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Morocco

July 30, 2007
Looking for a designer's holiday?

A place to feed your visual appetite and stroke your sensory needs?

I think I have found the perfect spot.

Morocco!

Morocco—in the bump of Northern Africa, pressing toward Spain—is only a 7-hour flight from JFK airport in New York. Only seven hours to a country that is spilling over with both a vibrant cultural heritage and a rich decorative style. In fact, a dash into NYC on the way out of town is a good way to set up your design holiday. Confirm the USA market in your mind, and then let ourself loose on the beauty of Northern Africa for inspiration.

Lining up for Air Maroc can get you in the mood—the queue contains a few turbans, some striking Jelabahs, bold African fabrics, some braided coifs, and straw fedoras; there is a Spanish nfluence in the stylish dress of some of the women, and the small children look very fashion pampered.

There is a colorful elegance to the crowd, and that sort of sums up Morocco.

Colorful and Elegant—African, Arabic and European.

Traditional, culturally unique and trendy.

The flight from JFK lands in Casablanca—but you will want to head tout de suite for Marakech—to soak up serious Moroccan style. Marakech is home to an explosion of boutique hotels called Riads. Within the confines of the medina there are rumored to be more than 300 of these converted noblemen's homes—plain doors on the outside give no indication of the beauteous abodes within. Riad means that there will be a garden and water within the home—a centralized courtyard—containing a fountain or maybe a splash pool—lightens the heat of the day and adds birds and their songs to the quiet interiors of the Riads. Water is big in this dry city, and Hammams—both public and private—are a luxury that you can also enjoy. [That's the cool Turkish bath—you may have read about.]

If you choose the right Riad—and it is difficult to make a mistake—you can complete your design studies within its walls. So, the walls—and now it looks like I will be repainting mine—they have a wonderful finish called "Tadelakt." Smears of rose, pink, blue or tan paints come alive with the rub of egg whites polished hard over top. From room to room, the wall colors can differ—at Riad El Fenn in Marakech, a study of the walls alone could provide color palettes to design from for a few years.

Tiles—the Riads and souks are full of detailed mosaic work fountains, and foyers, stairwells, arches and mosques all sport the beauty of these tiny tiles. You can buy ceramic ware, bowls or your own fountain to bring home a piece of this craftsmanship. There are also workshops and showrooms where you can see the craft in process and wholesalers can negotiate orders. If you want to design your own fountain, sit down with the artist and sketch it out. [OK—I did, and added a mosaic bird of course.] If not, pick up some of the beautiful hand painted bowls to remember your trip. Some have beautiful Arabic writing on them—an art form in calligraphy. Umm—wow—What a beautiful script.

In Fez—the ancient 9th century Arabic capital of Morocco—the ceramic ware is Fez blue.

Now there is an idea right there—fez blue tiles, fez blue washed walls, and fez blue Jelabahs create a rich monochromatic scheme of beautiful Persian blues. I think you are getting the picture—Morocco is all about color. And, if there is one thing that this designer cannot get enough of, it is looking at beautiful colors! Really, they are so yummy I wanted to lick them up—instead my son and I paused for a mint tea in a dainty Moroccan tea glasses. [Ah, more stimulation!] But so efreshing, and artful in the summer heat.

Keeping to the home inspiration—and who can resist a beautiful bathroom?—The hammered copper, brass and pewter colored sinks are to die for. Ovals, rounds and squares, the shapes are beautiful, simple and organic, the metal colors glow and the water splashes in them in the most ancient and pleasing way. With beautiful spouts, taps and drain stoppers to match the sinks, you will be drooling and wanting to redo your bathroom. You can also buy copper pots and serving spoons. Giant cooking vessels in battered copper are available in the Metal Market—if you are catering weddings of 200, you can rent these gorgeous copper cooking pots! [It eminds me a bit of Delhi—where you can hire an elephant at your nearby party store—don't you love the independents?]

Wood—news to me—Morocco has beautiful trees—forests of them—with Cedar forests in the mid-Atlas Mountain area—the famous Atlas Mountain foothills. There are also cypresses and eucalyptus trees, and many miles of olive orchards and orange groves.

This beautiful woodwork is beautifully crafted into every aspect of Moroccan building.

Look up for paneled ceilings in cedar. Open enormous wooden doors, touch elaborately carved doorframes and sit on gorgeous wooden balconies, climb beautiful staircases and hold the banisters, lean out of verandahs and peak through shuttered windows to the busy souks below.

If you make it to Fez—a city whose sprawling medina of tiny alleys and by ways is best traveled by foot or on the back of a doe eyed donkey, a city that is itself designated A World Heritage site by UNESCO—you can visit the Museum of Wood too. As a side note, Fez also houses the world's oldest university.

Don't you love to go to a place where you can learn and learn and learn? I do. Did you know Algebra was invented in Morocco? Well, it was. Morocco is a lot more than a pretty face. Now my Algebra crashed into a scholastic wall in grade 9—but I am certain that this concept is almost as important as the hammered copper!

Well not to get too serious—as we all know, it is mostly about shoes—and Morocco has lots for everyone. Leather slippers and shoes in all of the colors of the proverbial rainbow are stacked up and displayed in teetering piles in small shops all over the bazaar. Curled toed shoes—updated of course—are irresistibly cute. Turquoise, Poppy Red, Saffron, Emerald Green, Pink—oh, the colors are dazzling—the leather soft and supple, and the choices wonderful. Be sure to bring an extra suitcase—and by the way, they have those too in red leather, brown, saffron yellow or paprika. Are you getting the picture—it is a spice bazaar of color.

And yes, there is a spice bazaar too. I had to buy the 'tanjine' spice mix—a combination of 45 different spices I was told.

And I think I forgot to mention Carpets. Guess what—they still have natural dyes—Poppy and Indigo and Saffron—more wow and wow and wow. Morocco is famous for its carpets—from the high Atlas and the middle Atlas, the Rif Mountains and all the other places that I couldn't quite catch—it has pile carpets, kelims, embroidered carpets, reversible knotted carpets and Yacoub [or Jewish] carpets, and they are all wonderfully hung from those wonderful wooden balconies in the giant Riad courtyards—spilling in all their irregular pattern and profusion into the gardens below. Not since I last visited Afghanistan many years ago have I seen such a profusion of carpets. And such wonderful displays. If you have a camera, some dollars and the time for cups of mint tea, you couldn't pass a pleasanter afternoon than bargaining over carpets in the souk.

Well, I think you see why all of you designers out there need to book out for a busman's holiday in Morocco—it is just too good to miss. And another wonderful thing—it's nice to be able to brag about being in a 97% Muslim country that is warm, friendly, courteous, clean, exciting and interesting and likes Americans! Spread the word.