MADRASSA

In Morocco, you can’t go into any Mosque.  Well, actually there is one in Casablanca that you can go in.  Personally, I think it is great that they maintain this separation.

In the medinas of Marrakesh and Fes, it at times became choked with groups of tourists.  To maintain some level of sanctity, the last thing that is needed is for a bunch of western people sticking their nose inside their Mosques snapping away with their DSLRs.  The medina is chaotic enough that they do not need to bring that chaos into their sacred spaces.

There are a few Madrassas that you can go into, though.  A Madrassa is a center of Koranic learning. While you cannot go into a functioning Madrassa for the same reason you can go into a Mosque, you can go into non functioning historical Madrassas.

One of the most famous is the Ben Youssef Madrassa in Marrakesh.  This was built in the 16th century and ceased operation in the 1960s.  It was then opened to the non Muslim public.

The site is in the middle of Marrakesh and surrounded by buildings.  To bring in natural light and natural ventilation, there was the requisite large center courtyard.  And then around the large courtyard was arranged a series of smaller courtyards.  The courtyards were placed so that the 130 student rooms all then opened in one way or another to a courtyard space.

The courtyard orientation is similar to the typical Moroccan house, which we talked about at RIAD.  This Madrassa with it’s almost nesting courtyards is another example of the punctured with light concept.

There is the primary experience of going from light filled courtyard to light filled courtyard as you walk thru the building.  At each light juncture, there is an inward focusing.  Each juncture of light triggers a contemplation.  Each juncture of light connotes a singularity.

Certainly the Christian cloister comes to mind.  The cloister is also a light puncture.  The interior courtyard fosters an inward focus.  And I kept thinking about Corb’s La Tourette with it’s interior courtyards.  Architecture at the service of God., no matter who wrote the words.

I used various references to make my Transparent Drawing.  I used photos that I took, a photo of a cutaway drawing of the building, and my memory.