Riad Rêve d'Orient - The Secret Garden

Riad comes from the Arabic word riyāḍ, which means garden. It is a typical traditional Moroccan architecture, which has very ancient origins. 

It draws inspiration from the Roman domus, to develop mainly during the Almoravid dynasty, in Morocco and Andalusia.

For several centuries riads developed only in the medinas, the historic centers of cities. In recent years, many of these homes have been restored and transformed into tourist accommodation.

Riads are not simple homes, but contain a real lifestyle, where the attention is focused on the interiors. The entire building is built around a garden or courtyard, where water is the protagonist. There are pools or fountains, plants and flowers, surrounded by an arcade.

The floors and walls are decorated in a traditional way with geometric figures, mosaics and inlays.

The building is divided into floors and surmounted by a terrace at roof level from which you can enjoy a wonderful view.

The symmetry of spaces is very important and the external walls were usually made of rammed earth or mud bricks.

The roofs are made of turquoise colored tiles, in stark contrast with the color of the external walls. This color contrast is also noticeable inside, the true heart of the Riad!

The pool is square in shape and green in color, with turquoise mosaics, and the same motif is repeated on the edges of the room, and on the staircase leading to the first floor.

At the back there is a relaxation area with sofas and curtains, which offers a lot of privacy to visitors.

On the opposite side of the staircase there is a small table where you can taste the excellent Atay Naa Naa, a typical Moroccan mint tea.

The first floor overlooks the interior entirely. However, there are two balconies to admire what is happening in the streets of the medina.

On the larger one you can spend pleasant moments perhaps playing cards or chatting with friends.

A large lantern in brass and colored glass, and other decorations also in brass, create a very characteristic atmosphere.

The plants and flowers are a pleasant constant inside the building, from the entrance to the roof, and give peace and serenity to visitors. They recall the scents and flavors of the East. For this reason the Riad is called Rêve d'Orient, which means Dream of the East.

I love sets that are inspired by real-life architecture and recreating a Riad in LEGO bricks would be something absolutely magnificent.

Even though the final set may be different from this project, I'm sure there will be lots of fun construction techniques used to recreate the mosaics, the porticoes, the vegetation and all the typical elements of this building. 

In fact, dozens of completely different Riads could be created, but all beautiful, simply respecting the architectural canons handed down over the centuries until today.

If you want to add the Riad to your collection and bring the Rêve d'Orient to your home, now you can! 😃