly illustrates European architects’ romanticized vision of Morocco’s urban sectors. Opponents against the building’s functional aesthetic claimed it also criticized imperialism’s hold over the nation, arguing that the post office’s “details are distinctly Islamic, while the symmetrical, centrally focused organization of the building and, even more so, the axial site plan of the whole assert French control of the setting and its institutions” (Wright 114). The façade of the building was adorned with white wall stucco (naqsh hadida) and arches that were meant to demonstrate a reverence for the local history.

Although Arabisances was meant to represent the fostered relationship between France and Morocco, it ultimately demonstrates how Casablanca’s architecture was primarily influenced by the French protectorate’s vision of an ideal city.

French perception of Casablanca as an undeveloped territory seeking to be civilized by its imperial overseer is justification for placing the indigenous population in a subservient position.

As architects like Prost began to urbanize the city, they also thrust themselves as the decision-makers for the architecture that developed during French colonial rule. Traditional Islamic ornamentation that characterized much of the built environment at the time was widely adapted into this new style. The Moroccan craftsmen who held the knowledge and technique to apply this decoration “were not acknowledged as skilled designers” by Prost and his associates, and served as “merely conduits of a remarkable tradition from which the French could draw at will” (Wright 112).

Arabisances loses its credibility as an architecture that is a collaborative effort with the culture it is derived from because it The style that formed and combined Moroccan decorative is inaccurate in its representation. Generalizations made by the arts with Prost’s design sensibility was named “Arabisances” by French further prevented any cultural development, as “most Francois Beguin, and reflects the early start of France’s assertion Europeans in Morocco considered Islamic architecture a more of power over the colony. This adaption of the existing vernacular or less universal set of elements from Spain to the Middle East” culture “was at once functional and romantic, contemporary (Wright 111). The architecture that is left today, including the and responsive to local history. The functionalism… encouraged buildings at the Grand’Place, reflect a glorification of Moroccan orderly new construction and sanitary technologies ‒ without craft that hides France’s imperialist goal: to firmly cement its 27

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The city of Casablanca’s early examples of collaboration between the existing population and their French colonizers are a reflection of an imperial subjugation that still exists beyond its colonial beginnings. Even before colonialism took its hold on the country, western entities involved themselves in Moroccan affairs for their own economic benefit. Consider the following quote from historian Gwendolyn Wright citing the first urban planner and designer of Morocco’s major cities, Henri Prost; her analysis provides a background as to why Casablanca in particular has always been regarded as an unsettled landscape ripe for experimentation: “Casablanca, Prost resigned himself, ‘will always bear the mark of its chaotic origins.’ Those chaotic origins derived largely from political instability in Morocco. During the years before the French formally set up their protectorate, speculators and adventurers did not bide their time. They avidly bought up land, especially in Casablanca, often using illegal methods, hoping these holdings would then be protected and increase in value when colonization became official” (Wright 100).

presence in Casablanca by being a constant reminder of the country’s colonial occupation. In Wright’s further elaboration on the topic, she describes how the favoring of a particular aesthetic hindered the validity of any reference to existing motifs that these early designers once found:

modern architects were designing outside of France during the early 1900s. Modernists living in Morocco adopted a benevolent attitude when designing structures for the indigenous population to rationalize their actions as imperial overlords. With a belief that also supported a certain level of preservation of pre-colonial history, the proponents of modernism in Casablanca likened themselves as the necessary civilizers to the young colony.

Architects freely incorporated motifs indigenous to Moorish Spain, Syria, or Egypt. Nor was there even a consistent recognition of the various local traditions within Morocco.

French designers tended to glorify the richly ornamented houses and mosques of Fez as the culmination of the national style. Despite good intentions and even a certain amount of historical knowledge, the result was inevitably an architecture of pastiche… But no matter, for the purpose of ‘Arabisances’ was to cheer and inspire Europeans (Wright 111).

As collaboration between the imperial power and its colonized peoples ‒ or in Morocco’s case, the efforts serving primarily the European population living in the colony ‒ came to an end, a new movement towards the independence of the Moroccan people took place. Said discusses the resulting independence of colonized nations as a natural next step that occurs after the collaboration period of imperialism ends. For Morocco, the country’s independence occurred as the modernist movement took over and explored the idea of creating an architecture that served and promoted the native people as opposed to solely the inhabiting European population. Frequently citing Frantz Fanon in his discussion about independence, Said discusses that the general consensus for all those living in the colonial sphere “must now be enriched and deepened by a very rapid transformation into a consciousness of social and political needs, in other words, into [real] humanism” for independence to begin (Said 269). A prevailing awareness of the needed consideration for the welfare of indigenous Moroccan people (and the different types of groups that fall within that description) sparked the country’s independence movement and, as a result, effectively established modernism in Casablanca.

Contrary to the movement towards formalism that developed in the early stages of Morocco’s colonial past, a separate faction existed that promoted modernism as the rightful aesthetic sensibility to be imposed. While Prost was an advocate for a sentimental architecture that favored vernacular decoration, Resident-General Hubert Lyautey was his staunch opponent on the matter who favored the highly experimental projects that

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Modernism developed concurrently with the formalist movement during the early twentieth century in Casablanca, but the true reflection of independence for the Moroccan people from their French protectorate was not recognized until key housing typologies were established in the 1950s.

Although the idealism of some French architects painted early modernism as the universal solution to social issues, the results proved lackluster in countries like Morocco where modernism was left to develop uninhibited. Consider a design like chief architect Antoine Marchisio’s 1930 project for thirty-two identical skyscrapers near the port in Casablanca as an example of architecture that simply cannot substitute tangible social or political reform for those suffering from colonialism’s hold.

The works that developed in these early stages were meant to be “modernist symbols of universal beauty” that “would serve the indigenous people of Morocco, bringing them into modern society” (Wright 138). Proponents for modernism failed to admit, however, that the architecture at this point in time inevitably failed to provide equality because they failed to take into account the specific needs of the people they were envisioned for.

An ideology of independence (separate from the country’s political independence from France) can be seen in Moroccan architecture with the creation of what mid-century, modern architects deemed as culture-specific housing projects. For the first time since its colonization, Casablanca was freed from exclusively serving French ideals and the focus shifted towards designing with consideration for the majority population.

Minimum-cost, high-rise housing was developed initially to mitigate the expanding population of Moroccans living in bidonvilles, or shanty towns found in the outskirts of Casablanca built from scrap metal. These early intentions were not purely humanitarian, for the growing development of the city meant more rural groups would move to urban centers in search of work causing problems for the ruling class who sought to remedy the sprawl of these unseemly bidonvilles. The structures built in Carrières Centrales in 1953, for example, are prototypes

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that not only explored the possibilities of mass housing to be Once the original intention of the building has been erased, deployed throughout the world but also suggested Casablanca’s it loses the initial message that it was designed to carry. It is first steps towards true separation from France. through this idea that the Moroccans living in the Carrières Centrales in the last decade have become liberated, in a Spearheaded by the leaders of ATBAT-Afrique, the Moroccan sense, from the Frenchmen who once imposed their own subsidiary of French design office ATBAT (Atelier des interpretation of culture-specific housing onto them. Upon Bâtisseurs), Carrières Centrales reflects a shift in modernism. visiting the site today, one can find the spaces once designated Its simplistic aesthetic ‒ abstracted even more so than buildings as exterior courtyards filled entirely and enveloped by white built in the colony’s early beginnings ‒ made it and the other brick; although the act may have been done for merely comfort new housing projects easily more receptive of independence reasons rather than resistance, it still represents an indirect compared to the structures built during Prost’s term. Borrowing challenge against the system initially dictated by French from local typologies like the courtyard and patio space of imperialism. Interestingly, the French foresaw these possible traditional dwellings, the group created one of the first affordable changes but likely accepted them as the French increasingly lost housing projects in Casablanca meant to cater towards their influence in Morocco; architect and urban planner of much different social needs. While the project’s high cost of living of Casablanca following Prost, Michel Ecochard, remarked as and evolution over time make it rather unsuccessful in meeting early as 1953 that “if the local authorities do not strictly oversee the needs of the people it was built for, it is still important for the housing developments, residents will convert the patios, being an early catalyst for independent thinking for Moroccans. radically defacing the whole interior grid” (Cohen, Eleb 351).

Historical analysts also cite its significance towards future The changes made to significant housing projects like Carrières endeavors by C.I.A.M. because the project “denoted a paradigm Centrales by its tenants reflects a clear defiance of the control shift between the universalist approach of modern architecture over all aspects of their lives that the French once held. and an ambition to adapt to local cultures and identities that characterized the Team X generation” (Cohen, Eleb 339).

Imperialism’s effect on a particular country can be summarized through three states of self-awareness: its collaboration with the Following independence from an imperial power, Edward imperial power, independence from said power, and liberation Said’s discussion of colonialism’s universal progression describes spurred by nationalist movements. Casablanca began as a the next step in history for Moroccans was liberation. He argues colony that accumulated various architectural styles, designed that a nation is truly liberated if it has avoided falling into specifically with French sensibilities in mind and adopting another hierarchy of power and social division reminiscent of elements from traditional decorative arts to meet certain aesthetic its original imperialism. Fanon is once again cited and describes preferences. As modernism grew to become the preferred style liberation as “consciousness of self, ‘not the closing of a door to in Casablanca, the architecture allowed for a shift in focus communication’ but a never-ending process of ‘discovery and towards the socio-economic needs of the city’s working class as encouragement’ leading to true national self-liberation and to opposed to the historically favored desires of Europeans. This universalism” (Said 274). For Casablanca, one may argue that independence from France since the 1950s has led the city to its the process towards liberation is still ongoing as the effects of current state seeking complete liberation: a process described by imperialism pervade throughout the city. The current state of Said as being never-ending. While colonialism’s reach remains Carrières Centrales, for example, reflects an act of liberation constantly present in Casablanca’s built environment, it has lost from French influence. much of its relevance as the current generation of Morocco’s inhabitants have molded it to fit their changing needs.

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“ You don’t give in to the rigidity and interdictions of self-imposed limitations that come with race, moment, or milieu; instead you move through them to an animated and expanded sense of “le rendezvous de la conqueste,” which necessarily involves more than your Ireland, your Martinique, your Pakistan.”

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Yeats and Decolonization After Modernism Claudia Chakobrow

n a passage centered on the affects and efforts of colonization and imperialism, it becomes evident that all themes involved, from nationalism to nativism, affect all scales of people, from the individual to the masses. Edward Said presents the idea of a culture of resistance, which arises from a nation realizing they need to strive towards decolonization, individuality, and their personal relationship with nativism.

Morocco, a place of layered culture, therefore is shaped into the place it is today due to the necessary culture of resistance in combination with the affect of imperialism that implemented modern aspects to benefit the city.

Morocco, being a traditionally Arab community, was originally comprised of several Arab communities as well as Berber communities. These layers of culture are each heavily visible and present throughout the fabric of Morocco, and implemented places of culture that set the strong foundation for city layout in the country today. The oldest influencers of Morocco,

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the Berbers, have a typical building material they use, that is associated with the rural areas of Morocco. This material, mud brick pise, makes up most of the traditional Berber village buildings today. The material is easily accessible to them, and keeps cool; achieving what the Moroccans desired. This building material isn’t necessarily seen as often in the imperial cities, where buildings are more decorated in white or concrete walls. Another origin of the architectural style in Morocco stems from Islamic architecture. Religion shapes the city in a sense that the city is somewhat organized around a larger mosque.

