Casablanca’s Cube Tower is Defined by Stacked Concrete Blocks

Architecture shapes not only buildings but the ways people occupy and move through a city. In Casablanca’s new business district, compressed urban density has left little room for public life. Streets are narrow, and most façades retreat behind private lobbies and retail setbacks.

The Cube Tower designed by OUALALOU+CHOI, addresses this condition by lifting above the ground, extending the street into the heart of the property. Beneath the raised volume, an enormous stair descends into a sunken plaza within the building’s footprint. Part amphitheatre, part civic space, it provides a rare gathering place in a neighbourhood where public space is otherwise minimal. The tower introduces a sense of public prerogative, offering room for the city to occupy the building rather than being blocked at its perimeter.

Surrounded by a patchwork of competing architectural forms, the Cube Tower presents a restrained presence. It is composed of stacked blocks of raw white concrete, each varying subtly in size. These shifts create a quiet rhythm, a musical interplay of light and shadow that animates the façade as the sun moves across Casablanca. Traditional architectural elements disappear, leaving scale ambiguous and emphasising the tower’s abstract, monolithic form.

OUALALOU+CHOI, based in Paris and Casablanca, approach architecture as a means of negotiating context, culture, and function. Founded by Tarik OUALALOU and Linna CHOI, the studio seeks to challenge constraints and produce work that resonates across multiple settings. In the Cube Tower, this philosophy is evident in the careful integration of public space, the considered restraint of the form, and the building’s ability to engage both the city and its inhabitants.