Aït Manos launches its new Art Deco zellige collection
Innovation and imagination, linked to the ancestral values of Moroccan zellige manufacture, structure the production of Aït Manos. Shaped by the eloquence of infinitely repeating geometries, the Art Deco collection sprinkled with 18-carat gold bursts from the workshops like a hymn to preciousness.
Aït as in "tribe", manos as in "hands". Aït Manos means "the tribe of hands". In the Casablanca workshops, the tribe brings together the protagonists of an age-old know-how. First and foremost, the earth. The raw material of zellige, it has always been clay, beaten by hand and worked on the ground. Then there's the maâlem, literally "he who knows", the master zellige craftsman, a virtuoso at cutting and assembling. Aït Manos was born of the meeting of Tawfik Bennani and Ghalia Sebti, two lovers of Morocco and the decorative arts. In 1995, they threw themselves wholeheartedly into the adventure of zellige, which tells a unique story of the Kingdom of Morocco since the 10th century.
"Tata", a reference to the metal ornaments characteristic of 1920s architecture in Casablanca.
Glazed terracotta mosaics in all colors offer an inexhaustible repertoire. Its varied decorations and infinitely multiplied geometric shapes engrave a memory of excellence. Casablanca's cosmopolitan cultural mix has always shaped a rich and diverse architectural heritage. The new creation orchestrated by Tawfik Bennani is called Art Déco. A collection that reinterprets the motifs of the neo-Moorish aesthetic of the early 20th century, snatches of which can still be picked up by the discerning eye in the streets of the White City.
Like a tangram, "Talet" composes random figures.
In Aït Manos' Art Deco collection, the "Goulmine" model sublimates the codes of Moorish art.
These mosaic fragments tell the story of a story woven into architecture, combining geometry, sophistication and chromatic simplicity. Six different motifs adorned in 18-carat gold, black and Carrara white become contemporary accounts of a part of the past. Challenge and invention come together in this precious series. "Innovation is our joy. We've developed a third-firing enamel in 18-carat gold, the fruit of research work in our color laboratories, to perpetuate know-how, while remaining authentic in terms of handmade craftsmanship."
Aït Manos revolutionizes form and content; its zelliges travel the world. Because innovation also means working behind the scenes, with pre-assembled panels that are light, thin and easy to lay. In this way, raw clay and perfect gold, hand in hand, sketch out a new eternity.
Golden triangle for the floral-inspired "Zayane" motif.
In black, Carrara white and 18-carat gold, the dynamic shapes of "Tichka" encrust gold in a positive-negative visual interplay.