Then, throughout the city, there are several smaller mosques and prayer halls. The consistent city element of mosque or prayer hall illustrates the traditional Islamic place, while the style consists of arches, domes, towers, and intricate geometric designs. In the 8th century, the Hispano- Moorish style was introduced, comprised of the “key hole shaped arches”, white walls, and red tiled roof, heavily visible in North Africa. These early examples of derivations of Morocco’s style illustrate the necessity of a strong cultural basis, as it can shape and begin to form a city. Morocco’s traditional pattern of composition for its cities includes towers, mosques, narrow streets, alleyways, gardens, city squares, and most famously, the medina quarter.

These traditional building patterns of the city are a part of the everlasting tradition of Morocco, that has remained consistent despite the French’s attempt at colonization.

Morocco offers a vast amount of culture, but it also displays a variety of lifestyles. The French heavily influenced Morocco, still evident today as French is a common language. Besides the system of traffic circles in the city, the French also adorned the country with technological advancements in transportation, with railways, roads, and trading areas. The French attempted a “combination of modern ‘improvements’ and respect for ‘traditional’ way of life. “ (Wright 90) The infrastructure system set in place by the French was one of the most positive influences to Morocco today. However, the problem with Eurocentrism is the belief that they are being helpful as they set out to, “modernize, develop, instruct, and civilize” (Said, 223). The issue with Eurocentrism is the idea that life needs to be lived in a certain way. Morocco is the interesting place it is because while it offers major cities full of modern features, where its culture still peaks through. This said culture, was adapted as they sought to express themselves in a place that was trying to strip them of themselves. It wasn’t only the present aspects of the country the French affected, it was the past they were also trying to erase.

Said brings to attention how the process of imperialism is As they taught “important” truths about history, science, and presented as a façade of benefits for the “conquered”, when culture, “millions grasped the fundamentals of modern life, in reality, imperialism attempts to not only strip a nation of their qualities that make them who they are, but also erase the said country’s past. French influence in Morocco presented an illusion of the ideal community. According to Gwendolyn Wright, the French claimed they sought a feeling of timeless continuity, seamlessly connecting their “de novo” vision that created an ideal urban enclave, with the traditional Morocco.

The French stood in their beliefs that people and things should stay in their established places, wanting to “maintain in its setting a civilization intact for centuries”. The French then tried to improve the typical Morocco. When Prost, a French urban planner arrived in Casablanca, he noted the “chaotic origins.”

Casablanca was dense because the public community was building everywhere due to the political instability in Morocco.

Tight streets, compact and plentiful residential areas, and a large and weaving medina made up the city. In attempts to keep part of the city pure and original, the French constructed the New Medina. It was built off the ideals of the old medina, but expressed with a French style. The new medina still represents the original culture of Morocco, filled with a variety of markets.

The Old Medina represents a mix of residential and commercial, with narrow alleyways, a short elevation, and an overall dense but plentiful plan. The “de novo” vision of the French represents a more urban area. The circulation “alleyways” have been replaced with wider streets prompting vehicular circulation, the taller residential buildings mimic the commercial areas inspired

by Eurocentrism, and more gathering areas are included.

Gathering areas are represented in vehicular circulation as well as pedestrian, as the French implemented a system of boulevards throughout Casablanca. Boulevards, a feature very prominent in Paris, gave Casablanca a system of traffic circles, which promote gathering spaces of all kinds inside. Prost also 33

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implemented a boulevard axis from the port to a major square.

This not only activated the major square in the city into a commercial space, but created an important street that provides access even today. The French affected the culture of Morocco by pushing Casablanca to be the idealistic future city for France.

Prost had high hopes of turning the city into his French dream.

yet remained subordinate dependents of an authority based elsewhere than in their lives” (Said 223). What is a city when it is left untouched? What is a civilization when left alone? Outside the major cities, in the suburban areas, people keep their traditions and culture as the country modernizes. The contrast of place in the suburb versus the city is shaped by the previous limitations placed on the Moroccan culture.

Despite attempts to keep original aspects, fundamental changes were made that shaped the city. Colonization and imperialism typically present the “ideal” culture, spreading eurocentrism and English racial superiority all over. Not only did this imposed culture take over schools, languages, and traditions, it affected the mind in a way that ingrained people to think anyone and anything could be bad, barbarian, or lesser. Said often references Yeats, an Irish poet who firsthand experienced the effects of imperialism in Ireland. Yeats discusses the affects, and claims an opposition was prompted that caused a surge of energy towards being proud of your nation, and now it was as if, “Patriotism was coming into vogue” (Said, 222). Once a nation begins to reject the colonization taken place on their land, and strive towards liberation, they begin to band together in their pursuit. When a country is kept from expressing their full selves, they are kept from acknowledging their past, their native essence, and their true intelligence.

Throughout the chapter, Said makes it clear that this poet, Yeats, who is well versed in imperialism and its affects, has thoroughly explored the process of restoring a new culture after said culture has tried to be compressed. Yeats is connected to a deeper understanding of the meaning of nationality, that pushes one to want to be a part of a community. This process is the result of the loss of locality and alienation from authenticity.

The world that is derived from the deprivation of the present is a,” production of the natural world.” This brings to question, how does one unlearn the rules and aspects of life forced upon them, and recreate an authentic culture? We begin to compare the large, imperial cities of Morocco, and the smaller towns that received little affect of imperialism. “Lyautey was concerned about the future development of all four traditional royal capitals: the imperial cities of Fez, Marrakech, and Meknes, as well as Rabat… without disrupting the medinas and palaces in any of these cities.” (Wright, 94) The places that represent pure Moroccan culture are those where the people were allowed to be themselves. Besides the old medinas and palaces of the city, the Moroccan culture thrives in hammams and gardens. The palaces, hammams, and gardens are large and spacious, and truly allow each space to feel special. All these buildings are consistent in every location of Morocco, and all reflect traditions of the Moroccan culture that remain unaffected by French imperialism. This illustrated the strength of the culture, and the importance of beautiful traditions that were almost taken away.

It is interesting to compare the difference in the prominent cities and the smaller ones because it gives a sense of untouched and unbothered in comparison to a collaboration of cultures.

A fear during this period of imperialism was that national consciousness would minimize, therefore affecting the delicate creation of Morocco’s identity, centered on national culture.

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Many nations, despite territorial unity or any other bonding feature, produce a feeling of the divided nation. Morocco’s holistic and consistent feel throughout the country is based on their trait to embrace modernization all whilst maintaining strong traditions. But after Morocco was liberated, a period of nationalist independence took place that transformed social consciousness. “such protocols of expansiveness are announced from under the shadow of domination.” It is this internal strength that arose to fight for their traditions, as well as the French trying to amiably “share” the land they colonized.

Morocco is comprised of layers, and offers a variety of city types that offer the argument both for and against imperialism. On one hand, it disrupts the cultural growth of a place, and disrupts what could have been. But in the eyes of Said, it offers a place the opportunity to grow past the identity of their nation. This ability creates a place filled with different aspects derived from different cultures that ultimately create a new culture. Morocco has been forever impacted by French imperialism, and in several ways, benefitted from the relationship in aspects that still affect the country today.

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The French colonization and imperialism of Morocco sets back the mind in individual growth whilst being conquered.

Interestingly, Said’s point in the reading, is that in the quest of decolonization and liberation, in the making of a culture of resistance, one witnesses and experiences a transition of mind, and understands the true value of life. As Yeats witnessed the decolonization of Ireland, he witnessed the rush of patriotism ad nationalism, but this only resulted in “replicating old colonial structures in new terms.”. It introduces an imperial relationship that never leaves. Said claims, “the imperial relationship is there in all cases.” So, although they both disagree with the affects of imperialism, imperialism can shape the public into understanding a greater sense of self. Moroccans are more than Morocco, just as the Irish are more than Ireland. It is this mindset that allows Morocco to be the successful, growing place it is today. When confined to one’s own sphere, we limit our possibilities. Imperialism can be a positive experience, if it also allows liberation. Then and only then, does it promote the ideal situation by presenting an idea of the universal, where growth is the goal. It is a product of strength of mind to understand that, “no race has a monopoly on beauty, on intelligence, on strength.” This aspect of culture is that of pure intention to live life, and is evident in the smaller cities. Which again brings to attention, without the affects of imperialism, would this journey of self-realization be necessary? Does having to fight for your culture and your nation result in a deeper-rooted need for consistency of traditions while the physical hardscape around is altered?

I went on to argue that when supposedly otherwise neutral departments of culture like literature and critical theory converge upon the weaker or subordinate culture and interpret it with ideas of unchanging non-European and European essences, narratives about geographical possession, and images of legitimacy and redemption, the striking consequence has been to disguise the power situation and to conceal how much the experience of the stronger party overlaps with and, strangely, depends on the weaker. (Said)

There are Two Sides Dog ate my photos Cristobal Piñon

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n the chapter There are Two Sides, post-colonial theorist Edward Said reinterprets the paradigm that colonialism was mostly one-sided in the term of “influence”. The common western understanding of colonialism is that Europe gave the colonies modernity but Said argues that Europe could not have progressed without the ideas and resources acquired from the colonies. In Fanon’s words, Said argues that “Europe is literally the creation of the Third World” (Said 197).

Highly motivated by the French mission in Morocco, Resident General Hubert Lyautey was prepared to provide a way to revitalize metropolitan France by implementing fresh ideas and bringing back proven methods. In a letter to one of his colleagues Lyautey shared:

“What I dream of, and what many of you dream of with me, is that, among all the disturbances which rock the world so that one wonders when and how it will ever regain its equilibrium, In an urban sense, the North African Colonies served the there should be created in Morocco a sound, orderly, harmonious French as “laboratories” and were called “champs d’experience” organization; we wish this country to be a sturdy bastion of or experimental terrains (Wright, Intro 12). The leading order against the mounting tide of anarchy” (Guillaume) professionals and leaders in charge of the colonies saw the problems of their French cities at home and rejected historical In Morocco, Lyautey, entrusted the architecture and urbanism styles that led to cultural and social segregation and instead department to Henri Prost and Albert Laprade, who shared decided to search for urban principles and rules that would be similar impetus and theories to implement in the colonies. integrated with cultural particularities and artistic traditions Prost and Laprade understood the urban frustrations that from the colonized world. characterized the period at home and like the rest of the French people viewed the experimentation in the outre-mer, as the way The outre-mer, solution to metropole to “induct new spirit and vigor for all aspects of their national “ln Morocco, people believe in urbanism,” wrote one enthusiastic life” in the metropole. commentator in 1931, “while in France they do not. I cannot help comparing the results of this faith and skepticism” “Use The “Lyautey Method” the Sudan to remake the City in France itself,” implored Robert History… is not a calculating machine. It unfolds in the Delavignette, director of the Ecole Coloniale (Wright, Intro). mind and the imagination and takes body in the multifarious responses of a people’s culture itself the infinitely subtle The French justification for colonialism, whether left or right mediation of material realities, of underpinning economic facts, was to utilize the colonies, or the outre-mer, as place for of gritty objectivities. (Said) experimentation to provide solutions to the urban problems that plagued France, the metropole. The metropolitan areas in Having lived in the colonies in the 1880s and finding freedom France during the 1900s were suffering from low birthrates, that he could not find in the “sterile confinement” of traditional dramatic rise in suicide, mental illness, and morbidity rates France, Lyautey understood Said’s argument that history higher than other European countries. Leaders of the time ultimately depended on the responses of a people’s culture. saw these problems as the result of poor industrial productivity During this time, Lyautey fell in love with the unlimited and inadequate housing stock in urban areas which could not possibilities of the feudal living of the Arabs, from who he generate enough support to implement proposals to correct the learned the language and shared their mats, strong coffee, situation (Wright, Tradition). food and garbs (Singer). From these experiences he learned to respect the Islamic culture, which translated into his stance 38

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of preserving the Moroccan’s traditional status-hierarchies during his time as Resident General. Lyautey understood that paying formal homage could quell the “Moroccans’ hostility toward European domination”, acknowledging that “resistance to new forms is often based on affection for familiar places”.

