Dar Kawa is my home, in the medina of Marrakech. It is a former ‘Zaouïa’, a place of prayer and meditation for the Sufi brotherhood. I bought it in 1996 and spent three years having it restored. At the time, I was living in Moscow. I arrived in Marrakech without a single piece of furniture. The architect in charge of the restoration, Quentin Wilbaux, had surveyed the medina for UNESCO. He suggested I live in the house as people did in the 17th century: cushions, rugs, no furniture at all. I refused straight away. I wanted to restore an old house and live in the 21st century. So everything had to be found. I commissioned beds from Marrakech designers and furniture from blacksmiths, and I spent a lot of time in the flea markets. The wardrobes, washbasins, kitchen, floors and walls are all the work of the city’s craftspeople. Working with them was a necessity, since I had nothing. It was also a choice, from day one. It took me a long time to appreciate what that meant. In October 2023, I attended a seminar by Li Edelkoort, the trend forecaster. She spoke about UXUA, a hotel in Trancoso, Brazil, […]