Ambassador's Residence in Rabat

The restoration of the Ambassador's Residence in Rabat is more of a cultural interpretation project than an architectural intervention in the strict sense. Located inside a Moroccan brutalist building from the 1960s, the work addresses the theme of identity as a layered construction, capable of bringing together memory, representation, and contemporaneity.

The existing architecture, characterized by clean lines, rigorous proportions, and a strong material presence, is neither denied nor camouflaged. On the contrary, it becomes the supporting structure on which to graft a new narrative, inspired by the Italian imagination of living and dwelling. The project works by subtraction and measured grafts, using materials, colors, and details as tools of mediation between two cultures.

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The representative spaces—entrances, halls, reception rooms—are designed as balanced environments, where the architectural composition interacts with furnishings, works of art, and textile surfaces. Classic proportions, the calibrated use of marble, wood, and brass, together with a warm and measured color palette, create an atmosphere of sober elegance, far from any decorative rhetoric. Light, both natural and artificial, is an integral part of the project: diffused, never aggressive, it helps to define the depth of the spaces and the perception of the materials.

The library and the more intimate rooms introduce a domestic and intimate dimension, while maintaining the institutional character of the residence. Here, the design becomes more subdued, working with boiserie, custom-made bookcases, and a rhythmic pattern on the walls that conveys a sense of continuity and order.

As a whole, the restoration is not limited to “Italianizing” a space, but builds a place of conscious representation, where Italian cultural identity is expressed through the scale, proportion, and quality of the space. It is architecture that dialogues with the Moroccan context without overlapping, transforming the residence into a cultural bridge between two worlds.