Marrakech Design

Cement tiles - also called encaustic tiles - are made by hand according to production process developed in southern France towards the end of the 19th century. Nowadays, the world'd major production center for cement tiles is Morocco. We discovered the beauty of cement tiles in earnest on our first trips to Morocco ten years ago and were intrigued and so in 2006 we founded Marrakech Design. We also fell in love with the country itself and soon afterwards we bought a riad in the Old Town (Medina) of Marrakech. We spend much time there working on adding new tiles to the collection - new patterns and color combinations. In the beginning we focused on classic Moroccan patterns but we soon realized the potential in combining the traditional materilal and production process with a contemporary approach to design. Our collaboration with Mats Theselius comprises two distinctly different series: Raval and Kelim. Raval was inspired by Mats sabbatical years in Barcelona. Kelim in its turn consists of four patterns - Goose-eye, Herringbone, Hook and Woody, the inspiration being a Moroccan Kelim-carpet. For both series Mats Theselius has aimed to combine Scandinavian and Arabic design elements for a contemporary expression. The designs have won several awards. Our collaboration with Scandinavian designers Claesson Koivisto Rune now comprises eight different patterns. The first ones were Casa, Stone and Dandelion which have won several international design awards. Last year we launched a completely new collection of five different patterns: Bow, Kimono, Lily, Moonrise and Orchard. We present new color combinations of all designs continuously.