Installation by Barkow Leibinger Architects at the Marrakech Biennale

The web-like installation, by Berlin-based architects Barkow Leibinger, is part of the fourth Marrakech Biennale

(Image credit: Barkow Leibinger and Johannes Foerste)

A giant web has landed amid the ruins of Marrakech’s largest mosque. The gossamer installation, by Berlin-based Barkow Leibinger Architects, is part of the fourth Marrakech Biennale, during which the city plays host to a rich mix of literature, film, music and art events.

Titled ‘Loom-Hyperbolic’, the site-specific work in the grounds of Mosque Koutoubia, is inspired by the Moroccan weaving craft and the geometry of Marrakech architecture. The structure – fashioned out of local hand-peeled pinewood – echoes the form of the traditional wooden loom, and creates a canopied ‘hyperbolic’ effect once the yarn has been stretched over its frames. Its grid arrangement reflects the positioning of the nearby broken-off columns.

Loom-Hyperbolic is part of the main visual arts exhibition of the Biennale, titled 'Higher Atlas', and bringing together the likes of former Turner Prize nominee Roger Hiorns and architect Juergen Mayer H. Both familiar and foreign within its medieval setting, the ethereal installation can be viewed by day or night from above the ruin, or from beneath the structure, in tent-like seclusion.

Rocks holding the wooden posts to the ground — Titled ‘Loom-Hyperbolic’, the site-specific work in the grounds of Mosque Koutoubia, is inspired by the Moroccan weaving craft and the geometry of Marrakech architecture

Overview of the structure shown from above — The structure is fashioned out of local hand-peeled pinewood and echoes the form of the traditional wooden loom

Structure shown at night lit up — Both familiar and foreign within its medieval setting, the ethereal installation can be viewed by day or night from above the ruin, or from beneath the structure, in tent-like seclusion

Sketch of structure showing grid formation — A sketch by Barkow Leibinger Architects shows the structure's grid arrangement, which reflects the positioning of the nearby broken-off columns

Close up sketch of structure — The angled wooden poles create a canopied ‘hyperbolic’ effect once the yarn has been stretched over its frames

ADDRESS

Mosque Koutoubia
Marrakech
Morocco
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Lauren Ho is the Travel Director of Wallpaper*, roaming the globe, writing extensively about luxury travel, architecture and design for both the magazine and the website. Lauren serves as the European Academy Chair for the World's 50 Best Hotels.