< Previous WHENEVER YVES S AINT LAURENT CREATED A HOME, a fi ctional nar- rative would inform the decoration. At Chateau Gabriel in Normandy, for instance, it was À La Recherche du Temps Perdu that provided in- spiration, with each room a differ- ent character from Proust’s novel. At Villa Mabrouka, which sits on a cliff-top just outside the Casbah in Tangier, the guiding fi ctional spirit was an eccentric Englishwoman who had come to live in Tangier in the 1950s. Saint Laurent envisaged Rose Cumming chintz, and each room a different colour. Most of all, the scheme would be light and uplifting. When the designer and his partner, Pierre Bergé, decided to move here in 1998, they enlisted the help of decorator Jacques Grange, who had worked with them on most of their properties. “I want a lighter universe,” Saint Laurent told Grange,“because all my houses are very Tutankhamun-like.” And, indeed, the contrast with Normandy and the other houses Bergé shared with Saint Laurent is striking: these rooms are spare, open, and fresh, with very little hanging on the whitewashed walls. And yet there is some continuation here: in the Monet-inspired fres- coes that also featured in the couple’s Normandy home; and in the palm-lined corridor that is, as in Normandy, an homage to Princess Mathilde’s winter garden room in Paris. In the garden proper, the slopes and terraces have been planted with vines, bougainvillea, lem- on trees, roses, and hollyhocks by landscape designer Madison Cox, who was a close friend of the couple and, since Bergé’s death in 2017, president of the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent. When Yves Saint Laurent died in 2008, Pierre Bergé closed Villa Mabrouka – which means “luck” in Arabic – moving to the Villa Léon l’Africain in town. But nearly ten years later, Bergé, now wheelchair- bound, decided he would spend the summer of 2017 back at Ma- brouka. The house was readied for his arrival; a garden pavilion, painted with trompe-l’oeil climbing plants by Lawrence Mynott, was transferred from Léon l’Africain and reassembled in the garden. As it turns out, Bergé passed away before ever returning to Mabrouka. But the light-fi lled House of Luck, looking out over the Strait of Gibraltar, was in his thoughts to the very end. When the villa’s contents were auctioned the following year, the sale broke Sotheby’s records—testa- ment to Bergé’s exceptionally fi ne taste, and to the legendary glamour that the designer’s belongings invoke. Inside Tangier: Houses & Gardens by Nicolò Castellini Baldissera with photography by Guido Taroni is published by Vendome Press. ABOVE: The garden is planted with Italian lemon trees, iceberg roses, bougainvillea and hydrangeas which surround a fountain created by garden designer Madison Cox. Situated on a cliff fi ve minutes uphill from downtown Tangier, the villa overlooks the Strait of Gibraltar and the southern coast of Spain. RIGHT: The entrance hall has a harlequin patterned marble fl oor. The Sixties architecture of the villa incorporates modernist elements with Moroccan tradition. AD_120-125_Arena_Tangier YSL_11016888.indd 12209/12/2019 05:27:54 PM123 AR E N A/ T a n g ier AD_120-125_Arena_Tangier YSL_11016888.indd 12309/12/2019 05:28:14 PMP H O T O S : S A LV A L O P E Z F O R M O N O C L E , R IC A R D O B O F IL L , G E S TA LT E N 2 0 19 ; SAL V A LO PEZ CO U R TE SY O F R ICAR DO BO FI LL , G E S TAL TE N 2 0 19 “ The light-filled House of Luck was in his thoughts to the very end ” AD_120-125_Arena_Tangier YSL_11016888.indd 12409/12/2019 05:28:24 PM125 AR E N A/ T a n g ier The ethereal garden pavilion was painted with trompe l’oeil climbing plants by the artist Lawrence Mynott. AD_120-125_Arena_Tangier YSL_11016888.indd 12509/12/2019 05:28:47 PM126 Under the patronage of HE Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa and HE Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, a restored traditional home turned modern boutique hotel is reviving one of Bahrain’s oldest districts THE HOMECOMING AR E N A/ Muh a rr a q Words Jumana Abdel-Razzaq Photography Aasiya Jagadeesh AD_126-131_ARENA_Bahrain_11067433.indd 12609/12/2019 05:30:27 PMABOVE: The tiled courtyard is topped with a brilliant skylight. OPPOSITE PAGE: HE Shaikha Mai (left) and HE Noura Al Kaabi. AD_126-131_ARENA_Bahrain_11067433.indd 12709/12/2019 05:30:37 PM128 A UNESCO world heritage site since 2012, the trail is founded alongside the former residences and majlises of wealthy pearl merchants, old storage houses and the long-standing Siyadi family mosque. Recently, Muharraq has become recognised as a centre for arts and culture, benefi ting from an expansive reha- bilitation programme to preserve its distinctive Gulf ar- chitecture – and being awarded an Agha Khan Award for Architecture in the process. Several other restoration projects are currently underway too, which can be found in the narrow alleyways that make up Muharraq’s histor- ic district and bustling souq. Nuzul Al Salam is one such project. A government ren- ovation scheme, and part of The Year Of Zayed initiative between the UAE’s Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development