From this cultural preservation stemmed what Eric Hobsbawn called “invented traditions” which relied on pageantry or other symbolic expressions to try and evoke a sense of continuity with the local past in the design (Wright, Introduction). Lyautey’s approach in Morocco was latter dubbed the “Lyautey Method” where “one neither came as conqueror nor colonizer” or attempt to tamper with what was important to the natives. Instead, French soldiers were utilized to help build hospitals, mines, and dispense agricultural advice and vaccinations (Singer)

and minor regulations such as the setting of balconies and decorative features on the façade. With these “modification” many of the early French urban buildings bore “unmistakable signs of Moroccan inspiration”. One of these buildings being the Hotel Excelsior which was built of reinforced concrete and embellished with elements of neo-Moorish style such as greentiles roofs and arched windows (Wylie). The Excelsior’s six-story structure also signaled a “turnaround in scale” with respect to the nearby medina, but also marked “an important step forward in terms of modern comfort and elegance.’ According to Henry Dugard it embodied the metamorphosis of a “rough and refined monster” into a civilized city” (Cohen, Casablanca).

Ville Nouvelle The old medinas, or Moroccan towns which Lyautey had sought to preserve by building the new European cities along side, were soon too small. Careful sociological studies showed that it would be wise to create a special type of satellite city which would come up to international standards of town planning and yet be financially practicable (Guillaume).

Colonial Urbanism Shaping a new city does not involve simply laying out roads, neighborhoods, parks, and public gardens. Nor it is a matter of merely preserving historical sites and monuments or designating sites for administrative buildings such as schools, post offices, public health facilities, and so forth. It is also a question of rationality shaping the urban block in a way that is appropriate The rapid immigration of indigenous population looking for to its ends use. work in Casablanca began to overflow the old Medina and -Henri Prost began the creation of shantytowns in the outskirt of Casablanca.

Because these shelters were near the city’s garbage heaps, there The protectorate’s immense public health effort to provide were serious risk of contamination and public authorities were hospitals for public medical assistance and to improve hygiene forced to evict the population and set fire to camps. With a resulted in the drop of both infant mortality rate and the death large amount of displaced population, satellite housing projects rate casing a population increase of 100,000 a year. These social for the native working population were set in motion. In this welfare projects also provided work for the increasing urban event Laprade oversaw the design of the new Habous quarter of population, incidentally, causing overcrowding and serious Casablanca in 1917, which is now knows as the “New Medina” issues to town planning (Guillaume).

(Cohen, Casablanca). Laprade’s goal for this project was the reconstitution of everyday Moroccan social life. The design To accommodate the urban growth the department of of the neighborhood pursued the “morphological meetings architecture and urbanism, led by Prost and Laprade, through which Moroccan forms gave a particular unity to implemented immediate action to design for the expansion of nature and culture” (Rabinow). In this satellite neighborhood rapidly growing cities like Casablanca. For the design of the the house exteriors were anonymous and did not mark the status urban plan of Casablanca, Prost based his urban planning ideas of the inhabitants. The interior courtyards provided light, air, on the theories of Garnier which emphasized zoning, and break and privacy. The street system included pedestrian passageways down as follows: as well as streets designed for vehicles. “The new medina was conceived as a true neighborhood, comprising a variety of Work - an industrial quarter with metallurgy factories and services and specifically Moroccan equipment: market spaces, cement plants of almost futurist design; neighborhood ovens, public baths, Koranic schools, a modern Housing - a residential quarter artfully equipped with pedestrian school, mosques, and courts” (Rabinow). zones, secondary and technical schools, and child-care facilities; Health - a modern sanitarium and the most advanced hospitals In 1936, the protectorate drew up another satellite project in for general health care and for the victims of industrial accidents, Ain Chock, south of central Casablanca. Antoine Marchisio, sited on the choicest land, adjacent to the hills and receiving the was head of the Protectorate’s architectural office at the time most sunlight; and presented a scheme which he envisioned as an “autonomous Leisure - generous spaces for physical and spiritual recuperation and well-equipped district that would not be a ‘dull pile of from work, including sports facilities, a theater, and a park; stone cubes, but rather a coherent and harmonious serious of Administration - in the center of the city, administrative services buildings specially designed to make up a town in its own right” and grandiose assembly halls for public discussion (note the (Cohen, Casablanca). The project translated into one of the first lack of churches, law courts, and police stations); semi-collective housing projects, with single family dwellings History - in the central administrative complex, an empty stacked on one another, each with its own private outdoor space building, the archives. Garnier saw that the social glue, the most and private entrance. The conceived units of the project still important bond in modernity, was history (Rabinow). followed principles of native Moroccan housing and lifestyles in which room windows faces the patio and enclosure walls were In the streets of Casablanca, outside the Medina, Prost tall enough to guarantee privacy which was very important to inaugurated ‘constraints’ such as the inclusion of arcades Moroccan family life (Cohen, Casablanca).

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Louis Renaudin later observed that native Moroccans would eventually resent the “poor living conditions” offered in these housing projects, and that they would soon wish to live in “the type of housing currently reserved for Europeans.” The Moroccan representatives on the housing commission also strongly supported a policy of offering modern collective housing to Muslims and expressed a similar view: “the administration should not adhere more to tradition than the Moroccans themselves” (Cohen, Casablanca). They viewed the sponsorship of programs that favored the traditional courtyard house over apartment buildings a hinderance to the social development of the Moroccan working class as they viewed these housing type as a “passport to the modern world” (Cohen, Casablanca).

However not all Moroccans were of the same opinion and their viewpoints largely depended on their cultural background, social rank, regional origin and their relationship with colonization and modernization; “the traditionalist Moroccan working class nicknamed the rising younger generations ‘our own backyard colonist.’ Confirming their views that modernization and colonization were “two sides of the same coin”. (Cohen, Casablanca)

Faced with the growing shortage of housing, Ecochard advocated for the mass production of housing units for the least price, based on minimal universal needs. Rabinow, described Ecochard as a middling modernist after his description of colonial Morocco as being “less than five million beings, on a territory the size of France, living completely turned in on themselves.” To Ecochard, history was no longer prevalent, and “Morocco’s past and nineteenth-century European imperialism ceased to exist, [instead], Ecochard saw “beings on a territory” (Rabinow).

Ecochard envisioned the new housing units as two eightby-eight-meter rooms, a patio, and a water closet and a plan where the units could be extended indefinitely. But ultimately, despite Ecochard’s attempts to provided universal standards of habitation, the Moroccan’s proved to be “insufficiently heroic” to live in them like the French has done in Pessac, France (Rabinow). The residents resisted these housing schemes, as demonstrated by their multiple altercations turning the dwellings more “traditionally introverted” (Cohen Casablanca).

George Candilis’s ATBAT-Afrique, Nid d’abeille building in Carrieles Centrales was ones of the buildings that suffered from these modifications as the patios were enclosed to create privacy, interior rooms were further subdivided, and roofs were 41

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Middling Modernism Middling modernism - “middling” in opposition to the “high” modernism of genius a la Le Corbusier - shares the norms of industrialization, health, and sociality as well as the technological processes aimed at regulating social practices. But the material to be operated on was no longer the sedimented historical practices of a particular culture. Middling modernism’s project was the more audacious, seeking to create New Man, purified and liberated to pursue new forms of sociality that, it was believed, would inevitably arise from healthy spaces and forms.

Science, particularly social science, would define humanity’s needs, which technical planners would meet (Rabinow).

transformed into covered spaces where women could retain their respectability while out of doors (Rabinow). Although the buildings in Carriales Centrales failed to suit living conditions for Moroccan Muslims they did spark the debate on adapting minimum housing for culturally diverse populations. A debate that denoted a “paradigm shift between the universalist approach of modern architecture and an ambition to adapt to local cultures and identities that characterized the Team 10 generation (Cohen, Casablanca).

law during the Vichy period (Cohen, Architectural). Vaillat also credit Lyautey and Prost with understanding “the three perceptual and social values of any piece of architecture: social responsibility, expressed in the facade; a program, affirmed in the interior plan; and urban design [emplacement], which translates the relations of the building itself into the larger fabric of the city” (Wright, Morocco).

Casablanca: Built by Two Sides “Morocco… A laboratory of western life and conservatory of oriental life.” - Leandre Vaillat

Learning from the outre-mer “Above all it is their popular culture that comes across in the ensemble of these buildings... In these countries architecture (like music and dance) is for us an antidote to the sadness and the emptiness that our triumphant materialism gives us in excess” -Albert Laprade France, during its period of modernization, found inspiration for policies of housing schemes and formation of new towns from the experiments in colonial Morocco. The professional elites, such as architects and engineers, found that the “colonial detour” was essential. “In this way Henri Prost’s career was shaped decisively by his voyage to Morocco, which allowed him to design the regional plan for Paris in 1928” (Cohen, Architectural). It was the same for many other professionals active in colonial North Africa, where they were exposed to other ways of practice and “after 1945, to some more modern techniques and procedures than in the home country (Cohen, Architectural). In technical terms, experimentation in colonial housing operations served to develop modular and prefabricated construction methods, as well as the advancement of concrete technology which was experimented upon by Auguste Perret in his Wallut warehouses in Casablanca where he took his first attempt to execute thin shell concrete structures (Cohen Architectural) Urban planning efforts in Casablanca also did not go unnoticed

by French observers who insisted that Paris would do well to learn from Lyautey’s team’s fundamental planning principles.

Laprade contrasted the use of zoning in Morocco to that of cities in France, “where factories, housing, and commercial buildings are mixed together in the most atrocious disorder, a lamentable situation for industrial development, and lamentable, too, for the tranquility and health of the residents” (Wright, Morocco).

