I F R O M T H E S C A L E O F T H E H A N D T O T H E S C A L E O F T H E C I T Y UNDERGRADUATE 2025 2026 A R C H I T E R E C T U P O R T F O L I O E S S A B I M A L A K

Casablanca, Morocco malak.essabi@um6p.ma +212 6 93 17 98 71 Between what exists and what is yet to be imagined is where I find ar- chitecture most compelling. Drawn to context, transformation and spa- tial experience, I explore design across scales from objects and exhibitions to buildings and urban spaces with the same attention to detail at every scale, approaching each intervention as a living whole rather than a static object. E S S A B I M A L A K

2021 — Present Final-Year Architecture Student School of Architecture, Planning & Design · UM6P 2020 — 2021 Baccalaureate in Physical Sciences La Joconde Photography Training Fondation Musée Abderrahman Slaoui EDUCATION 2026 — Archaeological School Competition 4th Place · Architectural Competition El Jadida, Morocco 2026 — Mosque Design Competition Architectural Competition · Benguerir, Morocco 2025 — Kaira Looro Architecture Competition International Architecture Competition 2024 — FIT House · International Design Charrette Post-Earthquake Emergency Housing COMPETITIONS & WORKSHOPS DESIGN 4U Architectural, Exhibition & Interior Design Assistant Project-Based Collaboration Selected Projects Moroccan Football Museum · Salé Oudayas National Jewellery Museum · Rabat Moroccan Pavilion · IMF–World Bank Annual Meetings · Marrakech AUDA · Anfa Urban Development Agency Technical Architecture Internship · July 2025 · 1 month ARAA · Atelier Rachid Andaloussi Architecte Architecture Internship · July 2024 · 1 month OCBM & Bohsina Architectes Construction Site Internship · July 2023 · 1 month EXPERIENCE STUDIO MEA Founder & Designer Design and fabrication of children’s furniture, toys and objects, exploring playful, functional and environmentally conscious design. PERSONAL PROJECTS DESIGN & BIM AutoCAD · Revit · Rhinoceros 3D VISUALIZATION Lumion · D5 Render GRAPHICS Adobe Photoshop · Illustrator · InDesign FABRICATION Model Making · 3D Printing · Laser Cutting SKILLS Museums & Exhibitions · Photography · Travel · Model Making & Fabrication · Digital Sketching · Volunteering · Chess INTERESTS Arabic · Native French · Fluent English · Fluent LANGUAGES RESUME 03

Project type: Railway station Architectural Design Studio Academic year: 2025–2026 GARE CASA SUD FACADE Project type: Arc Architectural Academic year EVO 04 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK Project type: Hotel Facade Architectural Design Studio Academic year: 2025–2026

eology School ompetition 2025–2026 RIA CONTENTS 05 Project type: Brick Composition Fablab Design Studio Academic year: 2025–2026 Project type: Mosquee Architectural Competition Academic year: 2025–2026 LATCHMOSQUE BAB ARRAHMA

Location : Casablanca, Morocco Project type: Railway station Academic year: 2025–2026 Individual project Professors : Mohammed Amine Siana & Saad El Kabbaj Gare Casa Sud is conceived as a contem- porary railway station where infrastructure, public space and urban movement converge. Inspired by railway trajectories and the continuous flow of passengers, the project develops as a fluid architectural landscape organized around a central hall, elevated public spaces and two exterior promenades. Rather than functioning solely as a place of transit, the station becomes an inhabited civ- ic space that connects the city, the platforms and the different rhythms of travel. 06 GARE CASA SUD PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

0707 GARE CASA SUD

Movement forms the project’s principal architectural lan- guage. The trajectories of trains, passengers and pedestri- ans shape the building’s curved geometry, horizontal lines and spatial sequence. Circulation is treated not merely as a functional necessity but as an experience: ramps, open floor plates and visual connections guide users intuitively through the station while transforming each journey into a continuous progression through space. Masterplan 08 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

GARE CASA SUD 09 The flow The rise The collector The confluence The trace DESTINATION Level +10.00 Administrative and elevated public spaces DEPARTURE HALL Level +6.00 Waiting areas, retail and passenger services TRANSIT Level +6.00 Platform access and rail circulation ARRIVAL Level +0.00 Reception hall and public interface ACCESS Level -4.00 Multimodal access and station servicing.

