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The Hassan II mosque by FREDERIC MITTERRAND |
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The Hassan II Mosque has challenged artists at all levels, and not just on a technological one, to express the strength of its materials, the harmony of its masses and volumes. And what a glorious artistic opportunity, for this monument is the largest canvas ever offered to the thousands of talented artisans in Morocco. The decorative work of these artisans acts as a counterpoint to the sheets of marble, creates contrast, breaks all monotony, bears witness to the delicate human touch in such a magnificent project. It's the maalem or artisan who knows, who creates, who guards jealously the secret of rhythm and color which his forebears bequeathed him. It is he who invokes the name of God as inspiration before his first stroke. It is he who turns a simple mosque into a work of art, a place of enchantment.
 This monument plays so subtly with Shadow and light, the angles and hollows covered by friezes and calligraphy, niches, arches and so many other forms of fragile plaster as noble as sold marble. This all reflects, in the eyes and spirit of the visitor, the eternal enigma of the artist.  Here, in all its splendor, shines the new beacon of Casablanca. The Great Mosque is already a reference point, where all eyes turn, a protecting presence, a challenge to secular conventions.  It sits majestically, not on a hill, but on a beach, a sacred stone temple resting by the sea, a reassuring and familiar vision to its neighbors, And there soars the minaret in its golden glory. The Hassan II Mosque is the son of the Omayyad mosque in Damascus, the heir to the Giralda in Seville, a child of the Koutoubia in Marrakesh, but much more, the father of a new Moroccan islamic architecture. |