Moroccan Courtyard: Water, Citrus, and Cloisters

A riad courtyard. Symmetrical rectangular plan, with a square shallow pool embedded in the ground at the center, its surface almost still, with only a thin stream falling from a glazed tile spout on the wall. In each of the four corners, a fruiting citrus tree is planted in a terracotta pot. The ground is covered with large-scale black and white geometric mosaic tiles. Surrounding it are two-story arcades supported by horseshoe arches and slender marble columns, with the upper-level railing made of dense turned wood screens. The lower section of the walls is covered with glazed tiles, and the upper section is off-white carved plaster. Looking up, there is a square of blue sky. Avoid: making the courtyard an asymmetrical free-form garden, using large fountains, enclosing the atrium with glass or grilles, making the arcade columns thick and robust.

Translated from Chinese by AI.

一個里亞德的中庭。對稱的長方形平面,中央一座嵌在地面的方形淺水池,水面幾乎不動,只有一道細流從牆上的釉磚水嘴落下;四角各一棵結著果的柑橘樹種在赤陶盆裡。地面是大尺度的黑白幾何拼磚。四周是馬蹄拱與細大理石柱撐起的兩層迴廊,上層的欄杆是密集的車枳木格屏。牆的下段包著釉磚,上段是米白的雕花石膏。抬頭是一方藍天。避免:把中庭做成不對稱的自由庭院、使用大型噴泉、用玻璃或格柵封住天井、讓迴廊的柱子做得粗壯。