A proposal was made by the authorities of the town for the construction of over 20 shops, craft workshops, an exhibition hall/trading centre, a café-restaurant, and eight guest rooms. The architect set himself the tasks of creating a suitable entrance to both the existing and the new construction as well as obscuring, as much as possible, the views to nearby industrial buildings. In orther to achieve these aims, he chose to build the Kissaria with massive, formed mud walls like those of the ancient casbah. Other traditional materials and techniques were used throughout: brick, zellige tiles, cedar, eucalyptus and laurel. Even paint was avoided, and the internal plaster finish was coloured by adding red earth. The use of such materials, very generous floor-to-ceiling heights, and natural light filtering through deep set windows combine to create interesting efects throughout the Kissaria.

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture