3.
Yves Saint Laurent's fashion oeuvre with Marrakech Museum
Image 16: Design Feature-
Source: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/10/20/studio-kos-museeyves-saint-laurent-marrakech-
museum-morrocco/
A lace-like brickwork facade and an interior inspired by a couture jacket lining are some of the
fashion-inspired features of Studio KO's Musée Yves Saint Laurent in Marrakech. Dedicated to
the work of legendary couturier Yves Saint Laurent, the 4,000-square-metre building is the first
dedicated fashion museum in Africa. It includes permanent and temporary exhibition spaces, a
research library with over 6,000 volumes, a 150-seat auditorium, and a bookstore and terrace
café (Brand et al., 2012).
Image 17: Design Feature-
Source: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/10/20/studio-kos-museeyves-saint-laurent-marrakech-
museum-morrocco/
Image 18: Design Feature-
Source: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/10/20/studio-kos-museeyves-saint-laurent-marrakech-
museum-morrocco/
The building's design incorporates references to the couturier's work, while also making use of
local materials and building techniques. Its exterior incorporates terracotta brickwork designed
to recall the warp and weft of fabric, as well as curved and angular volumes in earthen colored
terrazzo that the French architects said reference the "succession of delicate and bold forms that
characterized the work of Yves Saint Laurent" (Brand et al., 2012).
In contrast, the museum's entrance hall has smooth white walls that are designed to evoke the
velvety lining of a couture jacket. The monochromatic stained-glass windows that circle the
curved lobby wall are inspired by traditional Moroccan-style-stained glass.
Image 19: Design Feature-
Source: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/10/20/studio-kos-museeyves-saint-laurent-marrakech-
museum-morrocco/
Christophe also designed the museum's bookstore, which is lined with lacquered amber shelving
– the same color as Saint Laurent's Opium perfume bottle. Traditional Moroccan materials –
such as glazed bricks, zellige tiles, granite, laurel branches and oak – are incorporated in a
contemporary way in other areas, including the museum's cafe, library, stairwells, courtyards
and hallways.
Image 20: Design Feature-
Source: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/10/20/studio-kos-museeyves-saint-laurent-marrakech-
museum-morrocco/
Interior designer Yves Taralon designed the museum's 75-seat cafe, which features pale-
coloured wood, plaster light fixtures, white marble and wicker furniture with canary yellow
upholstery.
Image 21: Design Feature-
Source: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/10/20/studio-kos-museeyves-saint-laurent-marrakech-
museum-morrocco/
Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech combines two worlds that we are very familiar with and
that are dear to our hearts: fashion and Morocco," said Studio KO. No less expressive is the
building itself, with both modern and traditional Moroccan influences (locally-sourced terrazzo,
red brick latticework, bush hammered concrete) and a curved facade that mimics the folds of
fabric. “We designed it like a sculpture; a game of volumes and heights,” Studio KO co-founder
Olivier Marty says of the space, which will feature a bookshop, research library, auditorium and
a cafe serving French-leaning fare with a terrace overlooking a reflection pool. Inside, light
streams through stained-glass windows inspired by Saint Laurent’s love for Henri Matisse —
blues and greens on one side of the entrance hall, reds and tangerines on the other.
“He’s Marrakesh and Paris. He’s color and black, masculine and feminine, the line and
arabesque,” says Dahlstrom. “Together, it’s essential YSL” (Brand et al., 2012).
This museum was the first fashion museum in Africa, which boosted Marrakech’s reputation as
a cultural hotspot. The pressure the architects must have had during this design was the balance
between traditional, and easily affordable materials and its transformation into a final product
that can showcase the brand as a luxury end brand.
The Architects used certain method in doing so and succeeded such as the duality between
curves and straight lines, and the succession of loose and clean cuts. The facade of the building
appears as an intersection of cubes with a lace like covering of bricks, creating patterns that
resemble fabric. As with the lining of a couture jacket, the interior is radically different: velvety,
smooth and radiant. The museum consists of traditional materials but use them in a very
contemporary and modern way insisted on materials such as the terrazzo, and in every shade as
well as the stained glass symbolizing Moroccan rawness as well as maintaining the brand
luxury.
4. BMCE headquarters by Foster + Partners
Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur (BMCE) is one of Morocco's leading banks.
Prompted by a desire to transform the experience of high-street banking for its customers, the
Bank commissioned a series of flagship branches. Their design follows a modular, thematic
approach, with variations in scale and landscaping in response to the different locations. While
the branches in Casablanca and Rabat reflect their compact sites in the financial and civic
centres on Morocco's coast, the Fez branch has subtle details that express the city's artisan
heritage.
