Dar Sidi Bounou

“Dar Sidi Bounou is a very special creation …. a haven of peace and creativity,  away from the tourist traps.  Thank you all, because your place is truly inspiring;   the wonderful gatherings, your vast knowledge of music, the delicious food, the treks in the desert in good company, the connection with the local population…… all that conjoined to give us a really different sense of  time, the ultimate de-stressing experience. Many things will happen in this place,    many artists will make it their   adopted platform,   we are very keen to follow it up and to see, hear and feel what will come out of Dar Sidi Bounou.”  4.2009         LAURENT   &  CLARE           LONDON

We also intend to develop an Atelier here to enable Craftsmen and Artists to produce works of Craft and Art to market directly here at Dar Sidi Bounou.  We are particularly interested in encouraging the use of Recycled and Waste Materials which are normally overlooked such as metal offcuts, domestic packaging, and the trunks of dead palm trees. We have already started in a small way to work on this project.   One of our permanent workers, Salim is a very creative person,  who is an instinctive artist and designer and has for some time been making interesting and sometimes useful objects, mainly from waste metal as he is a skillful welder.  These include Lanterns,  Furniture for the Garden,  Shelf Units and an ingenious  pivoting  Computer Chair in the form of a ‘Fatima Hand’ that utilizes a gear mechanism from a bicycle as the pivot. We also want to add some  wood working equipment.   Using a corner of the property that is adjacent to the road to make a   small Atelier/Shop/Gallery we would have a range of unique goods that were not for sale anywhere else in Tourist Shops. Once we have started,  possibly other creative people, women in particular,  from the area will turn up with things that might be salable like clothing and decorative accessories, both old and new.

Mud ( Rammed Earth, Loeh, Daub, Pise)  is a traditional building material in Morocco. It has been used to construct buildings and walls ever since Settlements began and it is still the usual material of choice  in rural and desert areas of the South and where finance is in short supply. For simple structures in a very hot dry climate it is a better choice than the more ‘modern’ cement. It is cheaper, quicker, better insulation in extreme temperatures, more able to cope with ground shifts,  easier to change and adapt,  completely ecological  and far more beautiful………..being made of the ground where it stands,  it naturally blends with it’s surrounding.  In the past,  particularly during the18th & 19th centuries when many of the great Kasbahs of the South were constructed, or enlarged, the structural and decorative  possibilities of the material were developed and extended. Many of these Kasbahs were Jewish in origin, but the Kasbah at Bounou is completely Berber. The two previous sites were nearby on the opposite bank of the Draa River.  The present structure, the third, was fully occupied until the start of a severe drought about 25 years ago. There are some very large shady Tamarisk trees surviving on the banks of the dried up River. A melancholy reminder of how very beautiful it must have been there once,  a paradise for all,  particularly for children to grow up in. Unfortunately some of the roofs of the Kasbah have now collapsed and drifting sand has invaded.  Remarkably there is still a lot of the fine work still visible, inspite of occasional torrential rain storms and erroding strong winds.  Some Berber families still  inhabit the Kasbah and it seems that there might be some work of  repair and possibly restoration undertaken in the near future. The river is occasionally full and flowing after heavy rain and winter runoff,  more so in the past two years.

When Dar Sidi Bounou was aquired there was a small traditional one story house on the property. Rather than knock it down and start a new structure it was repaired and improved using traditional Beldi (rural) materials and techniques.  My interest in Rammed Earth construction started when I accidentally discovered the work of the great Egyptian Architect, Hassan Fathy. In the course of the development of the property,   further small buildings and walls have been constructed with Mud (Loeh), Palm Wood, Cassia and Bamboo.We are now starting more constructions, an atelier for me, some guest rooms, workrooms, storage, a cave salon,  and some more animal houses.

We have engaged an excellent team of workers who have started building the new constructions in the traditional way…….the clay type top soil is moistened, dug up and mixed with sand,  put in baskets and carried to the position of the wooden formers (2 M.x 1M. x 30 cm.) where is is bashed down with a heavy end on mallet. By the time the former is full,  the Loeh is firm enough to remove  the supports and move them forward, and then to continue on. When the first rows are dry more rows of blocks can be added on top. The former is then supported on pieces of wood placed across the dry lower blocks.  Smaller ‘bricks’ for dividing walls and detailed construction are made by pouring semi liquid mud into a  wooden mold. By the time the worker has refilled his bucket the mud in the mold will have shrunk enough for the mold to be removed and filled again.When the block /brick construction is finished it is skimmed over inside, and possibly outside, with liquid Loeh,  with about the same consistancy and technique as plaster, to  which lime added to give extra strength and to discourage termites.

We own a piece of  adjacent desert land,  small dunes and palm groves, adjacent  to DSB and could aquire a further piece if necessary. We need more accomodation and facilities. We would be interested in working with an adventurous architect, who would like to come to the desert for a working holiday….. with the possiblity of developing his practical and  innovative ideas for a sustainable small development in the desert using local traditional methods and available local materials, but with new design concepts. Any projects would have to fit into our very limited budget and all that we could offer would be accomodation and food while at DSB, no pay or fees, just the oportunity for an ADVENTURE,  to do something UNUSUAL, probably have some FUN!  along the way…….. and possibly learn something of an ancient and useful skill.

<a href=”http://www.darsidibounou.com/wp-content/uploads/kids.jpg”>Morocco is very child friendly….everybody really likes children. They are never considered to be a problem or a nuisance.  Children can play freely in the garden and on the small dunes and open spaces near Dar Sidi Bounou.  Digging  and building, rolling and jumping in the clean deep sand enchants them ….. and keeps them well occupied for long periods. No need for electronic or plastic ‘toys’ in the desert’….. and there are always instruments, drums and other things that can be used to make rhythm and music. Local musicians are always happy to help the kids learn by encouraging them to participate in the music making that is a regular feature of life here. The kids could also practice  some French,  and maybe learn a bit of Arabic or Berber, as well as a lot about a very different culture by meeting some of the children of the Bounou area.

Kids are always fascinated by the Camels, as well as by the other lovely Animals who live here.  Dogs and Cats arrive from the desert and stay and become part of the family…. and then they might leave again, because they are free spirits. The instinct to go wandering is very strong.  Sometimes they go off for a day or two with their friends,  or maybe much longer,  but usually they come back for a joyful reunion,  a good dinner and a long sleep.  We also have a growing flock of patchwork black, white and brown shaggy Sheeps in the garden …… and lots of Birds in the palms.    Come to see us in the Sahara Desert in the South of Morocco …… and bring the kids.