Written by Caleigh Canales
Cairo, Egypt
So much excitement in one day! We visited Casaroni House by Hassan Fathy in the outskirts of Cairo which was gorgeous. It had a few interesting conditions I couldn’t explain though, the large dome in the living space didn’t seem to have operable windows at the top to circulate the hot hair and the bathroom was without any kinds of skylights, just a dark window and a strange shower with a low roof. We then visited some farmhouses designed by fathy but erected by Hafez Afifi Pasha for his own farm workers in Radawn. The families were so kind to let us enter and swarms of children were so excited to see us they followed us everywhere saying Hello and wanting pictures together!
Today we got to visit the renovated apartment of Shahira Mehrez by Hassan Fathy as well and she invited us to stay for lunch! She had the house renovated when she was 20 and her family owned the building of which she lived on the top floor. Because she wanted to marry she wished the open plan to be segregated to have her room, living room, and a room she could rent out. Hassan was happy to help her and the way he did business was for free. He worked for the poor which were his clients but when it came to private homes he would interview you and decide if he liked you, in which case he would design it for you as a friend for free and allow as many alterations or iterations as you wanted. This was uncommon for architects of the time but because he wanted his work to be most functional for the users he was happy to design 5 or 6 versions for Shahira. She was a lovely host and treated us to an amazing traditional meal that was easily the best food so far of the trip.
Luxor, Egypt
Visiting the New Gourna Village has easily been the highlight of the trip. Hassan fathy taught a group of 20 or so students how to construct his mudbrick houses and domes so they would be able to continue their construction once he left, one of these children now grown as an adult is the final remaining Pupil who looks after the 6 houses left in the settlement and restores them. He lives in the original Hassan House with his family and showed us around both completed houses and those under restoration and the skill is incredible with results even more beautiful than I had imagined. He explained to me how low domes on the interior were possible to have a second floor above by continuing the side walls and infilling the void around the dome to allow for a second floor which was still strong enough to be supportive which blew my mind. We saw the mudbrick making process and what was most astonishing was the public facilities for the village. My favorite of which was the Mosque, the minimalist exterior contained a central courtyard and series of domes, cross and barrel vaults for a truly serene and tranquil space.
Casablanca, Morocco
Our first full day in Morocco has led us to the Hassan II Mosque, the only mosque where non Muslims can enter. The whole site was constructed to shoot out over the ocean so an immense amount of infrastructure and construction went into its development though it was completed in 19 and only took 4 years to complete. The exterior and tile patterns were my favorite by far with yellow limestone and shares of blue and green which complimented the ocean beyond. The tower does appear to tilt a bit though which is concerning considering it is 200m high, I assume it is a result of unstable soil below. The street walk adjacent to the mosque has lovely infrastructure for the coastline which is lined with private beaches. We took a few miles to walk up and down it to explore the city.
Rabat, Morocco
The most amazing medina was in rabat and reminiscent of Greece with white walls but deep blue along the base of the buildings. It was undergoing restoration during our visit. The point of the medina looks out to the ocean and a river which enters along its edge with a view of the beaches and city around. We saw many cats and bowls of milk outside which is indication of feeding stray animals. This is something our guide explained was a religious value to ensure animals had food even if they were stray.
We stayed in a Riad which is a family house but was converted to a hotel/ guest house but is very traditional for Moroccan Architecture. It always has what they call the Patio in the center which is the heart of the house where families gather and activities take place. The origins supposedly come from the nomadic tradition of Berbers who lived in tents and organized around them an external enclosure with a place for their animals. This organization developed to the patio and house around once they were no longer nomadic.
Volubis
The ruins of Volubilis we visited after passing Meknes. Most interesting were the mosaics and the amazing condition they were left in considering the ruin of much of the rest of the walls. I had also forgotten the presence of the Vomitorium in households for wealthy families when they were full to throw up to eat and drink more.
The common thread I am realizing in many of the cities around the mediterranean is the courtyard typology in Spain and Egypt and Morocco and I had thought these things to an extend coevolved and also were borrowed from some places but of of the earliest civilizations which valued this form so much was the Romans with the Atrium as the heart of the house. The size of the roman empire across all of these areas influenced their subsequent architecture tremendously.
