Casablanca · 1930 · Marius Boyer
One of the jewels of Casablanca’s Art déco architecture.
Our building
“Between the lines of my plans and the curves of my buildings, I have sought to weave a harmonious dialogue between Moroccan tradition and Western modernity.”
— Marius Boyer, architect · “Casablanca, a city of history and of the future”
Floor plan — the three towers · Marius Boyer
Life at the Assayag
A visiting card on a shop window, “François Cogné, statuaire”, facing the cemetery on the rue Léon l’Africain. What the press of 1934–1939 tells about the studio where Lyautey’s equestrian statue was born — and what is still to be found. Read more
“The New York of Morocco”, a 150-metre skyscraper on the place de France, air taxis above the quays: in 1930 Casablanca almost went vertical. The story of an abandoned plan, and of the three towers that came out of it.
Casablanca’s regulation required buildings of five storeys and above to have two staircases running their full height, a dry pipe to the roof, and exits left permanently clear. What the Assayag was given, what those devices meant — and what time does to systems owned in common.
In January 1935 La Gazette de l’Électricité described the Assayag: the street cutting the building in two, the cross plan, the column of light in the axis of the stair, the three "little villas" on top. Full page and complete issue to download.
Cohen says Paris would not have tolerated ten floors. But "more permissive" is not an explanation. Casablanca’s building regulation gives one: height is measured by the width of the street, a voluntary setback widens the street, and above opens a 45° cone in which the Assayag’s steps fit exactly.
In pictures
1930 → today
Work begins on boulevard Hassan Seghir: three arcaded towers rise above the city.
1932The building is completed — communal buanderies, glazed stairwells, stepped terraces.
2023“Chez Marius”: the former service basements become a cultural venue.
2025“Citadelle”: ten artists exhibit in the building during the Heritage Days.
The work of Marius Boyer
Three arcaded towers, stepped terraces, glazed screens along the stairs: how the building was designed.
Explore the architecture
On foot · 4 km · 9 stops
From the rue de l’Horloge to Boyer’s town hall: the Assayag’s neighbourhood, map in hand.
Follow the walk
Visit us
1418, Assayag — boulevard Hassan Seghir
20000, Casablanca