Eventually these planning principles were passed into French

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In, Morocco: Modernization and Preservation, Wright, describes Vaillat’s visit to Casablanca as being delighted at the sight of how well they represented the convergence of “two diametrically opposed paths for twentieth-century cities: a modern vision of wide, orderly streets coexisted, apparently peacefully, with the picturesque charm of the indigenous North African medina, a setting adapted to a more traditional way of life”(Wright, Tradition). The architecture of Casablanca does, in short, affirm the idea of an “authentic Moroccan Style” even when conveying the coexistence of Neo-Moorish, art deco, and modern buildings side by side instead of the “rupture” found in many other colonial town of the time (Wylie). Casablanca, “a forward-rather than backward- looking twentieth-century city” and its modern buildings played a “vanguard role” in the development of Moroccan modernism (Wylie).Today critics are confused when formerly colonized preservationist want to preserve buildings put up by the colonizers, but they understand Casablanca’s “heritage” broadly as that of city that was “gained from the people that came before them” without reference to nationality, ethnicity, religion, or even family (Wylie).

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The French empire was uniquely connected to the French national identity, its brilliance civilizational energy, special geographical, social and historical development. None of this was consistent or corresponded to daily life in Martinique, Algeria, Gabon, or Madagascar, and this was, to put it mildly, difficult for the natives. (Said 171).

Camus and the French Imperial Experience For the Fun of it Constanza Peña Nakouzi

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s France controlled new territories, they slowly recreating laws, culture and architecture in order to make newly inhabited territories into their own.

Even today, years after these colonies gained their independence, traces of these new languages, buildings and ways of life, which were imposed by western civilizations, are part of the day-to-day life and ultimately part of the fabric that makes them who they have become. This paper proposes that the everyday struggle for uniformity against the experience of disorder described in Said’s Culture and Imperialism is embedded in the colonial attitude of making Casablanca, and that Henri Prost and other planners involved in the development of the city as it is today, tried to specifically sanitize and erase original Arab space in order to create the conditions of the split between the original city and the seemingly proper European city of the future.

As Gwendolyn Wright describes in Morocco: Modernization and Preservation, “Alfred de Tarde, a lieutenant in Lyutey’s army and later editor of France-Maroc which lauded the opportunity this colony ‘it is a matter of coming to the city of tomorrow… to organize a new country is essentially to invent the future’ (88).

This expresses how the French truly felt about what Morocco offered, an opportunity to create a city that suited them and represented how new cities would be viewed. Wright also added, “Lyautey himself spoke glowingly of spaciousness and services to describe the urban enclave where French would live: ‘the European city takes form on the vast open spaces, following a plan which achieves the epitome of modern conditions, with broad boulevards, water and electrical supplies, squares and gardens, buses and tramways and also foreseeing future extensions.’ For the French, Morocco offered a chance to create the novo a vision of the contemporary metropolis as a clean, efficient, and elegant setting.” (88). It also should be noted that when Lyautey spoke about the future Casablanca, he was purely imagining it as a place for the French to enjoy.

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Casablanca is just one of the many Moroccan cities where this can be seen. The old medina, which was the original city built by the locals, is the perfect example of the way Moroccans built before the French occupation, exemplified via an accumulation of buildings, linked by a series of narrow pathways that lead to open plazas. As one walks through the medina, it is apparent in the mixture of small commercial areas interlocking with housing and residential zones. The open areas connected by paths of various scales, which are occupied by local vendors and residents, during periodic times during the day. Controlled chaos is one of the characteristics that dominated the organization of the old city, where it appears no planning or city layout forethought was utilized as evidenced by archaic designs. On the other hand, blocks away and surrounding the medina, one can find Ville Nouvelle which is a French built city. From a city planning perspective, unlike the old medina, this area of the city is characterized by boulevards, traffic circles, radiating streets, arcades and a particular way of organizing that successfully achieves similar appearances to streets of Paris and Europe in general.

According to Jean-Louis Cohen and Monique Eleb in the book Casablanca: Colonial Myths and Architectural Ventures, Henri Prost, French architect and urban planner who took part in the design of the new city plan for Casablanca, described the medina as, “devoid of artistic interest and ill-suited to the requirements of European trade’. He, therefore, sought to demolish this ‘indigenous area’ altogether, especially as his longterm aim was for the Ville nouvelle to connect directly with the port on all sides.”(81) Also, Lyautey described the “narrow tortuous lanes of the Medina as a horrendous first impression for those arriving to the port”. The demolition did not eventually occur but instead some other measurements were taken in order to shift the focus of the city from the old to the new city and some involved demolishing portions, and encouraging natives to move away from the center and commercial areas of the new Casablanca.

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One of the first issues that the new planners intended to solve was concerning the road system and how to link the port and warehouse areas with the rest of the city without having to navigate narrow medina alleys and city walls. In order to accomplish this, Prost suggested “widening the crack between the Medina and the cemetery to make way for a new Boulevard that would “run along the port axis’ (the median artery of the New town) leading to the ‘architectural mass’ of the palace administrative.” His idea was to create a visual connection between the civic buildings constructed by the French, which were set against a backdrop of greenery, and create contrast with the port “divulging a tangle of masts, ships’ funnels, highbrimmed hulls, and an endless Horizon of sea and sky”. (Cohen and Eleb 115)

Unlike the Medina, the Ville Nouvelle was very much planned as a network system. The urban design is much less dense than in the old city and even though there is a lot of vehicular traffic, it feels much broader than a majority of the medina. As mentioned previously, this network of roads are shaped by a series of traffic circles, which is another characteristic European urban element. They vary in sizes and shape depending on the surrounding buildings, some act as small plazas or others allow for parking in more residential areas. Others purely serve the purpose of organizing the radiating streets and connecting important areas of the city. These streets highly contrast with the small alleys that shape the old medina, where many of them lead to dead ends or where there is no apparent organizational forethought. Cohen and Eleb describe the blocks and the buildings shapes that were dictated by the traffic circles as “the white rendering and stone window frames echo the nearby city hall; furthermore, it should be noted that the work featured a large number of components that were used in Parisian corner buildings during the same period, notably the apartment block’s rounded corner that tampers into a tower.” (186) This system of roads is filled with European influenced architecture, where most of the buildings are large, with several stories and facades full of details that give shape to enormous widows and balconies that overlook the streets. As new French 47

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The Boulevard Felix Houphouet Boign is the mayor road that separates the old medina from the new city. This street connects the port, one of the most important economical gates for the city, with the rest of Casablanca. The boulevard is characterized by having multiple lanes and a wide separator in the middle complete with palm trees. This city artery holds a variety of commercial businesses as well as office buildings which are located in characteristic French and art deco buildings. In order to make space for such a major artery, the design involved demolishing part of the eastern outskirt of the medina. To accomplish this, in March 1917 expropriations in this area began. Most of this sector, which happened to be the corner occupied by the Jewish community, was scraped following the shape of the new boulevard and replaced with a series of arcades that today serve as small shops. Not only has this Old City area suffered the consequences of the French expansion, but also Moroccan huts, known as kissaria and the main market were demolished to allow for the expansion of main boulevards. This symbolized the “decline of the traditional shops to the benefit of French trade” (Cohen and Eleb 216).

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trends started arriving in Morocco, Cohen and Eleb describe in their book, “The first two buildings constructed by architect Hyppolyte Delaporte were located in the vicinity of the Medina and can be read as a response to new priorities (…) and its completion symbolized how morocco had opened up to French trade. Both buildings were conceived a six story structures, signaling a turnaround in scale with the respect to the nearby medina,” and it was also suggested by Lyautey that “it embodied the metamorphosis of ‘rough and refined monster’ into a civilized city,” (60) they also described, “along rue de l’hotloge stand a number of apartment buildings whose facades are loaded with cherubs, fruit baskets, cornucopias, and sprays of flowers; lion heads and shells gaily alternate with one another in some places, while other parts were accorded a more modern repertoire of thistles and creepers, with neoclassical pilasters and balusters underscoring the new road alignments at varying intervals.” (159)

sought to maintain segregation of housing, which would result in two cities in Casablanca, one European and one Moroccan” (10), because of this, the areas that were mainly inhabited by Jewish and Muslim Moroccans grew over populated, while the European zones maintained relatively low densities. Also, this hurt the Moroccan society because since “hardly any of the Casablancans had lived in a large town before, they found themselves thrust into a lifestyle structured by trade and industry and burgeoning with modernist Ideals. Compelled to adapt to the cities value and daily pace, people clung firmly to the values and ideologies of their own origins, which accounts for the staunch micro societies that sprung up in Casablanca.”

(Cohen and Eleb 92).

The Habus, as it was called, is characterized for having wide streets that allow for car circulation, unlike the old medina, which mostly leaves space for pedestrians and small motorcycles.

The new medina is much more organized by incorporating arcades into the design, which gives a different kind of space for the different stores to take place. In addition, these create different aspects of shaded circulation than the ones found at the old medina, where more precarious methods are used. For example, various fabrics and wooden panels are incorporated to enclose the space. For this and other projects, French planners worked with local Moroccans, but as Cohen and Eleb explain, “Architects established close links with mosaic craftsmen, iron workers, and cabinetmakers. This does not, however respect, and imply that “Neo-Moorish” or “neo-Moroccan” practices, two terms employed almost indiscriminately, excluded the quest for synthesis with modern themes. (161). Unfortunately, the fact that local workers were involved in the planning and construction of these new structures did not mean that Arab themes were included.

In conclusion, the new planning and architecture of the city brought both positive and perceived negative consequences.

Specifically, because the city’s economy grew exponentially and so did the population. As this can be seen as a positive consequence, according to Brunzel and Duric, “the French

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Also, there were instances in which the French intended to follow the Moroccan esthetic in their design of the city but they did so by accommodating it to European styles. The New Medina, for example, was another way the French tried to separate the natives Casablancans from the new European residents. Their intention was to create a place where Moroccans would live and have their businesses but disconnected from the European daily life, according to Brunzel and Duric in their thesis, “Prost imagined “a reassuring ‘setting’ for the Moroccans, away from Casablanca’s urban core”. (216)

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“After the period of “primary resistance” literally fighting against outside intrusion, there comes the period of secondary, that is, ideological resistance, when efforts are made to reconstitute a “shattered community, to save or restore the sense and fact of community against all the pressures of the colonial system”(Basil Davidson)” Said

Themes of Resistance Culture Importing Colonialism Cristina Trejo

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n Themes of Resistance Culture, Edward Said discusses nationalism resulting in cultural resistance and the division of western powers leading to imperial policy. To support this, Said cites Tayeb Salih’s Reversal and James Ngugi, among many other pieces of literature and historical events.

Resistance, far from being merely a reaction to imperialism, is an alternative way-of conceiving human history. The idea is to analyze housing architecture that created the city of Casablanca and how this affected cultural resistance between the French and the Moroccans.

MOROCCO The treaty with France in 1912 left the government in the hands of the Sultan and his ministers which made Morocco a French dependency. At this point, the French Resident-General held supreme authority meaning that Morocco could negotiate with foreign powers only through him. All administrative office and decisions were supervised by the French, this made resistance futile. Resistance was not fulfill due to Morocco’s “infertility” and “poor soil to growth of political nationalism”, as Cline says.