Fes, Morocco
Fes is known for its ceramic and mosaic work with tiles! We visited an artisan craft workshop and got to see the process of creating pottery and mosaics from start to finish and the separation of work. What makes their work such high quality is the use of volcanic rock which is stronger. The men often paint designs while the women color them in and when it comes to mosaics, each step is given to a different worker. First the artist draws a design and orders each shape and color needed, then by someone else, the shape is cut roughly from a colored tile, another refines the shape, another must place all of the tiles in a pattern faced down and remember their organization and color before pouring cement along the back to solidify the mosaic piece often to be made to a table or fountain etc. The allowed me to practice how they formed their pots which is far more difficult than the artisan made it look but were so kind and happy to share their work.
Merzouga, Morocco
On the way to the south of morocco towards the Saharah we stopped to visit a nomadic family on the way living on a plain towards the mid atlas mountains. It was very interesting to see the way the family organized their home and lived. Two family members had traveled with the herd for a few months towards better grazing while the grandfather, mother and two children remained at their more permanent home. They had a television and satellite dish to receive weather forecasts and otherwise constructed the house of stones, wood cardboard and tarp for waterproofing.
In the mid and high atlas mountains we also came across tailless monkeys! They were totally adapted to people and were sitting simply along the side of the road and in the trees. In this area there is a lot of snow so the monkeys have thick fur as well. Houses in the area have pitched roofs as well and are radically different from any of the other areas we visited.
Once we arrived in Merzouga we lived in a mudbrick hotel at the edge of the sand dunes. The site was very dreamlike in the way the dunes seemed to extend endlessly to the horizon. At night they turned a saturated orange red color when they reflected the setting sun. We took a camel ride to the edge of the dunes and climbed to the top once the camels could not travel any steeper to watch the sunrise and it was a highlight of the trip
Thinghir, Morocco
In Ouarzazate we visited a local berber museum that showed the techniques and traditions of the area. My favorite part within was seeing the tools and methods used to build their mud brick structures. For the base of buildings instead of individual bricks they would use formwork to press the mud down and dry like concrete. Floors and roofs could be made with reeds, palm tree wood or flat stones and houses reach several stories high. The large village complex has outdoor covered circulation for cooling and vertical voids throughout for light on the ground floor and air circulation on the interior. It was also astonishing to learn their method to dig wells to groundwater and successive wells and tunnels to bring water to the surface and create an oasis.
Ouarzazate, Morocco
The road to Thinghir was not so long because we crossed a few gorgeous oasis valleys on the way. These areas had similar mudbrick housing and a beige orange color but were surrounded by date trees and vegetation filling the base of the valley. I learned that date trees can catch diseases that can pass to other trees and the way to cure them is to burn them to stop the spread. If you burn them however it is only a 50% change the tree will die.
Marrakech, Morocco
On the way to Marrakech we stopped at a workshop where women create argon oil which is specific to Morocco and very good for skin and hair as a health product as well as a cooking product depending on if the nuts are roasted or not. This is also strictly for women to work and is a great opportunity for women to be financially stable independently as well. Marrakech has been my most favorite destination of the trip! We are staying at a hotel inside of the medina along the central square where all the shops and sellers fill in the day and even more ground the space at night. Our first evening we walked across from dinner and felt like we were running through a circus with food stands, dancers, snake charmers, men with monkeys and more. It was a great experience to be living in the center of the bustle. We visited the souks in the daytime as well and traveled through the spice market, the iron market, the leather market and countless more varieties. I found the level of craftsmanship to be the most impressive. All the store owners work in their storefronts and are painting or sculpting, making shoes or welding iron directly in front of you. Though there is a fair share of store made chatskis in a few seller storefronts, the craftsmanship overall was incomparable. The dedication to quality and authenticity was very cool to see. We also came across a beautiful interior garden, just through a small front on a medina path it opened up into two massive adjacent gardens with water fountains and a variety of trees. Green is a recurring color in all of morocco and even in egypt and is the color of paradise or happiness depending on who you ask but it is in the details everywhere.