I can’t imagine another way to bring the art of Morocco into a museum setting other than to have the artisans construct the setting, which is what exactly what the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York did in its new Islamic wing. Now, I have a new reason to visit New York. There’s a video showing the construction of the court that I tried to embed here, but it didn’t work.

The examiner wrote an article about the Moroccan Court including the following information on color symbolism:

• Black and white – good and bad (soul)
• Blue – land
• Green – water
• Honey – air

Hmmm..green is water and blue is land? I’m thinking that’s a typo. But I do like the interpretation of black/white being soul, a balance of good and bad forces.

So what do you think? Would you visit – did you visit – the Moroccan Court in New York?

Also, you can tour the new Islamic Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art online.

So, my colleague is going to take a trip around the world and Morocco is one of his stops. I woke-up day dreaming a Moroccan itinerary, not sure if its for him or for myself. Yes, I admitt. I’m jealous. But, I am happy for anyone who gets to enjoy a bit of Morocco in their lives. Below are my travel suggestions for a short and simple (albeit, not quite budget) visit. More

People leave comments across this site asking for contacts who know how to build or craft traditional Moroccan furnishings and interiors. I can’t blame them. Check out the great post and pictures “Four Riads in Five Days.” I wish I knew architects versed in Moroccan design. I wish there were more Moroccan design in America, which is where I’ve been stuck for the last few years.

I feel bad for neglecting this site. Morocco is never far from my mind.

I’ve been doing lots of custom painting, stencils, and lighting at home. I appreciate the peace Moroccan design brings me, even when I’m so far from Moroccan sunlight. There’s no substitue for sunlight.

There’s an empty bank building in Washington, DC, near where I work. There’s a closed Hann’s Shoes story on the street level. I wish, I dream, I see a space inside of it, renovated with a riad’s interior and a fresh produce vendor on the street level shop. We live so much better together, or so do the two cultures inside me.

Moroccan design makes the best use of light and space. The rooms waste nothing. And everything is an extension of the space. No pre-fab. No standard. Custom everything.

I want this bathroom so bad. Where are you, Moroccan design?

From “The Bull” by Ahmed Ziyadi
Moroccan Short Stories, translated by Jilali El Koudia

“Night is a tent without a central pole or pegs or supports. It opens up horizons and connects earth with sky from whose remote holes a faint light twinkles, hardly illuminating itself. The larger hole, in whose orbit trail smaller ones, has disappeared or perhaps closed up tonight. Some holes are better kept open than patched up, since the patching gives the illusion that the hole is restored to its normal state, only to be revealed still torn someday. Thus the mender realizes that he has been deceiving himself and others as well. It is said “cure your wound before it gets larger.” No, let it get larger and larger until it consumes the whole body, and a new one will be born.”

The Volubilis Visitor Center was designed to leave a minimal imprint on visitors to the Roman ruins and UNESCO World Heritage site. The new buildings fold themselves into the hills and the ruins take center stage.

The project was completed by Kilo Architecture. I appreciate the intention of clean, considerate, and lovely architecture. If I were in Morocco, I would go to Volubilis to see the new as well as the old.

See the Achitecture Review article for more details on the project.