Moroccans had individual culture, such as language and lifestyle which allowed French invasion through its architectural design to shape the city of Casablanca. Wright observes that “by suggesting France’s respect for Islamic culture, this formal homage might help quell the Moroccans’ hostility toward European domination. “And thus, little by little,” Marrast wrote, “we conquer the hearts of the natives and win their affection, as is our duty as colonizers.”” (Wright). Cohen and Eleb argue that there are temptations of modernity which was generally to gain access to a higher standard of living enjoyed by other cultures and could lead to psychological conflict. “As Mohammed Boughali has aptly stated, “the choice between tradition and modernity creates a painful dilemma,” inasmuch as “one is torn between both options, while having to remain true to oneself ” (Casablanca) Certain efforts to smooth nationalistic resistance represented by the political aspect of architecture and urban 51

URBAN PLANNING Anfa, precursor to Casablanca, was found in the eleventh century by Berbers, later taken over by Arabs, Spanish and Portuguese. It was an ideal fertile land to be colonized due to its relation to Europe and the open Atlantic. As an initial city, it was surrounded by tall white walls containing blocks for housing and a temple which became part of the culture of Moroccans.

As European settlers arrived, Anfa was turned into the city of Casablanca named by the Portuguese meaning casa branca or white house. Moroccans had build solid white boxes that to them meant protection from settlers creating a “picturesque but squalid town” that had just enough for survival. As the French arrived, the city began to change, zones were created. This zones benefited the commercial industry, a port was developed and boulevards were incorporated by having to scrape was existing.

The French period Ville Nouvelle (New Town) of Casablanca was designed by the French architect Henri Prost, and was a model of a new town at that time. The main streets radiate south and east from Place des Nations Unies, previously the main market of Anfa. Administrative buildings and modern hotels populate the area adorned by arcades. This small neighborhood’s master plan is a modern large pedestrian boulevard that offers numerous recreational activities for members of the community such as commercial stores, restaurants and public space. It is

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design in colonial cities like Casablanca. “Even more important were the messages communicated back home, where design played a major role in promoting and justifying colonialism.

In the eyes of most Westerners, colonial settings pointed up both sides of an inherent cultural dichotomy: the voluptuously ornamented temples and primitive housing conditions evoked a foreign way of life, fascinating yet far beneath their own, while the straight, tree-lined streets and new buildings in European districts exemplified the benefits of “civilization”” (Wright).

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unclear what was the position of Moroccans of this new way of building - Europeans had begun to change the culture of the city. In the present day, the transition of old to new is noticeable, walking from the Old Medina which is crowded between tall white solids as if finding the way out of a mazze to the interior of the city which is tall and spacious.

As Mohammad once observed, that in the early 1970s the “traditionalist Moroccan working class nicknames the rising younger generations ‘our own backyard colonists”, which clearly confirms that they viewed modernization as being two sides of the same coin” (Casablanca 355). It is necessary to point out that both cultures resist each others ideas and interpretation of modernism. It is unclear on what Moroccans have accepted from the French intrusion. The Old Medina encourages traditional Moroccan lifestyle including markets, and tall white solid facades with interior gardens, yet when crossing to the Anfa Neighborhood and surroundings, Moroccans lifestyle is of a luxurious European.

Housing in Morocco was important, it created the culture of family and benefited the idea of privacy mainly influenced by Islamic faith. Needed to improvise construction by the rural population, of hut settlements – so-called Bidonville. Initially, the solution to housing was to built horizontally rather than vertical for this would allow “high density and did not pose the same problems as collective housing with respect to private spaces.” (Casablanca, 327). Cohen and Eleb explain the typical Moroccan unit, which was a layout of eight by eight meter plots.

This unit included two room dwellings and an opening to a patio. In the 1920s the Moroccan representative of Housing Commission mentioned that Muslim Moroccans “wished to be housed in European - type buildings” (Casablanca, 332) and that Moroccans should be offered collective housing. This led to the beginning of modern housing in Casablanca, an experiment in Carriers Centrales. Resistance against Moroccan culture was visible through this new project, the French seem to have had conquer and established its European culture.

An example of this housing exploration is the integration of French design office ATBAT-Afrique’s building, the Semiramis completed in 1953. Shadrach Woods and George Candilis, lead designers of the Semiramis housing project, used the precedent of Le Corbusier’s Unite d’Habitation. Unite d’Habitation is 53

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HOUSING FOR MOROCCANS The French obstruct the social development of the Moroccan working class by offering programs that favored the traditional courtyard house over apartment buildings - a housing type that they viewed as a passport to the modern word, creating the idea of wealth. However, not all Moroccans shared the same opinions; “their respective viewpoints depend on their cultural background, social rank, and regional origin, as well as on how they perceived the relationship between colonization and modernization. Nathan Wachel observed, “...the dominated population considers foreign intervention to be an aggressive subversion of their traditions and they may attempt to resist it; however, when colonial domination is viewed as less manifest there tends to be voluntary acculturation, which is governed by the internal dynamics of the native people” (Casablanca 335).

a multi-family residential housing project whose concept was to have a communal living for all the inhabitants, to come together in a “vertical garden”. “Candilis was careful to point out that the “Saharan casbahs, ksours, fortified Atlas villages, and citadel-granaries reflect how people can live together in a close community and can share the same interests without jeopardizing domestic privacy” (Casablanca, 332). Candilis manipulated Le Corbusier’s concept, emphasizing communal and traditional housing elements such as the courtyard which is a variable hearth, a living room for it serves to bring people together responding to the function of “meeting” ( to have mint tea, for example) and lastly given advice by Ecochard, to keep the eight by eight meter grid. Candilis’ design was specifically for conservative muslims it was elaborated into stacked solids and carve openings for ventilation and allowing natural light into the patio which were double height. Section drawings demonstrate individual space for residents, on the other hand, in the elevation drawings what is noticeable is the privacy each dwell has due to its white, tall facade. Smithson made an opinion that these housing projects were not just better than Le Corbusier’s Unite d’Habitation but also that these buildings were the greatest achievement in Morocco and the importance of the “manifestation of a new way of thinking..that here is a new universal” (Casablanca, 338). Furthermore, there was a problem of the design of Semiramis, because of the staked patios - pattern of checkerboard - it gave opportunity for the Moroccan residents to convert these patios into living space which meant covering the facade from a checkered facade to a complete solid white elevation. Carriers Centrales buildings’ innovative, modern design was lost throughout time, these were are not the only housing project in which Moroccans residents resisted modern European architecture.

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HOUSING FOR EUROPEANS Unlike Moroccans, Europeans definition of housing was to show character, be exposed to the exterior and simply have a pleasant lifestyle. The building was to be high quality and were chiefly dedicated to public servants and military personnel. The initial housing type for Europeans was to be “low rise, range in accordance to street pattern and grouped in open-angle blocks” (365) as explained by Cohen and Eleb. The idea of relating the building to the street can be acknowledge throughout the city of Casablanca mainly in Boulevard Mohammed Vl where the ground floor of the buildings are wrapped with arches of different styles that provide space quality for the use of commercial purposes. As of the design, it is mentioned that the main elements of European housing was to keep it 55

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The new housing complexes – the Ain Chok, Carrières Centrales, El Hank, and Sidi Othman, among others – were divided into developments for Muslims, Jews, and Europeans and were it also manipulated by Moroccans converting the patio into a solid room or “introverted” rooms as mentioned. Walking by these housing projects in the present day, it is impossible to not notice the Moroccan touch incorporated in what was designed by the French people, who some were Le Corbusier’s own former employees. The elevations are one entire solid plane with small openings or like in Sidi Othman case, the extruded patios reveal built up solids covering modernized design which included balconies for exterior connections. This has been a concern that has created conflict in the urbanism design of Casablanca which is visible today.

at five stories high for the purpose of limiting the number of apartments and to incorporate balconies and stairwells that allow the interaction with natural sunlight. It can be argued that unlike the Moroccans, Europeans resisted the communial environment, as if they wanted to have their own quality space.

This space was a combination of a studio and one bedroom unit mainly for those who had settled with one or two other members and courtyards were completely ignored. Alexandre Courtois in an example of early housing for the colonists. The slab building was made up of forty apartments (notice the addition of the word apartment) that included one, two and three bedrooms. Alexander Courtois building had “each with its own garden and outbuilding, measuring a generous fifty square meters” (370) unlike Carrières Centrales’ eight by eight unit.

Besides having more space, theis new building incorporated its own playground. The elevation was also solid void pattern as Moroccan housings but with the exemption of half wall openings creating balconies. The concept of these designs were completely ignoring the Moroccan culture.

“Modernism and preservation. Their goal in sum was to protect certain aspects of cultural traditions while sponsoring other aspects of modernization and development all in the interest of stabilizing colonial domination” Interiorly, European housing was pursuing Moroccan detailing not only to “win the affection as colonizers” but to experiment as if Morocco was a “laboratory of western life and a conservatory of oriental life” (Wright).

Private housing was the next push. Villas in wealthy neighborhoods like Anfa, had not only accepted European architecture but also, incorporated its Moroccan taste by detailing its interior walls and spatial quality. Villa Assaban is an example of this combination, the exterior is flat and modern but traditionally in the interior by adding colorful mosaic. Cotereau recommends that “Architects must endeavor to brighten the countenance of Moorish housing; large openings with handsome windows framed by brightly colored mosaics will work best” (Casablanca 158). It is said that this way of housing was a successful hybrid of African and European designs.

CONCLUSION Housing projects in Casablanca are the main element that not only shaped the city but also portrays the colonization of the French and the weakness of Morocco’s nationalism or vise versa, the strength of traditional Moroccans and the lack of French power. “Casablanca’s architecture is the outgrowth of a certain mindset and and art of living, which for the most part evolved outside the confines of colonialism. Today, Casablanca’s various population segments can relate to the architectural forms of their city whose myriad housing types cater to a wide range of uses” Casablanca is an example of this random architectural design that tried to shape it yet it is accepted by all kind of social groups, but most importantly it is evidence of a creative twentieth-centuries urban planning that represents far more in the fertile conflict of adventurous metropolises than in the utopian spaces of premeditated cities”(Casablanca 445).

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“The difficulty with theories of essentialism and exclusiveness, or with barriers and sides, is that they give rise to polarizations that absolve and forgive ignorance and demagogy more than they enable knowledge.” If one does believe in the theory of exclusive experiences (essentialism), then “…you are likely as a consequence to defend the essence of the experience rather than promote the full knowledge of it… and its dependencies on other knowledges.”

Essentialism or Historicism New and Old Medinas Daniela Olivera-Gomez

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s one focuses on a singular aspect of culture and space a stereotype from an essence emerges rather than an understanding of a more complex historical construct. The Quartier des Habbous in Casablanca highlights the split between historicism and essentialism, causing a misleading contemporary reading of the city. The overall organization, and the different components of the New Medina are a French interpretation of what they saw in the Old Medina and in different Moroccan architecture. Essentialism allowed colonists to impose their own set of rules and urban conditions onto the local culture without having to fully understand their history.

When creating the New Medina in 1923, Henri Prost designed not only its interior organization, but also its connection to a yet to be built urban context. The approach to the New Medina is an element that begins to show how the French imposed their ideals unto the local culture. Large vehicular roads such as the Bulevard Mohammend VI begin to denote the limits of the city.

A perpendicular road lined with commercial buildings connects the boulevard to the New Medina leading right to the center of it. The sequence goes from a major vehicular axis, to a medium vehicular road, into major pedestrian pathway, that then leads into the narrow residential alleys.

