مطار مراكش المنارة
Seamlessly fusing contemporary eco-technology with traditional arabic and Islamic design motifs
This dramatic new airport terminal is an example of how Modernism and traditional Islamic architecture have begun to cross-pollinate. Designed by a team of architects led by Casablanca-based E2A Architecture and completed in 2008, the structure is formed of massive concrete rhombuses. This muscular approach is softened by the exquisite arabesque patterns on the building’s glass skin, which cast complex, ever-changing shadows on the terminal’s floors.
The ceiling has 72 pyramids made of photovoltaic cells which generate electricity from light. The choice to use small solar tiles rather than custom, large-sized panels both allows light to enter the terminal through the skylights (further reducing the need for internal lighting) but they also mimic mosaic tile designs found in much traditional arabic and Islamic architecture and design.
So successful is the aesthetic masking of the contemporary technology through the mosaic pattern, that it easily could be seen as a continuation of the other traditional design motifs of the space.