An exterior ramp rises gradually from the surround- ing landscape and unfolds around the station as an elevated public promenade. It extends the city into the architecture, connecting the ground level with the departure hall and upper spaces without interrupting the continuity of move- ment. Accessible beyond the immediate act of trav- el, this ramp create places for walking, pausing and observing, transforming the station into an inhabited urban topography. 10 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

24 22 20 18 16 14 FEDCB 12 10 8 6 A 86.24 m² Local Technique 69.09 m² Local Technique 75.20 m² Local Technique 182.49 m² Local Technique 46.58 m² Local Technique 101.88 m² Local Technique 229.11 m² Local Technique 27 26 23 25 21 19 17 15 13 11 9 7 5 4 3 28 29 30 31 32 2 1 79.15 m² Local Technique 190.85 m² Local Technique 200 1:400 10.00 45.00 10.00 12.50 2424 2222 2020 1818 1616 1414 FEDCB 1212 1010 88 66 215.44 m² Front Office 117.35 m² Zone de Stockage Chariots 330.09 m² Service Embarque 247.73 m² Commerce 101.61 m² Zone de Stockage Chariots 646.71 m² Embarquement 241.11 m² Commerce 367.46 m² Commerce 370.84 m² Commerce 416.12 m² Commerce 387.42 m² Front Office 42.20 m² Vestiaire 19.76 m² Pièce 14.33 m² Coffre28.23 m² Pièce 23.36 m² Pièce 17.12 m² Local Stockage Billets 28.40 m² Vestaire 88.16 m² Salle De Priere H 102.19 m² Salle De Priere F 34.05 m² Pièce 31.60 m² Pièce 24.91 m² Pièce A 2727 2626 2323 2525 2121 1919 1717 1515 1313 1111 99 77 G 165.06 m² Commerce 42.46 m² B. Equipe de gestion 55.65 m² Local ST Materiel / Produits Menage 35.70 m² Menage 33.21 m² Local Stockage gare 31.70 m² Local L Equip M Gare 26.43 m² Reserves securite Gardinage 63.50 m² B. Superviseur SSI 48.70 m² Esp. Multiservices 73.73 m² Local Stockage Gares 23.42 m² Pièce H I J K 55 44 33 2828 2929 3030 3131 183.16 m² Commerce 288.15 m² Reserve 3232 22 11 1271.89 m² Pièce 844.07 m² Local Technique 200 1:400 4142.11 m² Hall d'Embarquement 1825.99 m² Hall principal 1139.72 m² Hall principal Ground floor planParking plan GARE CASA SUD 11

24 22 20 18 16 14 FEDCB 12 10 8 6 646.32 m² CCR 339.42 m² Commerce 313.74 m² Commerce 272.97 m² Commerce 526.72 m² Restaurant 433.25 m² Commerce 347.00 m² Commerce 474.17 m² Commerce 237.79 m² Commerce 249.12 m² Co-working space 124.13 m² Restaurant A 27 26 23 25 21 19 17 15 13 11 9 7 G 275.97 m² Commerce 447.92 m² Salon AL BORAQ 140.82 m² Commerce 229.86 m² Salle d'honneur 168.02 m² Salon VIP 155.44 m² Commerce 221.09 m² Commerce 126.69 m² Commerce H I J K 5 4 3 28 29 30 31 93.91 m² Back Office 32 2 1 Non fermée Terrasse Non fermée Terrasse 200 1:400 1573.34 m² Hall principal 25.86 m² Local Technique 24 22 20 18 16 14 FEDCB 12 10 8 6 A 27.97 m² Chef GV 25.10 m² B. Chef Conduite 43.59 m² Chef Etab T Sud 50.53 m² Chef Gare Sud 37.50 m² B. Chef de Gare 104.03 m² Centre OP COG 66.79 m² B. COG 94.39 m² Local Technique sono info 83.60 m² Salle de Reuion/Formation 51.00 m² Salle de Crise 56.10 m² Archive / Stockage Fournitures 27 26 23 25 21 19 17 15 13 11 9 7 18.72 m² B. assistant 18.80 m² B. encadrant 20.95 m² B. Res train GV 17.56 m² Bureau 11.49 m² Bureau 11.42 m² Bureau 35.28 m² B. Chef TC 67.05 m² B. Etab T Sud 47.90 m² B. Etab Gare Sud 14.56 m² B. Res train GV 37.00 m² B. Re train TC 5 4 3 28 29 30 31 74.54 m² Refectoire 29.65 m² Vestiaire 99.23 m² B.Chef RER 278.00 m² Co-working space 273.08 m² Restaurant 32 2 1 46.17 m² Pièce 200 1:400 343.54 m² Hall principal First floor plan Second floor plan 12 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

