The site is Casablanca’s former Anfa airport. It may not be the one where Humphrey Bogart famously bid farewell to Ingrid Bergman in the 1942 film classic named after the Moroccan port city, but it was an important military and commercial hub for decades until it closed in 2007. Located about five miles from the old Medina, nearly 250 acres of runway and demolished aeronautical buildings are now being developed here into Casablanca Finance City (CFC), a public-private initiative born in 2010 that invites global firms to establish their regional headquarters in Casablanca. “If you want to do business in Africa, you need boots on the ground,” says CFC director of strategy, partnerships, and communication Manal Bernoussi. A city of nearly 3½ million, Casablanca (its name means “white house,” of course) is home to Africa’s largest mosque and soon-to-be-largest theater, designed by Paris architect Christian de Portzamparc and opening later this year. The city is now poised to become the continent’s economic capital.
For CFC’s first building, its leaders wanted a landmark, by a Pritzker Prize–winning architect, no less. A 2013 competition invited Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, Thom Mayne, and I.M. Pei’s firm, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, eventually awarding the office tower to Los Angeles–based Mayne—his first built work in Africa. “We are always looking to France,” says Saïd Ibrahimi, CEO of Casablanca Finance City. “We wanted something different for this.”
You have 0 complimentary articles remaining.
Unlimited access + premium benefits for as low as $1.99/month.