Africa & Middle East > Morocco > Atlantic Coast > Casablanca > Articles > Architecture in Casablanca

Aside from Rick’s Cafe, a newly and knowingly-restored dark-wood dive perched on a corner of its dusty port, Casablanca bears little relationship to the mythical city of souks, spies and oriental mystery evoked in its name by Hollywood.

But that is not to say this blustering white, bright metropolis is without beauty. Morocco’s commercial capital may seem all bustle and thrust, but it has more in common than it gets credit for with that languorous, pre-war time gone by so wistfully recalled by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.

Elegant architecture underpins the trace of a more gracious era in this rough-edged metropolis - and Casablanca has plenty of that, from the neo-Moorish style arches of its Habous Quarter, a 20th-century recreation of an 18th-century souk, to the more authentic faded Art Deco buildings of French rule. Today, the design aesthetic lives on in everything from insurance buildings to the Hassan II Mosque, whose giant minaret, the world’s tallest, evokes comparisons with the Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty.

With the help of a map - and ideally a driver to navigate a logical route through significant neighbourhoods while you snap away - it’s possible to cover Casablanca’s architectural jewels within a day.

A logical starting-point is the Place des Mers-Sultan, which divides the Liberte and Alsace-Lorraine neighbourhoods, both rich in fine old buildings in various stages of neglect. Of those surrounding the Place, most dramatic is the geometric flatiron whose ground floor is now home to the Champs Elysees Cafe. There’s more curlicued beauty in the 1922 wedding cake a few steps along the rue des Mers-Sultan, which now houses a mix of flats and medical offices.

After this riot of distinctive facades - and those which line the Boulevard de Paris and its continuation, the Avenue Lalla Yacout, the Place Mohammed V, created by the French in the 1920s as a showplace for their vast new city, seems a tad derivative. The court building’s arches nod towards Morocco’s Arab heritage, the dark wood of the City Hall towards the Andalucian, but at least the clock tower face and the geometric detailing of the general post office are pure deco.

It only gets better as you hop over to the nearby avenue Houcine bnou Ali, whose inhabitants were putting on the ritz throughout the 20s and 30s. The Palace Lyautey retains period grandeur at ground level; you can imagine Fred and Ginger tripping down the brass-balustraded staircase and out of the marble lobby.

But the best deco staircase in Casablanca must be the wrought-iron wonder at 27 avenue bnou Ali, now home of the design store Thema Maison. It’s owner raised her children in this splendid 1940 mansion before turning it into a showcase for her fabric design, and still eats lunch at the equally magnificent restaurant Rouget de l’Isle, just a step across the road down the alley of the same name.

There are whole streets of similar sugar-white villas recalling “les annees 30” in Casablanca, notably those of the Parc neighbourhood off the Boulevard Moulay Youssef. One of the finest houses, built for the Spanish Toledano family by Diego Jimenez in 1933, has been renovated from a total wreck and reinvented as the Villa des Arts, showcasing contemporary painting and sculpture from all over the world.

But it’s the skyscrapers of Casa which get the most attention - both the old, like the Liberty Tower, one of Africa’s first high-rise apartment buildings, and the new - notably the Hassan II mosque, the world’s most westerly site of Islamic worship, and the second largest. Designed by the French architect Michael Pinceau in the late 1980s and inaugurated in 1993, it recalls that other great global site of worship, St. Peter’s, in scale and magnificence, and should not be missed. With its 210-metre minaret, it has become an icon for the city skyline.

Also not to be missed - though it’s at the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of scale - is the Rialto Cinema on the rue Mohammed Qorri. The site, on a busy downtown road junction, may be too congested and perilous to accommodate a red carpet, but you can still imagine Errol Flynn and Ava Gardner sweeping up the staircase at some imaginary pre-war film festival. After all those white buildings for which Casablanca is named, the jaunty scarlet, aqua and custard-yellow detailing is a rebellious delight, a fitting backdrop for the musical performances of Josephine Baker and Edith Piaf, who both played here.

It would be great to find design bars and clubs in some of the more fanciful edifices, but Casa is not notable for its nightlife, and there is more interest in new build than restoration. Still, there’s always Rick’s Cafe, opened in 2004 by a former American diplomat, which does have the faithfully-restored 1930’s interior, the piano bar and the port ambience visitors have come to expect of Casablanca. After feasting your eyes on authentic film noir architecture, you can wet your whistle here and issue a request to “Play it again, Sam!” before laying your head on a pillow in what’s considered the finest of the city’s art deco hotels, the Transatlantique.

ACTIV TRAVEL, info@activ-travel.com, will arrange architectural tours of Casablanca for individuals and groups.

Articles

• More from Anthea Gerrie