MAÎTRE D’OUVRAGE : Casablanca Finance City Authority

STATUT DU PROJET : Réalisé

DATE : 2019

COLLABORATION : Morphosis & Omar Alaoui Architectes

MISSION : Directrice de projet

Casablanca is expanding its historical role as the gateway to North Africa, through government-driven plans that will open untapped markets in the region to international investment. In the model of Paris’ La Defense, the Casablanca Finance City initiative transforms a blank satellite site—a razed airport southwest of the city center—into a new business district and special economic zone inviting global corporations to build headquarters in Morocco. The first tower of this special economic zone has a critical role, symbolizing Morocco’s vision for the future and setting precedents in building performance, scale, and style for the new district.

This dual role as symbol and gateway informs the design of Casablanca Finance City tower and prompted a focus on creating urban gestures at both macro and micro scales, connecting and engaging the plane of the sky and the plane of the street. A tapered crown realizes the tower’s function as a new icon for the city. By mirroring this apex downward, the building engages the lower urban landscape with distinctive public space.

The new city district creates an unusual opportunity in otherwise dense Casablanca to highlight the figurative and sustainable relationship between building and the environment. The tower’s base touches lightly upon the ground; a brise-soleil system wraps the building against the desert sun while maintaining views to the city. Working with the climate and minimizing the ecological impact, the tower sets a standard for contextually-specific performance strategies the new city center.

(text credit @Morphosis)