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| Moroccan Architectural Style | Moroccan Home Decor, Design |
In approximately 670 BC, the Arabs arrived in North Africa to introduce a new faith and a new style of architecture. The faith was Islam, and the architectural style a vibrant and innovative blend of Persian and Roman influence.
Al-Kairouan, the Great Mosque of Tunisia, built in the later part of the 7th century, has been a primary model for much of the region’s religious architecture, particularly that of neighboring Morocco. The mosque follows a basic rectangular plan with vast hypostyle halls and adjoining aisles at its interior. The halls are defined by columns supporting numerous horseshoe arches. The mosque also contains an internal courtyard, flanked on all sides by a covered arched gallery. And rising up from the building’s bulk is a graduated three story minaret topped by a semi-circular dome.
Now nestled in a thick cluster of narrow alleyways in the oldest section of Fez, the lovely Al Qarawiyyin mosque is a close cousin of the Kairouan. The mosque was founded in 859 by Fatima, a wealthy immigrant from Tunisia. Similarly enchanting is the Kutubia mosque of Marrakesh, its classic lobed arches blossoming at entrances to long porticoed aisles, and adorning the sides of the minaret that towers overhead.
The special elegance reflected in these two buildings has long been inspiration to the Moroccans themselves in the engineering of countless other building types, including schools, governmental institutions, and private residences. When the Merinid Sultan Abu Inan decided to build the monumental Bou Inaniya Academy in his capital of Fez, his desire was to have it rival the Qarawiyyan. The Kutubia mosque has likewise inspirited the forms of many a Moroccan palace.
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Domestic architecture in Morocco varies greatly according to regional climate and personal wealth. There are the simple stucco constructions of the poorer townsfolk, and there are villas of such magnificence as to lure the wandering soul across several continents for the mere occasion to stand enchanted outside their gates.
In Moroccan homes irrespective of means the blind indented arch is a most charming feature, one whose inspiration is taken directly from the mihrab, or prayer niche constructed on the qibla wall of the mosque. The interior courtyard, or riad, is another characteristic element of Moroccan architecture and of Islamic architecture in general.
Situated most often at the center of the home, the riad is a tool for privacy and practicality. Since often the main door off the street opens onto the courtyard, visitors are directed from the patio into a salon used especially for entertaining – and this without ever passing through other the living areas of the home. The riad allows for plenty of light and needed shade, since the sun’s rays and also cooler air can permeate the whole of the dwelling, while at the same time the harsher elements of wind and direct sunlight are kept out.
Interior decor is essential to Islamic architecture. Vaults, cupolas, and arched doorways are principle features which serve both functional and aesthetic purposes. In some village homes, recessed walls and benches set in cement stucco offer simple detail.
More elaborate elements may include geometric and floral motifs carved into wood beams or plaster walls. Ceramic tile, known as zellige, is also used, and may be applied to any and all surfaces, and not limited to walls, floors, roofs, and ceilings. Creative and surprising patterns, molded organic materials, and the intriguing lines of Moroccan structural motifs make the Moroccan home an extraordinary visual playground.
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