Traditional Moroccan WOOD Ceilings: ZOUAQ PAINTING AND HAND CARVING

One of the most beautiful, strong, and intricate features in Moroccan architecture are the traditional wood ceilings which are hand carved and hand painted. It is a main component of the decoration of private homes and sacred spaces in Morocco.

The hand painted designs used for the traditional ceilings is called Zouaq.  The painting technique originated in Morocco and consists of detailed geometric and floral patterns in a multitude of colours. This traditional painting is composed of geometric and biomorphic motifs and is painted onto wood using natural pigments.
Zouaq painting can be found painted onto ceilings, doors, furniture and wooden objects. 

Geometric Design and Floral Motifs are used in the design of the ceiling patterns. Based on Islamic beliefs, avoiding the use of human or animal images is preferable.

Color Symbolism ​

Color
Blue
Greenish
Turquoise
Fresh Fez Blue
Electric Majorelle Blue
Dark and Light Indigos 
Sky

Meaning
Heaven, Water, Planet Mercury. Color could protect from evil eyes.

​Found in Tiling, Floor, Textiles, Door and window frames, Garden furniture​

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Color
​White
Ivory
​Beige

​Cleanness, Good luck, Beauty, Femininity. As a complement to other Moroccan patterns that use darker colors.

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Color
​Red
Salmon
Rose
Pink
Fuchsia
Violet
​Bordeaux

​Female, Sexuality, Fertility, Childbirth which relates to happy marriage. Some said it also represent the planet Mars.

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Color
​Black
Soft Black
Smoke
​Brown

​Though the scheme is popularly used, however it holds a negative connotation. These colors are likely to bring bad luck and grief.

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Color
​Green
Bottle Green
Blue Green
Grass Green

​​The color relates with the interpretation of heaven or paradise.

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Color
​Yellow Gold
Lemon Yellow
Dark Yellow
Orange Yellow
​Orange

​Gold, Wealth, Sun. Believed that these colors would protect them from evil.

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​​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moroccan_architecture

Traditional contemporary wood ceiling at the Royal Mansour Hotel, Marrakech, Morocco

Traditional contemporary wood ceiling at the Royal Mansour Hotel, Marrakech, Morocco

This is a new hand carved, hand painted traditional wood ceiling using traditional motifs on cedar wood

Here you can see a hand drawn template, hand cut and used to trace the pattern onto the cedar wood ceiling in pencil. The pattern is then hand painted with custom colours.

Colours are matched to the design and mixed for an exact colour match

In the workshop, the artisans have many templates and spend hours perfecting the technique and matching the designs

The hand carved frieze and ceiling elements are done by first sketching the design with a template and then hand chiselling the soft cedar wood

Below is an example of a traditional reeded ceiling.

Intricate details in the frieze, and trims conceal air slots for HVAC air supply and return grills