Facade Section AA’ Section BB’ GARE CASA SUD 13

Technical detail 14 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

This layered façade filters daylight, moderates views and partially re- veals the life of the station through reflections and moving silhouettes. Its appearance changes throughout the day, transforming the building from a light, diffuse volume into a luminous civic landmark after dark. A translucent double skin unifies the sta- tion within a continuous, undulating silhou- ette. Corrugated polycarbonate panels form the outer layer, while an inner glazed curtain wall maintains transparency and enclosure. GARE CASA SUD 15

The station brings together different modes and speeds of movement within a clear ver- tical organization. Multimodal access, parking and technical functions form its infrastructur- al base, while the arrival hall establishes the main interface with the city. Departure, retail and collective spaces occupy the upper levels. Large interior voids maintain visual connec- tions between these layers, improving orien- tation and allowing the movement of passen- gers to remain visible throughout the building. 16 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

GARE CASA SUD 17 Physical Model Project type: Railway station Academic year: 2025–2026

Location: Casablanca, Morocco Project type: Hotel Façade Architectural Design Studio Academic year: 2025–2026 Individual project The hotel is conceived as a rising, outward-ex- panding volume. Each successive floor projects beyond the one below, gradually increasing the floor area at each successive level and creat- ing a distinctive inverted silhouette. Continuous curved floor plates follow the geometry of the site and wrap around the building, while the recessed ground floor preserves openness and reinforces the impression of a heavier volume suspended above the public realm. HOTEL FACADE 18 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

HOTEL FACADE 19

The curvature of the floor plates continues inside the hotel, guiding circu- lation along the changing geometry of the façade. Technical detail 20 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

The façade is treated as an inhabited threshold rather than a flat exterior surface. Corten- steel frames are positioned along the edges of the projecting slabs, extending the rooms into deep balconies and protected outdoor spaces. Their alternating placement trans- forms the regular hotel grid into a varied three-dimensional composition, where each opening acquires its own depth, orientation and relationship with the view. These frames provide shade and privacy while giving the envelope its robust material character. HOTEL FACADE 21

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The hotel’s architectural identity emerges from the contrast between three distinct forces: the fluid curvature of the floor plates, the robust or- thogonality of the Corten openings and the progressive expansion of the building as it rises. The horizontal slabs sweep continuously around the volume, while the frames interrupt this movement with weight, depth and vertical rhythm. Together, they produce a controlled tension between softness and rigidity, continuity and fragmentation giving the hotel a light, flowing silhouette from a distance and a powerful tectonic presence at close range. HOTEL FACADE 23

Location: El Jadida, Morocco Project type: Archaeology School Architectural Competition Academic year: 2025–2026 Team project Fourth Place Evoria is an archaeology school conceived at the intersection of knowledge, memory and place. The project does not simply occupy an archaeological landscape; it establishes a rela- tionship with the histories embedded within it. Architecture becomes both an instrument for studying the past and a medium through which it can be encountered, questioned and transmit- ted. EVORIA 24 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

EVORIA 25

Masterpl an The project is structured around two complementary realms. On one side, the school gathers the precise spaces of archae- ological work. On the other, an immersive public route trans- lates the history of the city into a sequence of spatial experi- ences. A central axis holds these two worlds together, allowing academic life and public discovery to remain distinct while con- tinually meeting through views, crossings and shared spaces. 26 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

EVORIA 27

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A narrow passage unfolds be- tween two temporal layers: the raw presence of the ruins and a contemporary perforated wall. The existing remains are kept within sight yet beyond reach, turning distance into an expression of waiting, resistance and memory. As sunlight passes through the geometric screen, fragments of light and shadow accompany the visitor along the compressed path. EVORIA 29

The exhibition route is conceived as a passage through five defining periods of El Jadida. It begins below ground, within a dark and compressed space that evokes a memory not yet revealed. The path then moves between framed ruins, con- trolled passages and fragmented spaces, translating resistance, occupation and abandonment into physical conditions. In its final sequence, the architecture opens toward water and zenithal light. The journey is more than a chronological display of history, but a gradual transformation of the visitor from uncertainty and confinement toward release and renewal. 30 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

