Aït Manos

It is through the Moorish mosaic tradition that The Alhambra, near Granada, Spain, became one of the most famous palaces in the world. At the time artisans were already using the technique of manually cut terracotta tiles called « Zellige ». This five- century-old technique is still alive and widespread in Morocco today.The old houses and palaces of Fez, Meknes, Tangiers and Marrakesh have inspired many designers and architects worldwide. The Aït Manos workshop of hand-made tiles was founded in 1994 with the mission to manufacture and supply these Moroccan mosaics to building sites all over the world. « Aït » means « tribe » in the Berber tongue, a language which comes from one of the two Moroccan cultures. « Manos » means « hands » which are at the heart of every manual activity. The idea which we had in creating Aït Manos was to preserve tradition while at the same time innovating, in order to supply foreign sites that cannot afford to bring in Moroccan craftsmen specializing in these crafts which are completely unique worldwide. Aït Manos permits not only the use and rapid installation of Moroccan « Zellige » for any foreign project but also the installation of hand-painted carved woodwork, traditional plasterwork, and any other know-how derived from artisanal craftwork. In 1997 Aït Manos obtained « the Aït Manos patent for pre-assembled ready to install zellige »