Casamémoire: Casablanca's Art Deco
Casamémoire has been defending Casablanca's 20th-century architecture since 1995. Its site covers styles, architects and eight walking routes — in French only.
What it is
Casamémoire is a Moroccan non-profit founded in 1995 to protect the country's 20th-century architectural heritage. Its main subject is Casablanca, which the association calls an open-air school of architecture and puts in the same league as Brasília or Chandigarh. The site is in French only.
It offers a short history of the city, a section on 20th-century styles, profiles of key architects, eight themed walking routes, a documentation centre, news, and a call for volunteer heritage guides.
Why we picked it
Morocco usually gets shown through medinas, riads and zellige. Casablanca tells a different story: from the 1920s to the 1970s it was a testing ground for European and Moroccan architects. Casamémoire explains this clearly. The styles section walks you from neoclassical and neo-Moorish buildings through the "Lyautey style", Art Deco after 1925, 1930s functionalism and the brutalist housing experiments of the 1950s. One nice detail: in local Art Deco, Moroccan zellige replaced European ceramic tiles.
The architects section covers Henri Prost and his 1915 plan, Michel Écochard with his 1951 extension plan and fight for social housing, Marius Boyer and his Art Deco façades, and Casablanca-born Jean-François Zevaco. The routes are ready-made walks: Place Mohammed V, Boulevard Mohammed V with the Central Market and the Assayag building, the old medina, the Habous quarter and the coastline.
The association is active — Casablanca Heritage Days ran in April 2026 under the theme "Casablanca Atlantique".
Where to start
- Open "Patrimoine architectural du 20e siècle" for a quick guide to the styles.
- Read "Architectes emblématiques" to meet the people who built the city.
- Pick a walk in "Circuits thématiques", such as Boulevard Mohammed V.
- Skim "Histoire de Casablanca" for background.
- If you don't read French, your browser's auto-translate works fine here.
Who it's for
Art Deco and modernism fans, architects and urbanists. Anyone travelling to Morocco who doesn't want to treat Casablanca as just an airport. Anyone curious how a colonial port became a modern city.
Quick answers
What language is it in? French only; there is no English version.
Can I do the walks on my own? Yes. Each route lists its stops, so it is easy to plan your own walk.
Is it a tour company? No. It is a heritage association; its guided tours run during its own events.