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Prost utilised the axiality and symmetry in Habbous as a way to further denote colonial French power. These major pathways cut through the Medina creating an overall symmetry to the city.

Although symmetry was not a foreign concept in Arab-Islamic architecture, axiality was “... only [perceived] in a fragmentary manner, space after space… the overall ordering of volumes is always blocked; the perception of symmetry can occur only in the mind’s eye of the viewer. This concept in part determines the labyrinthine pattern of streets and building complexes.”

Unlike the Old Medina, the French were concerned with creating an urban hierarchy using different elements of a traditional medina. Habbous is organized to bring attention to certain moments of the city by using public buildings, zoning of building uses, streets with varying widths, and open public areas.

The Mosquee Moulay Youssef is highlighted by being placed at the end of a road that turns into a public park. This same road leads to a major comercial path and into the residential parts of the medina, further emphasizing its importance. The strategic placement of the main commercial zone as a link from the Boulevard Mohammend VI and the mosquee, demonstrate this formal interpretation of the informal traditional souks. The streets are wide in order to fit meandering shoppers as well as carts, donkeys, and other means of transportation.

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In contrast the Old Medina lacks this much variety in widths for its streets and alleys based on their function and level of occupancy. In the Old Medina the market spaces are busy and have no formal shape, or designated space. Large public buildings like mosquees are embedded into the rest of the urban fabric with no intention to denote it as more important than the rest, and where there are multiple points of access all similar in size.

These moments of intersection are stopped short by ending in large open spaces or into wide commercial streets. The reason why the interior streets meet in that particular way was solely to look like the old medina and was not the result of years of a historical context. This is a perfect example of the essentialism Said talked about. The French had created a stereotype of what Casablanca looked like or felt like based on its essence and applied it to the design of the New Medina; but it did not promote the full knowledge, or the reason why Casablanca was Although the French were trying to recreate the spontaneity the way it was. Instead, the essentialism made it easier for them of what they saw in the Old Medina, their own interpretation to appropriate the local culture. was planned and anticipated for its future context. The elements they saw in the Old Medina were made to be grander and made In The Politics of Design in French Colonial Urbanism, to fit the French urban model resulting in a collage of a Western Gwendolyn Wright writes that before the French came to interpretation of Morocco and French ideals.

Casablanca, “Nothing kept foreigners from building wherever they wanted…”. Land speculators (Europeans) took advantage The urban model Prost was using as precedent was that of of the political instability in Morocco at the time, hoping their Georges-Eugène Haussmann. Haussman’s urban plan for the plot of land would increase in value once colonization became city of Paris in 1853 was heavily influenced by the demolition of official. Originally Casablanca did not have one single urban overcrowded neighborhoods, open public areas, symmetry, and order or overall plan, but was the result of years of sporadic wide avenues that cut through the city. In his plan, avenues, buying by foreigners. The Medina grew organically adapting monuments, parks, and even buildings themselves, were not to the new additions of land. The result was a patchwork of only part of the urban context of the city, but were also used to different buildings, plots of land, materials, and land uses all emphasize different points of the city. stitched together into one urban condition.

For the interior organization of the medina, the French wanted to emulate the essence of the Old Medina’s winding paths, narrow allies and crooked streets. Thus, they planned for the New Medina to have the views and perspectives of a seemingly “chaotic” city. There are two main elements that shaped the interior street organization of the new medina: regulation and tradition. The regularity in the parallel commercial streets allowed them to implement other elements from Haussman’s urban model such as sanitation and electricity into the heart of the Medina. Tradition begins to denote the way these groups of parallel streets intersect each other in order to create curated views that resemble the crooked, and diagonal pathways of the Old Medina.

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After studying the Old Medina, the French attempted to capture the essence of the vernacular architecture they saw around them; resulting in “Arabisances” which was caused by “… the romanticism expressed [by] a lyric fascination with Moroccan design arts.” European architects felt inspired and began to freely adapt different Arabic motifs such as the white wall of stucco, interlaced wooden screens, porcelain or tile mosaics, horseshoe arches, etc. A catalogue of these “Arabisances” can be found in Le Jardin et la Maison au Maroc written by Jean Gallotti and Albert Laprade in 1924. This two-volume study

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exhibited different “…Decorative elements [they] considered most typical of Moroccan architecture- the pointed arch, the stalactite muqamas, stone frames around wall surfaces, doors, and windows, tilework, flat undecorated whitewashed wall surfaces, and so on- were thus canonized.”

These books became a guide French architects were eager to use in order to adapt to the surrounding culture. But as Wright describes, this also led to the misunderstanding of the motifs themselves. “The dangers of romanticizing in a purely visual analysis... [is that they] … could not generate a real understanding of the complex history of Moroccan architecture, especially in its relations with Europe.”

Similar to Haussman’s urban plan which set out guidelines and regulations on the aesthetic of buildings based on their location, use, and economic status; Prost found a way to use these decorative elements to further organize the New Medina and Casablanca as a whole. “Prost imposed aesthetic controls to create visual unity and the special sense of place he desired.”

But because Prost wanted to retain some of the organic essence of Morocco “These regulations… did not directly legislate style, but they did set rigorous guidelines for scale, materials, services, or alignment in various districts.” The contradiction in these regulations was that while Prost was looking to encourage the essence that characterized the local architecture he decided to lessen the culture itself by “...[endorsing] only minimal wages for the craftsmen he so admired…” and using their work only as decorations that could further regulate the city.

with French architecture. The Grand’Place in Casablanca was to be a “key element in [Prost’s] master plan… as an architectural expression of French authority and munificence in Morocco.”

This was one of the first buildings that “... specified the use of indigenous Moroccan ornament in a restrained but impresive manner.” Many other buildings followed such as Laprade’s Hotel de la Subdivision with its arched windows along its white stucco facade, Adrien Laforgue’s central post office with its blue mosaics, and Joseph Marrast’s courthouse with its colonnaded galleries, among others, are all examples where “...the details are distinctly Islamic, while the symmetrical, centrally focused organization of the building and… the axial site plan of the whole assert French control of the setting and its institution.”

One of the buildings that was later built and is placed as a point of importance in the New Medina is the Tribunal Administratif de Casablanca. This square building employs multiple Arabic motifs such as an interior courtyard, white stucco walls, and a decorated archway that marks the entrance to the building. All of these things combined create a collage of architectural elements that might not have been put together by a local architect, but make the building look “Arabic”.

Once again, the French looked only at the essence of these decorative elements and did not seek to understand their meaning, allowing them to appropriate them into their own style. Their goal was not to truly understand the architecture and culture that surrounded them. “Most architects sought a combination of economical simplicity, abstractions of Islamic motifs, and fashionable allusions to European Art Deco and Prost’s main priority remained at how these elements would modernist movements.” come together at the urban level; “... he insisted that all designs be carried out within the restaining context of the larger In the end, the priority of the French was to promote and street, district, and cityscape.” While the old medina has a establish their colonial power over the local culture. By focusing variety of building sizes, materials, and uses, the New Medina only on the essence of Arabic culture, they were able to ignore was subject to Prost’s aesthetic and urban regulations such the more complex history for their being and create a city as “Mandatory height limits based on the width of streets… that would be easier to accept by making it look Arabic. They minimum dimensions for rooms and courtyards… sanitary and believed they only needed to look at the surface to rationalize construction codes, [etc].” their colonization. “Their goal, in sum, was to protect certain An example of Prost’s regulations at the urban level is how aspects of cultural traditions while sponsoring other aspects of arcades were required amenities along certain streets. In the New modernization and development, all in the interest of stabilizing Medina, the commercial street and the mosque are connected colonial domination”. by arcades that line their exterior. The arcades create an exterior As Said explained, focusing on certain aspects of the local culture space which suggest that those buildings are meant for public absolved the French from their lack of understanding of Morocco use. So the arcades are not only used to create an exterior and allowed them to create a stereotype of what the Moroccan space but to also tie these two building uses together while also experience was like. The Quarter des Habbous demonstrates the making them look more Arabic and “blend” into their context. effects of essentialism at different urban scales. Through the use In contrast, the pathways along the more private residential of axiality and zoning, a planned-chaotic interior organization, areas are lined with simple flat houses covered in stucco and and the use of Arabic motifs as aesthetic urban regulations, the have minimal decorations. Because they are private they do not French used essentialism not only to create a stereotype, but as a intend to create a sense of public space. These Arabic elements way to impose their colonial power over Morocco. are used to visually organize the zones and building uses of Habbous.

At the building level, these regulations resulted in a collage of two worlds. “[The] French architect… designed a structure and the Moroccan building craftsman... would apply the essential ornament...” There are many buildings in all of Casablanca that demonstrate this combination of Moroccan decorative elements 64

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“…we have never been as aware as we now are of how oddly hybrid historical and cultural experiences are, of how they partake of many often contradictory experiences and domains, cross national boundaries, defy the police action of simple dogma and loud patriotism (Said 15).”

Images of the Past, Pure and Impure Chapter 2

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“…the meaning of the imperial past is not totally contained within it, but has entered the reality of hundreds of millions of people, where its existence as shared memory and as a highly conflictual texture of culture, ideology, and policy still exercises tremendous force.”

Empire, Geography, and Culture New and Old Medinas Wilson Nguyen

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ne cannot separate local culture from a past imperial history. In the first chapter of Culture and Imperialism, Empire, Geography, and Culture, Said explains T.S. Eliot’s ideas about the complexity of the relationship between past and present through imperialism.

Past and present inform each other, each implies the other and, in totally ideal sense, each coexists with the other. It is difficult to connect these different realms, to show the involvements of culture with expanding empires, to make observations about architecture that preserve its unique endowments and at the same time map its affiliations. French influences shows that they are invasive into present day Casablanca and we do not realize it. The existing contemporary city is a product of the colonial project. The restructuring of the urban plan, the experimental garish french buildings, and the development of the new medina, all demonstrate the conflicted relationship of an imperial and colonized environment.

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RELATIVE TO CASABLANCA The developing city of Casablanca and it’s imperial past has exercised tremendous force upon the port in ways of urban growth and economic prosperity. Viewing Casablanca’s past, it was composed almost entirely of plots laid out haphazardly.

Frantic speculation took place, and everybody pictured their own plot as the center of the future city. There was no direction over how land was used or streets were laid out. In 1906, Casablanca was still “a town of little importance, contained by its walls” (Laprade 14). French architect, Albert Laprade, states that “it was thus urgent to take action, stopping this chaotic growth of the town, which, with its important commercial port, was destined to assume the role of Morocco’s economic capital” (Laprade 14). During these years, the main elaborations of modern urban planning were debated and implemented. “The economies were hungry for overseas markets, raw materials, cheap labor, and hugely profitable land, and defense and foreign policy establishments were more and more committed to the maintenance of vast tracts of distant territory and large numbers of subjugated peoples” (Said 08)

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When the French imperial power came and took over, they essentially reorganized the city in aims to invent the future that we now see today in the present. The plan adopts European influences of taking the form of vast open spaces, following a plan which achieves the epitome of modern conditions, with broad boulevards, water and electrical supplies, squares and gardens, buses and tramways, and also foreseeing future extensions. “Under French colonialism, Moroccan cities became experiments for ideas and visions of how cities in France could come to evolve within a perspective of modernist formal organization, new tools like zoning, and contemporary approaches to design, all while preserving the cities’ distinctively ‘Oriental’ character” (Patrick Calmon de Carvalho Braga).

