This book takes architects and designers on a worldwide journey to discover the most stylish and appealing spots, from an urban getaway in Europe to a resort on a South Pacific island, providing a serene ...
Magic Carpet Ride: More than a hundred Moroccan artists worked in metal, stone and fabric to manifest a myth about young lovers and flying carpets as Marrakech’s luxe riad, Ana Yela.
By Mary Scoviak
The kick-off meeting with the 120 designers, artisans and artists who would create Marrakech’s Riad Ana Yela started not with a design brief but with a story. Owners Bernd and Andrea Kolb wove a tale about an imaginary 16-year-old Moroccan woman named Yela who once lived in the 300-year-old city palace, fell in love during clandestine rooftop meetings and agreed to a flying carpet ride that ended with her “yes” to her young suitor’s marriage proposal. No spec sheet or due diligence numbers could have achieved the same level of buy-in.
“One of the biggest challenges in a project like this is forming a team that follows one vision. So we thought that sharing our vision in the form of this story would help generate a common spirit,” says Bernd Kolb. “It got the people involved talking about Yela and her magic carpet, spreading the message by word of mouth. Whether German, French or Moroccan, they felt part of a team that was taking on something new, different, romantic.”
Handcrafting a Hotel
It wasn’t just the presentation that signaled a change in direction. German entrepreneur Bernd Kolb had already shaken up the advertising/marketing world with his I-D Media, picking up more than 100 awards and a seat on the Board of German Telekom for Innovation in the process. The Kolbs wanted a similar break with conventional ideas about design when they bought this house in Marrakech’s historic Medina district and decided to transform it into a hotel. “Design is more than a visual concept. It has to touch all of the senses, and it has to do that with a holistic sense of authenticity,” says Andrea Kolb.
Collaborating with his in-house designer Yannick Hervy, Bernd Kolb took authenticity to a new extreme. He visited local artisans’ shops and talent-spotted in the city’s souks. “We ordered one piece as a sample and gave the artisan a deadline. Then we looked at the quality, originality, finesse of the details, timeliness and overall reliability,” says Bernd Kolb. “Marrakech is a city famous for its craftsman. You can find skills here that have been lost in other parts of the world. It doesn’t matter if the material is wood, metal or fabric, there is an unrivaled beauty in the handmade work here.”