The combination of screens and stone pillars gives the facades the appearance of solidity, in
keeping with the often decoratively carved walls prevalent in Morocco's refined Arabic style.
While the building envelope relates to the regional vernacular, the interior is contemporary. The
dome form sweeps down into the banking hall to create a sculptural curved bench, a distinctive
feature of each branch, which varies in width according to the building's size (Etherington,
2011).
Image 22: Design Feature-
Source: https://www.dezeen.com/2011/03/25/bmce-headquarters-byfoster-partners/
The design follows an approach which varies according to building location. Each building
comprises a concrete frame, with an entrance colonnade and a series of bays repeated on a
modular grid (Etherington, 2011). The interior of modern banking is surrounded by an envelope
of traditional energy efficient design is based on a modular system that uses local materials and
labour to create a striking new logo for BMCE.
The design comprises a concrete frame enclosed by glazed panels, covered by screens made of
cut and curved sheet steel. The bays are enclosed by glazed panels and 200mm-deep screens,
which provide shade and security. The screens are cut from sheets of stainless steel due to its
special characteristic of being a low-iron mixture that does not heat up in the sun, which are
curved to create a geometric design, based on traditional Islamic patterns (Etherington, 2011).
Image 22: Design Feature- Curved Sheet Steel
Source: https://www.dezeen.com/2011/03/25/bmce-headquarters-byfoster-partners/
Image 23: Design Feature- Curved Sheet Steel Exterior
Source: https://www.dezeen.com/2011/03/25/bmce-headquarters-byfoster-partners/
The double-height entrance hall of each building features a bank of seating connected to the
domed roof by a swooping ribbon of concrete.
Image 23: Design Feature-
Source: https://www.dezeen.com/2011/03/25/bmce-headquarters-byfoster-partners/
The interior of the dome is rendered in tadelakt, a local plaster technique, while the exterior is
clad in zellige, traditional ceramic tiles.
Image 24: Design Feature-
Source: https://www.dezeen.com/2011/03/25/bmce-headquarters-byfoster-partners/
Image 25: Design Feature-
Source: https://www.dezeen.com/2011/03/25/bmce-headquarters-byfoster-partners/
The branches are designed to be highly energy efficient and use locallysourced materials, such
as black granite and grey limestone.
Image 26: Design Feature- Branches Elevation
Source: https://www.dezeen.com/2011/03/25/bmce-headquarters-byfoster-partners/
A simple functional arrangement divides the rectangular footprint equally between the banking
hall and support areas. The modular grid places landscaped pools, with planting in recessed
stone rills, around the exterior of the building, inverting the form of the Moroccan riad, with its
central courtyard. The branches are designed to be energy efficient, combining modern
technology with centuries-old methods of passive climate control. One example is the use of
'earth-tube' cooling, in which fresh air is drawn into a pipe that encircles the structure below
ground and is chilled naturally before being released into the building's ventilation system.
Lord Foster said: The main offices BMCE - our first buildings completed in Africa - to
reinterpret the elements of traditional Moroccan architecture, the combination of these with a
contemporary interior that reflects the Bank's gradual approach to its customers.
This mix of ancient principles and modern technology is also reflected in an energy efficient
design. The result is a series of buildings that are sustainable and one each, singularly out of
place (Etherington, 2011).
The BMCE flagship branches – our first completed buildings in Africa – reinterpret elements of
traditional Moroccan architecture, combining these with a contemporary interior that reflects the
Bank's progressive approach to its customers – Lord Foster (Etherington, 2011).
This project is designed in a way that it combines modern technology with centuries old
methods of passive climate control. The envelope is based on traditional energy efficient design
that utilises local resources in labour and materials.
The design and materials used helped to create a beautiful harmony and fine balance between
form and function. The elements used seem to be boosting each other's and complementing
different climates as well environmental and socio-economic conditions.
The use of traditional materials has an impact that it makes a place feel more home-like. They
represent livelihood of people, and originality. A key factor in designing a commercial space, it
taking note of its users and consumers purpose of visiting space. The familiarity in the design of
the space enabled it to be more inviting and trustworthy for its consumers. This impact has
caused a positivity in the Banks overall function, which is a plus point in design.
Another main feature to look at is the energy efficient design approach. which combine both
modern technology with passive climate control making it more cost effective which is good for
business as well in the long run and beneficial to our environment.