Over time, all modern empires imitated one another. “There obviously was incompatibility between the two urban fabrics, the colonial one and the traditional one. Lyautey laid down a development program for future towns based on an absolute separation between the European one and the native part; this condition became operative with the establishment of a zone where no building was to take place” (Laprade 14) For the French, Morocco offered a chance to create de novo a vision of the contemporary metropolis as a clean, efficient, and elegant setting. The relationship between the past and present of Casablanca is quite complex in that even though the French imperial power took over, they were benevolent to protect the culture of Morocco through architecture and art.

TRAFFIC CIRCLE PLAN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF TRAM SYSTEM The infrastructure of the roadwork system was of great importance in the organization of Casablanca. Before French imperialism in Morocco, city planning from the beginning was not based off a grid system. The French traffic circle plan became a great solution to resolve the informality of the roadwork network. In the present, this plan is flourishing in ways like creating a place for social gatherings away from big open plazas, and help scattered converging roads to meet in a smoother fashion. Saids’ idea of “how we formulate or represent the past shapes our understanding and view of the present” (Said 04) is valid in this case. These little hubs are the products of Casablanca’s past urban planning and has led the city to economic growth in ways of giving easier access to the port from the markets and medinas. The existing roads were kept, however, to better the efficiency of the traffic, circle plans were added. With these new additions, we view the present as more effective and efficient than the past. However as travelers and locals that are born after these new additions, one would believe that the present was how it always was. The local identity of the city is more present to bystanders now and with that, “the Moroccan Government has set an impressive plan for its infrastructure investment that will see even the country’s small and remote villages having proper connections to the main road network.”

EXAMPLES IN CASA: PALAIS DE JUSTICE Joseph Marrast, the french architect referred by Gwendolyn Wright notes that “the architect … saw another reason, beyond sheer aesthetic delight, for using indigenous Moroccan motifs in the official buildings of the colonial government.

By suggesting France’s respect for Islamic culture, this formal homage might help quell the Moroccans’ hostility toward European domination.” The government courthouse project that Wright is referencing to by Marrast is the Palais de Justice designed in a respectable manner with the intention that “we conquer the hearts of natives and win their affection, as is our duty as colonizers” (Wright 01). Prior to visiting Casablanca, French influence over there was not something one would have expected to be so dominant in an islamic country. When going to see the Palais de Justice in person, the design really played a major role in promoting and justifying colonialism. It doesn’t come to mind at first thought to see how great of an impact this piece of architecture and the plaza space in front of it creates for a grand civic space for the people of Morocco. At first, one does not think about the impact that this building has on the people of Morocco. Palace de Justice creates a grand civic space for the locals that allow citizens to be reminded of their past as well as to inform travelers of Morocco’s history. Palace de Justice, unlike older parts of the city, has a sense of organization where the French has created their development in the city. Like Said says, “Britain and France between them controlled immense territories” (Said 05), and with their urban developments in the past, they are deemed successful at organizing a city.

In Casablanca, a tramway brought by the French is an example of modern innovation to the historic city. Running from the old medina all the way down to the more modern developments along the coast, this allowed for locals to travels much quicker from point A to B avoiding all the traffic of the existing plan.

A system that worked so well in Europe is a positive addition to the city. Accessibility around the condensed existing urban plan will allow for even more future economic growth and with Morocco’s proximity to Europe, it is a prime location for western companies to set up operations focussing on developing the North African market, further boosting its need for an effective transport network.

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GARISH FRENCH BUILDINGS - AVANT GARDE The old medina contains very much of Casablanca’s local traditional culture such as stucco buildings and plain facades.

Once imperialism took place, “The new director [Prost] of urbanism realizes that he could destroy the small Medina and Arab cemetery for access to the future port. Fear of political reaction prevented this solution” (Wright 101). From there, “French architects had become far more sophisticated since the generation which had worked under Celestine-AugusteCharles Jonnart, governor-general of Algeria between 1903 and 1911 and Lyauteys former commander.” Lyautey now branded this “a period of romantic bad taste when people believed they could create Arabic art by covering the facades with excessive exterior ornament.” (Wright 108) The buildings beyond the old medina showcase the experiment of French ornamentation on the facades of buildings. There is an evident boundary / division between these buildings versus the old medina in their architectural differences. There was quite a disconnect of

architectural language, so eventually, there was a pattern that every building followed. There was a “Mandatory height limit based on the width of streets prohibited any building over four stories, including the ground floor; minimum dimensions for rooms and courtyards guaranteed sunlight and fresh air” (Wright 105). As Said says, one cannot separate local culture from a past imperial history. The French decided to leave the old Medina alone and create a new Medina way beyond it.

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NEW MEDINA VS. OLD MEDINA The New Medina, an urban agglomerate with an extremely high density presently englobing the district, is the outcome of a very different development strategy, based on simple plot-division plan, with no global vision, ending up by creating enormous problems. “On the contrary, the Derb el-Habous, precisely due to its qualities, was the heart of the Moslem Casablanca, and for several years it was in fact the favorite residence of the Moroccan middle class which here found greater hygiene and comfort than in the old districts and at the same time a respect for the habits of life to which they were deeply attached.” French colonialism took on an approach that changed the environment of a medina in ways of its architecture and ambience. From wider streets to incorporating archways, it is much more of a pleasant atmosphere that makes it more favorable to the present day consumer. “The underlying logic of the majority of the Western measures was unfortunately not derived from the contamination of two cultures, but rather that of the resounding of an environment, based on models absolutely indifferent to the physical and cultural context, whose original values and

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historical stratification are neglected” (Laprade 21). Some would say that the new medina excelled at “integrating the new architecture in the existing context without spoiling the general profile” (Laprade 21). The goal of these controls went beyond the desire to preserve “intact” the artistic and social life of the medina. One cannot see the past of the New Medina because it was built from the bottom up. However, the old medina represents both the past and present because there were no new additions made by the French. What we see now of present day old medina is also representative of the past.

In comparison to the old medina, Habous appears to be more prosperous having been colonized by the French. Said questions “was imperialism principally economic?” With the examples leading up to this point, imperialism on Casablanca has lead the city towards major economic growth. One main thing that drives the economy today is strictly tourism. In the old medina, tourists can see how locals have lived for the past several hundred years as you pass by homes in the narrow alleyways. While it may not have the vibrant souks of other medinas, there are still plenty of shops that cater to non-locals. The new medina managed to captivate some remnants of what a traditional medina is but did it in a way that brings in more tourists and consumers.

CONCLUSION The development of the roadway system and restructuring of the urban plan helped tie, the fishing and trading ports, the old medina, the garish french buildings, and new medina all together. There is this connection between all these elements that can not be separated from the imperial past and all of them demonstrate the conflicted relationship of an imperial and colonized environment. The locals exert considerable cultural identity in the present and the French influence is something that can not be taken away. Imperialism acquires a kind of coherence, a set of experiences, and a presence of ruler, and ruled alike within the culture.

Through the texts of Edward Said and Gwendolyn Wright, the complex relationship between empire, geography and culture in Casablanca has exerted force on one to interpret the present through its colonial past. Culture and imperialism have direct effects on one another. For example, the French created the New Medina (imperialism) based off influences from the Old Medina (Moroccan culture). Another example would be, Moroccans adapting to French influence (i.e. speaking French).

These examples show that culture and imperialism have a reciprocal relationship between them. Culture and imperialism are invasive into present day and we don’t realize it. Looking back into history, it is important to promote imperial thinking in order to excuse this behavior. Said’s principal aim is not to separate but to connect, and he is interested in this for the main philosophical and methodological reason that cultural forms are hybrid, mixed, impure, and the time has come in cultural analysis to reconnect their analysis with their actuality.

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The Pleasures of Imperialism Importing Marrakech Paul Molina

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n “The Pleasures of Imperialism,” S.F. Said uses Rudyard Kipling’s book, Kim, to describe how Kipling purposely omitted the true, primal nature of British colonialism and instead provided an idyllic, exotic India which he nostalgically remembered as a child. His fond memories--and the amusement they elicited--obstructed him from seeing the turmoil accumulating within India’s natives. This false narrative can be seen in the French urbanism and architecture of Casablanca. Whether through literature, art, urban planning, or architecture, Morocco provided a cultural and aesthetic field to orientalist France without considering the human implications.

While experimenting with spatial innovations, they tried fusing vernacular elements to justify their invasive stay and actions.

Said writes, “From the time the first British expedition arrived there in 16o8 until the last British Viceroy departed in 1947, India had a massive influence on British life, in commerce and trade, industry and politics, ideology and war, culture and the life of imagination” (133). France’s fascination over romantic Morocco introduced a visually foreign architecture and urban landscape within its own cultural home, and confused the defining line of Moroccan tradition.

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Orientalism enhanced the fantasized image of Morocco by establishing an alluring polarity that needed to be seen. The Occident saw the Orient as “its cultural contestant, and one of its deepest and most recurrent images of the Other. In addition, the Orient has helped to define Europe (or the West) as its contrasting image, idea, personality, experience” (Hosford 1). The Orient, therefore, offered what the West lacked: an aesthetic environment. Image, idea, personality, and experience all connote a visual curiosity in its cultural fabric. The West was considered civilized and tamed while little was known about the Orient. The ambiguity furthermore created a cultural and aesthetic mystery that enthralled the known. The contrasting Other offered a chance to see their civilized selves in a different environment and aesthetic experience. Already having found a land, experience, and culture completely dissimilar from itself, why change it to familiarize itself. The Orient and Morocco’s culture, in France’s eyes, was not something to drastically change, but to embrace, use, and adapt. One French noted that “In these countries architecture...is for us an antidote to the sadness and the emptiness that our triumphant materialism gives us in excess” (Wright 114). Morocco’s exoticism mitigated France’s despair and satisfied its needs. Instead of treating Morocco as an esteemed community, they used it as a mirror only seeing themselves and their self-interested opportunities in the projected reflection.

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Although art and architecture have different societal implications, both expressed a visual representation of the local culture. During the French imperialist stay, “The philosophy of primitivism, which advocated an escape from modernity via the discovery of non-Western cultures and a simpler existence, was a growing movement in the art world” (Archer 83-4). In terms of architecture, Morocco provided a juxtaposed built environment completely influenced by different factors like climate and culture. Seen as primitive in the growing modern age by France, Morocco was “timeless” and hence magical. The French and their newly devised architecture therefore tried to manifest this characteristic as a defining aesthetic of Morocco. If they saw Morocco as timeless, they saw it as ancient and representing the early stages of civilization. What alluring elements then did they find unchanging and pleasurable? They adulated the zellij (mosaic tilework), arabesques (ornamental intertwined lines), horseshoe and cusped arches, mashrabiyas (detailed screen projectors), muqarnas (cellular-structured vaults), interior courtyards, and gaudy colors. These elements created the ambient experience their new hosts wanted to express. The French therefore incorporated them to permanently capture Morocco’s immortality and impose it as its actual architecture despite the passage of time.

