DK Travel : Marrakech : Architecture

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Amanjena

This vast luxury hotel is modern Moroccan as an operatic set piece, complete with reservoirs and green tile-roofed pavilions (see Amanjena ).
Bab Agnaou

This gate into the kasbah quarter is in the form of a keyhole arch (see Bab Agnaou ).
Badii Palace

Its pisé walls are in an advanced state of dilapidation with clearly visible “pigeonholes” (see Badii Palace ).
Bahia Palace

This 19th-century palace features a riot of zellij work (see Bahia Palace ).
Beaten copper

Wafer-thin coverings of beaten metal, earlier adorning grand wooden doors, are now used to fashion sheets of copper into hand basins.
Bill Willis

Willis is a Tennessee-born designer, first accompanied Paul Getty Jr. to Marrakech in 1968. He worked on the Getty house, then designed one for the Rothschilds and another for Yves Saint-Laurent next to Majorelle Gardens . He continues to reside in the medina and has been enormously influential in the reinterpretation of traditional Moroccan crafts and styles for the modern age.
Carved woodwork

Although some of the same designs are used to decorate both plaster and wood, often wood is deployed as a frieze and carries inscriptions in Arabic, the language in which the Koran was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed and therefore of a sacred character. The inscriptions are of a religious nature and invariably praise the glory of Allah. They are used both to decorate and impart information.
Charles Boccara

Born in Tunisia, educated in Morocco and professionally trained in France, Boccara is an influential Marrakech architect. He was one of the first to take traditional Moroccan elements and reinterpret them to suit the modern age. He has often been credited with repopularising tadelakt and domes.
Colour

While Marrakech is a uniform dusky pink, her interiors are painted in bold colours. Favourites are fruity orange, rose pink, lemon yellow, mustard and cobalt sky blue.
Coloured tadelakt

Traditionally, this silky plaster finish with its water-resistant qualities was reserved for bathhouses, but interior designers have now begun applying it for all sorts of rooms. The range of colours has also broadened; now it’s common to see tadelakt in pink, green or even black.