and Bahrain’s Shaikh Ebrahim Center for Culture and Research, the former Fathallah House has gone through a major transformation. “The story starts with the houses of Muharraq, and this particular home is one of the more distinct in the area due to its historic Bahraini façade and signifi cant loca- tion,” explains Sheikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, chairwoman of the board of trustees of the Sheikh Ebra- him Centre for Culture and Research. Both the Sheikha and the UAE Minister of Culture and Knowledge Devel- opment, HE Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, attended an event offi cially inaugurating the hotel in October. “My dream from the beginning was to renovate Fathal- lah House as it has been a cultural landmark in Muharraq since 1947, and a key tourist destination for visitors to the Pearling Path,” adds Sheikha Mai. For the renovation, Sheikha Mai personally recom- mended Bahraini architect Ammar Basheir as the interi- or designer for the project, who meticulously trans- formed the building from a dishevelled state, into a modern boutique hotel. “Looking at the neighbourhood, my main goal for the design was to create a sense of inti- macy,” Basheir says. “I didn’t want something that would overwhelm and alienate visitors.” The hotel includes a majlis, or reception area, and a dining room which border a central courtyard dotted with relaxation spots among fragrant citrus trees. The six FROM TOP: Sea is fi ttingly washed with deep blue tones; a Bojka tapestry in the courtyard. AT THE HEAR T OF MUHARRA Q, B AHRAIN’S THIRD LARGES T CITY AND FORMER CAPITAL, IS THE PEARLING PATHWAY. AD_126-131_ARENA_Bahrain_11067433.indd 12809/12/2019 05:30:50 PMFROM TOP: The dining room is dedicated to HH Sheikh Zayed; the project’s interior designer Ammar Basheir; Light has pale lavender walls. . vibrantly decorated suites are inspired by the mythical epic of Gilgamesh’s the fl ower of eternity. Each suite is named after a theme from the poem – Light, Vision, Flower of Eternity, Sea, Hope and Sun - and has its own character. Light, for example, has an airy feel with pale lavender walls and sage green drapery, while the other rooms are bedecked in pretty hues from warm corals and golds to deepest sea blue. “Muharraq has a certain quality and you can feel it when you’re walking around the area,” says Al Kaabi. “Nuzul Al Salam is the fi rst hotel on the Pearling Path- way, and it has a story that we want to share and preserve. When we look at the relationship between the UAE and Bahrain, it’s a historical one, and one that dates back to the days of the founder, His Highness the late Sheikh Zayed. The hotel symbolises continued collaboration.” It was important then, that the project include a Bah- raini and a quintessentially Gulf character – but some- thing that was authentic to the period of the building. “There was this whole perception that we were going to do a typical interpretation of Arabesque, which I wanted to avoid,” Basheir says. “In the 1930s and 40s, we didn’t actually have Arabesque; that style was acquired later on.” The tiles in the courtyard for example, with their blue and green bird motifs, are reminiscent of old coloni- al patterns, while Terrazzo fl ooring, a material often used in the region’s older buildings, has been used inside. Oth- er parts of the hotel, like the majlis, which has been trans- formed into a chic reception and sitting area, have been decorated with vintage accessories like old radios, musi- cal instruments and contemporary tapestries, including several from Lebanese design fi rm Bokja, which hang in the courtyard and dining room. All the artworks in the property are by regional and Bahraini artists. The stand-out architectural feature is the oak-and- steel parametric staircase in the courtyard. It is made from 700 pieces of wood, with each piece hand carved and individually fi xed onto the metal frame. “People in Bahrain used to build ships and dhows, and I wanted to pay tribute to that craftsmanship in a very complex way,” says Bashier, who has also given a nod to Gulf heritage in the dining room. Here, he collaborated with Belgian lighting fi rm Kinetura to design a custom-made kinetic wall installation dedicated to Sheikh Zayed, in honour of The Year of Zayed. It features moon eclipse lights fi tted with motion sensors that move with the observer. “I hope this project helps to attract people to this her- itage site, to bring them back to a location that has been forgeotten for decades,” Shaikha Mai adds. “Nuzul Al Salam is unlike any hotel – it has its own distinct person- ality and a rich, old soul – much like Muharraq itself.” shaikhebrahimcenter.org AD_126-131_ARENA_Bahrain_11067433.indd 12909/12/2019 05:31:15 PM125130 AR E N A/ Muh a rr a q AD_126-131_ARENA_Bahrain_11067433.indd 13009/12/2019 05:31:37 PM125 A corner of the ochre-walled Sun suite, the largest in the hotel. OPPOSITE PAGE: local art and vintage accessories are found throughout the property. “ Nuzul Al Salam has a rich, old soul – much like Muharraq itself ” AD_126-131_ARENA_Bahrain_11067433.indd 13109/12/2019 05:31:47 PMNext >