Casablanca Cathedral
Paul Tournon · Casablanca, Morocco · 1930
Casablanca’s former Sacré-Cœur church combines an elongated basilican plan with a strongly geometric Art Deco exterior. Paul Tournon used reinforced concrete to create high nave walls, paired towers and large openings while incorporating decorative references associated with Moroccan craft and Gothic ecclesiastical space. Although the building ceased regular religious use after independence, its interior volume and distinctive white façade remain major elements of central Casablanca. It is an important example of how European modern construction and regional decorative influences intersected in the city’s colonial-era architecture.