The superficial representation in oriental art acts an analogy to the new architecture by the French. Several anti-orientalists contend that “When a painting’s focus is on aesthetic detail at the expense of the subject and content, it may become necessary to call the authenticity of the work into question” (Archer 84).

In terms of architecture, France incorporated mesmerizing Moroccan elements as micro and macro details onto their imperialist buildings. Concerned with the aesthetic aspect of the built environment, the French ignored to acknowledge the true subject on the imposed details: the inhabitants and urban context. The French Protectorate forced an artificial aesthetic and hence experience they truly thought belonged to Morocco.

In essence, a foreigner compelled a false identity and tradition onto its the then-existing and future inhabitants to live in. They contrived a foreign context in the cultural home of thousand Moroccans. Their target audience, visitors, would take pleasure in an counterfeit environment curated not by Morocco’s own hands or passage of time, but by obtrusive outsiders.

The French applied their interpretation of Morocco’s traditional architecture in Casablanca’s public buildings, New Medina, and housing units. Marrakech is home to some of the country’s well-preserved buildings. These buildings will therefore act as reference the culture’s architecture and its underlying meaning that existed before the start of the French Protectorate and its polluted influence.

an indirect path. Once inside, the interior offers the pleasing inspiration any foreigner would fall for. According to Islamic tradition, “The sensuous qualities created by light, color, reflection, transparency, by the varieties of tactile experiences in the quality of surfaces like tile, stone, wood, or the carpet... all trans¬formed the physicality of architecture into a sensory, aesthetic experience and into an immaterial world” (Petruccioli 63). An intensity in details bridged their world with their metaphysical religion. The courtyards, for example, manifest this meaning into visual communication. The floors, decorated with vibrant zellij, create an instant pixelation of color and geometry.

The inclusion of lush gardens and trees blends the interior with the natural exterior. Golden brown arabesques and muqarnas adorn the surrounding arcade. A detailed water fountain finally anchors itself at the center.

The whole space felt like a kaleidoscope. Any visitor stands at the center of a different universe with aesthetics that stimulate the senses. Attilo Petruccioli explains the underlying Islamic meaning of this concentric sensation when he writes, “The beholder is the actor being watched rather than the audience looking at a frontally staged event. This position also implies self-consciousness about being watched by the ever-seeing eye of God” (60). The courtyard’s element of centrality therefore establishes religious vigilance within the home. Its encircling architecture spiritually monitors their behavioral conduct and manifests the omnipresence of their God. Adjacent courtyards continued expressing the same exotic motifs and experience.

While the courtyards were the most lit spaces of the palace, the interior rooms rested in the comfortable darkness. The rooms pulsated with their ornate doors, walls, and floors. Although they may not have the same concentric elements of their exterior counterparts, the interiors use their profusion of details to create religious surveillance.

Slightly deviating from the palace’s aesthetics, Casablanca’s Grand Place, now known as Mohammed V Square, showcases the French effort in blending vernacular and European architecture. The open plaza is symmetrically organized with other imperial government buildings around it. It continues the fountain motif by placing it at the center. The organization also delineates a clear axiality, a common characteristic of Europe.

Among the surrounding buildings is the courthouse, the Palais de Justice. Design by French architect Joseph Marrast, the building utilizes a ceremonial main entrance, an arcade, and arabesques on the facade, while having a courtyard on the inside. Marrast did try to integrate Moroccan architecture, but the elements’ normal usage seems incongruent with their application. Unlike most Moroccan entrances, the entrance is direct and easily evident. The architecture lacks the core motif by providing a clear linear path from the outside in. The lush courtyard and water fountains also do not manifest their original intent. Petruccioli explains “because of the powerful imagery of paradise in the Qur’an and the spiritual and physical efforts necessary for its attainment--Islamic art and architecture often utilize water and garden imagery in many contexts” (77). Because the users of the space were French government officials, not Moroccans, they disregarded the cultural value of the surrounding community. The arabesque, another visual

Marrakech’s Palais Bahia, also known as the Palace of the Beautiful, exemplifies the application of Morocco’s architecture language. Designed by Moroccan architect El Mekki in the nineteenth century, the palace was home to the chamberlain of Sultan Hassan I. It would later become the residence (and inspiration) for Resident General Hubert Lyautey and his French officers in 1912. From the outside, the palace is guarded by a large ornamental horseshoe door. Entering the gate, the main building entrance is not found immediately until walking 80

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motif that represents Islam’s stance on unity and paradise, was superficially used here as pastiche. The building’s axiality, large proportions, and scale tried to fuse Moroccan details, but the overall result exerted the Protectorate’s imperial authority.

Other adjacent buildings like Marrast’s Hotel De Ville and Adrien Laforgue’s Grand Poste used the same visual tactics, but the product was the amplification of France’s power.

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peers “have rediscovered this pleasure, forever lost to us: the intimacy of the street” (Wright 110). The architects’ mission therefore was to create the same closeness in the New Medina.

The souk, or market, uses rows of arcades as thresholds between the public street and semi-private stores. It also uses large horseshoe and cusp arches on the main streets leading to its interior core. The facade is left plain with white stucco, but uses implied corbelled arch details and arabesques throughout its Back to Marrakech, its Medina offered another source of structure. In the residential section, the French tried to respect inspiration for Casablancan designers. Market stores are lined Morocco’s tradition of enclosure by limiting the use of windows along the wide main streets. Horseshoe and cusped arches are on the outer side and keeping the streets confidential. used to mark the start of adjacent streets. Public doors take the forms of detailed arches. Apart from this, the exterior is left The Moroccan home, for example, offered another idyllic arena unadorned with its glowing pink hue. Like Palais Bahia, the for which French architects could enhance their romantic vision organization of the medina manifests its inhabitants’ beliefs in a small setting. Its main component, the patio courtyard, when José P. Duarte elaborates, “An utmost Islamic condition is posed as a subject of fascination and contention. Jean Louis that a strong social relationship is underlined by the concept of Cohen elaborates that “This appreciation of sense of delight, brotherhood...and that family is the most fundamental element this refined love of life, this receptiveness to the outdoors and of Muslim society where strong family ties are expected to last” the ability to draw a thousand pleasures from it, is something at (3). The proximity of stores, homes, and walls delineate what which the Orientals loved. They are wonderful sensualists; they values the community tries to foster. Streets leading to residences are, each and every one of them, artists” (158). Morocco’s love of are not conspicuously marked by any element. They are rather life refers to its audacious take on architecture elements. Colors, left undecorated to escape any attention. Inside the street, the materials, and patterns all encompassed how the indoor void paths are frequently patterned with arches as thresholds. The utilized the given existence and translated it into an aesthetic exterior wall is homogeneously flush with little interruptions living condition. France, however, wanted to enhance it even of windows. more by adding more exterior windows. Though charming and exotic, the traditional interior lacked light. They saw the interior Similarly, Casablanca’s Habbous, also known as the New not only as a fascination, but as a visual opportunity needing Medina, resembles much like Marrakech’s. In need of more improvement. Like mentioned before, the colonists constructed commercial and residential spaces for the growing Moroccan details without considering the subject. In this case, the home community, the French constructed a new living quarter which dweller. As artists devoted to visual and physical pleasure, the tried to incorporate vernacular elements. Referring to the then- French ignored the innate relationship between the interior and existing urban context, one French recounts how his fellow inhabitant.

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The inclusion of large, wide windows on the exterior wall would contradict the overall meaning of the space. To Moroccans and their culture, enclosure guided the whole conceptualization and formulation of their home. All architecture elements were “various ways of protecting, encircling, defining, enveloping the core” (Petruccioli 59). Shielded from the street, the interior offered a refuge from the public. It offered a social comfort where Moroccans could practice family life without any invasion of privacy. The inclusion of outdoor windows, though aesthetically pleasing, imposed a cultural infliction. It deviated the emphasis on inwardness and imbalanced the already existing harmony.

The “culture-specific” housing projects of the 1950s manifest how breaking the existing tradition disconnected the dwellers from their home. Cohen elaborates that “families living in these culture specific abodes, which developers labeled “traditional” housing, but which in fact were merely reduced to caricature copies, sought in turn to adapt the dwellings to their needs” (350-51). Carrières Centrales aimed to provide a hygienic living environment with proper light and ventilation. The French accomplished this by increasing the number of windows and opening the courtyard from all sides. Although the designers included all the necessities aligned with modernism, their application failed. The inhabitants covered the courtyards and windows because both did not respect the value of enclosure.

The architects designed an invisible core with affected elements that could not define or protect it. The dwellers therefore had to delineate and install their tradition by reshaping their lost interior nucleus.

Yves Saint-Laurent, though outside of the imperialist period, offers a contemporary example of French pleasure. Like others before him, Laurent fell in love with the “intoxicating exotica” and “benevolent pink magic” of Marrakech (Lutyens; Saint-Laurent 15). Though different from architecture, his artistic pursuit, fashion, did not impose a foreign implication to the Moroccan society. He experienced Marrakech, extracted elements he found admiring, and implemented them in a manner that did not look foreign or create cultural confusion.

He conveys his newfound pleasure when he says, “I realised that the range of colours I use was that of the zelliges, zouacs, djellabas and caftans. The boldness seen since then in my work, I owe to this country, to its forceful harmonies, to its audacious combinations, to the fervour of its creativity. This culture became mine” (Denman). His fashion mainly used black and greys, but his visit encouraged him to embrace exuberant colors, bold forms, and creative concepts. He observed the Moroccan aesthetic and created something of his own. He never promoted his works as Moroccan, but only as creative inspirations. His works of art furthermore have made Marrakech residents proud of their culture rather than confused. In contrast to the government buildings, his fashion never conveyed self-seeking interests. They expressed his genuine pleasure and experience as a tourist and foreigner.

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The imperialist French let their fascination for exotic Morocco blind them from respecting the community’s culture. They saw its cultural elements as commodities rather than values. Moroccan architecture was driven by religion, belief, and climate, but the French saw it simply as an object without a continuing future. They viewed no historical or cultural inheritance, and usurped the surviving jewels. They perceived tradition as an item to freely apply onto any new building. Moroccan tradition, however, had endurance. It was layered with time and countless usage. It was what a collective of people valued, respected, preserved, and enjoyed. Tradition was Moroccans’ treasured pleasure. French’s superficial application therefore created an estranged home with an unfamiliar tradition Moroccans could not fully appreciate.

They formulated a built environment detached from its innate subjects.

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The rug really tied the room together, did it not?

-Walter Sobchak

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CASABLANCA

medina plaza

hotel central

super mod station

the waves

MARRAKECH

el hank combo plate

riad #1

palace

AIT BENHADDOU

rock the kasbah

Saadian dynasty

garden

small museum entry

DADES GORGE

in the book, but you can cheat and see them all here.

riad #2

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another port

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Spanish riad

Proud Colonialists

urban waffle

bulls

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ESTREMADURA

the last medina

tied to drawings or images

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SEVILLA

fado in Monsaraz

Each of these codes are

erg chebbi

TANGIER

missing Charlie

cheat sheet

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FES

“The Original” Merenides

QR BERBER RUG

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just the rocks

MERZOUGA

hot stuff

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port blobs

LISBON

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Siza infrastructure

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