The Moroccan lime plaster Tadelakt was developed by the Berbers several thousand years ago. The name Tadelakt comes from "dellek" in the Tamazight language of the Amazigh and means something like kneading or crushing. The lime pressing technique used creates a strong compaction, which results in high strength, watertightness and a glossy effect. The Tadelakt plastering technique is very complex and it requires a high level of skill to enrich walls with Tadelakt or to create objects from Tadelakt. Originally, Tadelakt was used to seal cisterns. The material, which has a noble appearance, also became popular for plastering Moroccan hamams. Due to constant development and the addition of various color pigments, the technique found great popularity and is still used today in palace rooms and luxurious hotels.
Tadelakt is made from a natural, highly hydrolyzed shell limestone from the region around Marrakesh . Tadelakt is applied with a trowel, smoothed with wooden or plastic panels and finally compacted and polished with semi-precious stones. This is the most time-consuming part of the processing of Tadelakt. The smooth stone is rubbed against the Tadelakt plaster in circular movements using black olive soap until a shiny surface is created. The surface is made hydrophobic in a similar way to the Italian " stucco lustro " technique . The lime and components of the soap combine to form lime soap that is difficult to dissolve in water . The white-grey Tadelakt powder can be refined with various color pigments . These are stirred into the wet mass. Source: Wikipedia Literature:
At L’ORIENT there are various objects made of Tadelakt. Once you have touched Tadelakt, you will never be able to get enough of it. The pleasant surface begs to be stroked again and again.
