2020-03-01_Wanderlust

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wanderlust.co.uk March 2020 179

T

he name Casablanca

• along with its
  namesake ilm, shot
  in a Hollywood studio


• may conjure up an
  aura of North African exoticism.
  The modern reality, though, is
  that this Atlantic coast city is
  Morocco’s commercial capital,
  a high-energy, cool metropolis.
  But if it lacks the mystery of
  Marrakech and the fascination of
  Fez, the ‘White City’ certainly has
  no shortage of architectural
  gems. From 1912 to 1956, Morocco
  was under French rule and
  Casablanca was chosen as the
  base for the protectorate’s
  strategic port. The city grew
  rapidly and French urban planner,
  Henri Prost, was instructed to turn
  it into a city worthy of its position.

Prost sought the help of

Europe’s top architects and as

I walked along the Boulevard

Mohammed V – dubbed the

Moroccan Champs-Élysées –

I marvelled at geometric

Neoclassical ediices rubbing

shoulders with ornate Neo-

Moorish facades, symmetrical

Art Deco structures and sleek

Modernist towers, all blindingly

white against the cobalt-blue sky.

“What was achieved here

couldn’t have happened

anywhere else,” explained

Rachid Andaloussi, co-founder

of non-proit Casamémoire,

a group of local architects with

a mission to safeguard the

city’s 20th-century architecture,

and get Casablanca UNESCO-

listed. “Two cultures met,

mixed and expressed

themselves in a unique way,”

There are new lagship projects

too. Around the civic hub of

Mohammed V Square, Marius

Boyer’s Wilaya has been joined by

the ultra-modern Grand Theatre

of Casablanca, designed by a

Pritzker-prize-winning architect,

Christian de Portzamparc, in

collaboration with Andaloussi.

While the oceanfront AnfaPlace

has created a new zone on the

Corniche, with apartments,

shops and a hotel.

Visitors can also take in the

monumental murals adding

colour to several white-walled

apartment blocks. Travel in July

and watch artistsatwork for

the Sbagha BaghaCasablanca

Street Art Festival.

ASK A LOCAL

“Discover the faces of

Casablanca: Quartier

Habous puts the artistry

of traditional crafts on

display, downtown will

take you back to the

1930s and a stroll along

the oceanfront Corniche

shows a modern

Moroccanbeach resort.”

El Moumni,

ect & Professor

ablanca’s

of Architecture

⊲

Take a walk through Casablanca’s streets and you’ll soon discover why local architects

are on a mission to get this Moroccan metropolis UNESCO-listed, says Sarah Gilbert

High praise

The minaret at

Hassan II Mosque

is one of the city’s

main landmarks,

standing 210m tall