Historic house architecture in Morocco
Traditional houses in Morocco are usually centered around a large internal courtyard, the wast ad-dar, and are characterized by a focus on interior decoration rather than on external appearance.
In the context of modern tourism in Morocco, many traditional houses have been converted into hotels or guesthouses that are popularly referred to as "riads".
As with other traditional Moroccan structures, the interior decoration includes carved stucco, sculpted and painted wood, and zellij tilework.
The garden courtyard is normally rectangular and divided into four parts along its central axes, with two straight paths intersecting in the middle, where a fountain is usually present.
[1]: 65 Riyad gardens, more specifically, probably originated in Persian architecture (where they're known as chahar bagh) and became a prominent feature in Moorish palaces in Spain (such Madinat al-Zahra, the Aljaferia and the Alhambra).
[1]: 69–71 In Morocco, the earliest known example of a true riyad garden (with a symmetrical four-part division) was found in the Almoravid palace built by Ali ibn Yusuf in Marrakesh in the early 12th century, next to what is now the Kutubiyya Mosque.
[1]: 66–67 [2]: 77–89 What is certain, however, is that there was historically a close cultural and geopolitical relationship between the two lands on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar, and that the palaces of Granada, for example, were thus similar to those of Fes in the same period.
A number of historic bourgeois mansions have survived across the country, mostly from the 'Alawi era but some dating as far back as the Marinid or Saadi periods in Fes and Marrakesh.
[2] They all feature variations on the same overall form as the house studied by Alfred Bel: a central square courtyard surrounded by rooms which opened through tall archway doors, sometimes with windows above the ground floor doorways, and often behind a two-story gallery.
Dar Lazreq, which likely dates to the 15th or 16th century, features the same kind of sebka-based stucco decoration in the spaces above the small side arches of its courtyard gallery.
[2] Dar Demana, which dates in style to the Marinid period but may have been founded earlier, is further distinguished by a short lookout tower (a menzeh) on its roof terrace, allowing its owners to enjoy a better view of the city.
The large central openings of the galleries once again allow for unobstructed view of the tall decorated doorways leading to the surrounding rooms.
[3]: 403 [2]: 19–39 More so than in other cities, the houses of Fes are tall and have narrower floor plans, with their internal patios having the semblance of a deep well or skylight rather than an open courtyard.
The wooden elements – including doors, ceilings, and the gallery lintels – were typically made of cedar wood and were richly carved and painted.
Wealthier homes had reception rooms at ground level, opening off the patio, which were equally if not even more richly decorated, sometimes with elaborate wooden cupola ceilings.
This style was in turn found in other cities in the region of the Moroccan north such as Ouazzane, Taza, and Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, though often in less lavish form.
[3]: 403 In Marrakesh the flat landscape and ample space within its city walls meant that houses could have larger courtyards and fewer stories, in contrast with those of Fez.
In Salé and Rabat houses were more typically built in rubble masonry, with cut stone used in the corners of walls and for the outlines of arches.
The arches of the galleries are round, polylobed, or sculpted in muqarnas, supported by columns made of stone drums ending in capitals carved with arabesque motifs like acanthus leaves.
[3]: 398 The use of stone, which was available from the limestone quarries in the Bou Regreg valley, enabled houses in these cities to have more slender columns and thinner walls that allowed for more light and more elegant architectural proportions.
George Marçais attributes this stylistic feature to the influence of Spanish Renaissance architecture, which would have been imported to this region by the Morisco refugees who were expelled from Spain at the beginning of the 17th century and settled in these coastal cities.
[1][17][18] In the 19th and early 20th centuries, grand viziers and other high officials of the government were able to accumulate enough power and wealth to build their own private palaces for themselves and their households.
[12] The Kasbah of Telouet, also built by the Glaoui clan and only partly preserved today, is another notable example of a 20th-century palace constructed with traditional methods, but located in a rural mountain town.