Ground floor plan Section AA’ EVORIA 31 1. Main Entrance 2. Reception 3. Shop 4. Women’s Prayer Room 5. Men’s Prayer Room 6. Restrooms 7. Exhibition Room 1 8. Exhibition Room 2 9. Exhibition Room 3 10. Exhibition Room 4 11. Exhibition Room 5 12. Storage Room 13. Management Office 14. Multipurpose Workshops 15. Gathering Space 16. Workshops 17. Classrooms 18. Archaeology Workshop 19. Study Area 20. Library 21. Restrooms 22. Administration Offices 23. Laboratories 24. Technical Rooms 25. Outdoor Garden 26. Restaurant / Café 27. Kitchen 28. Underground Gallery 29. Auditorium 30. Outdoor Seating Steps

The project is shaped by this tension between what remains and what has disappeared between the physical presence of architecture and the absence held within memory. 32 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

Long walls, deep overhangs and filtered openings frame fragments of sky, stone and vegetation, while shifts in light and enclosure give each space its emotional weight. EVORIA 33

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Within the school, archaeology is approached as a living practice rather than a distant body of knowledge. Workspaces remain visually connected to courtyards, fragments and ex- hibition areas, placing students in constant contact with the material they study. Patios draw daylight into the deep plan and create informal spaces for observation and exchange. EVORIA 35

Location: Benguerir, Morocco Project type: Mosque Architectural Competition Academic year: 2025–2026 Team project Bab Arrahma is conceived as a mosque of pas- sage: a gradual movement from the openness of the city toward silence, prayer and inner re- flection. Its octagonal geometry draws on the Islamic evocation of the eight gates of Paradise, giving the project both its symbolic order and spatial structure. Eight approaches converge toward a central courtyard, around which the prayer hall, learning spaces and communal pro- grams are gathered. The mosque becomes a place where different paths meet an architecture of mercy, unity and collective belonging. MOSQUE BAB ARRAHMA 36 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

MOSQUE BAB ARRAHMA 37

MasterplanConcept 38 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

Ground floor plan MOSQUE BAB ARRAHMA 39

Mezzanine plan 40 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

MOSQUE BAB ARRAHMA 41

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At the heart of the mosque, the courtyard becomes the meeting point of its eight paths. Water, shade and the repetition of arches establish a calm interior world while maintaining a direct relationship with the sky. 43 MOSQUE BAB ARRAHMA

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SECTION SECTION MOSQUE BAB ARRAHMA 45

Within the prayer hall, light is treated as a pres- ence rather than simple illumination. It enters from above through a geometric canopy supported by branching, tree-like columns, then filters across the space in shifting patterns of light and shadow. Vertical openings and moucharabieh screens temper the intensity of the sun while pre- serving a sense of depth and mystery. As the light changes throughout the day, the interi- or acquires a living temporality, quietly mark- ing the passage between moments of prayer. 46 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

MOSQUE BAB ARRAHMA 47

Location: Vietnam Project type: Brick Composition Fablab Design Studio Academic year: 2025–2026 Team project Latch explores the transformation of the brick wall from a solid boundary into a porous and responsive architectural screen. Designed for a resting space in Vietnam’s warm climate, the wall negotiates between interior and exterior by filtering sunlight, encouraging natural ventila- tion and preserving privacy. Its changing densi- ty shapes the atmosphere of the room, allowing air, fragmented views and patterns of light to pass through the material. LATCH 48 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

LATCH 49

The screen transforms a regular brick grid through rotation, varied spacing and shifts between suc- cessive courses, creating a porous surface that fil- ters light, air and views. Gradual gaps, deliberate openings and irregular arrangements emerge from the position of each brick. A lightweight metal framework supports the modules: horizontal rails define the courses, while T-shaped steel rods pass through the hollow bricks and lock into the rails above and below. This assembly secures each unit while allowing varied orientations, making the construction detail cen- tral to both the screen’s expression and its envi- ronmental performance. InItIal l ayout alIgnMent rotatIon Inner brIck spacIng reverse roatIon to the base l ayer shIft the upper l ayer GENERATED OPENINGS IRREGULAR SPACING GRADUALLY VARYING BRICK SPACING sectIons technIcal detaIl 50 PORTFOLIO I ESSABI MALAK

51 LATCH Physical Model Project type: Brick Composition Fablab Design Studio

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53 SKETCHES

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