The Garden, a metaphor for paradise

"The supreme setting for the Moroccan art of living, the garden remains an auspicious place for love.  In Arabic poetry and literature it is celebrated.  The Eden depicted in the Koran bears the charm of an eternal garden, rich in flowers, fruit and shade.  The faithful rejoice there in eternal delight. Cups are filled with delicious, clear water from an inexhaustible spring.  Reclining on ceremonial beds, they will find beautiful virgin wives there and not an unnecessary word will be heard, as this garden is for those who will already believe in God and his prophets.  Entirely enclosed and facing inward, the Moroccan garden brings to the fore these images of paradise.  It must be a place of serenity and beauty and favourable for meditation.  The floral arrangements express joy and cheerfulness.  One must hear the sound of water, savour the tastes of the fruit trees and breathe in the aromas." - Corinne Verner, The Villas & Riads of Morocco

It is said that the word 'Riad', means 'garden' in Arabic. However most folk refer to the courtyard houses of Marrakech as riad's despite the fact that few have what could reasonably be called a garden.  Most riads have a patio or terrace courtyard which provides an open space in the centre of the house, ideally surrounded on all four sides by rooms, some of which are often open onto the patio (B'hou).  These provide a cool shaded area from which to enjoy the views of the fountain and or foliage, etc

The courtyard is a very important part of any riad.  The arrangement has clear practical benefits, providing a completely private outdoor space, as well as allowing heat to escape upwards keeping the ground floor relatively cool in summer.  In addition, from a purely aesthetic point of view it demonstrates the most radical difference between riads and the typical design of a western house.    This inside out concept provides for the creation of really exciting architectural solutions, providing a relatively large living space which is neither wholly inside or out due to the dry and warm weather most of the year in Marrakech.  

"Courtyards define a riad.  They are the single most important part of the house.  It is from there that all rooms radiate and they provide the sole source of light.  The courtyard is where all the architectural embellishments of a house appear, as it is where the concept of a facade appears, reflecting the overall aesthetic of the house."  Grant Rawlings, of Chic Marrakech

Palais El Bahia

No pressure to get the courtyard design right then!

Signs, Pumps and Wonders

The new pump installed

The significance of the name Derb El Boumba has been on our minds since we first visited the pomegranate tree riad in December. Having asked around the neighbours and the kids who knock around on the street, we discovered 'Boumba' is arabic for 'pump', i.e. street of the pump. This did appear a bit strange and we have not yet worked out why the derb should be called this as there is no obvious pump or even well in the street, however there will be a reason. There is a well in the riad though! More exploring and asking is required. It is perhaps significant though that upon returning from the December trip we opened our door in Glasgow to a flood. During the 4 days we had been in Marrakech it reached -18C at night in Glasgow and despite leaving our heating on timer, during the off period at night the pump which pressurises the water before it enters the boiler had frozen solid, then the heating did not come on in the morning and the boiler froze too. Upon returning the thaw had started and the water was gushing from the broken and split pump. Pump burst...causing flood...sign of blessing...derb el Boumba?

Lots of Reading!

Moroccan bookworm paradise!

Now that things have moved on with the purchase of the house, we are getting into the design phase.  I feel under pressure to get this right, as unlike a renovation project where the room sizes are generally fixed, as we have decided to go down the new build route, there is the opportunity to create the space we want.  This raises the obvious question... what do we want? There are lots of books on Moroccan interiors and I think we have accumulated a collection of most of them!

There are some really special books with lots of explanation of Moroccan design philosophy (and loads of beautiful pictures!):

- Marrakech, living on the edge of the desert, Massimo Listri and Daniel Rey

- Moroccan Interiors, Lisa Lovatt-Smith

- The Villas & Riads of Morocco, Corinne Verner

- Morocco, Courtyards & Gardens, Achva Benzinberg Stein

- Marrakech, Un art de vivre entre riads et maisons d'hotes - Pascal Dafraire and Patrica Minne

- Morocco Design Decor, Philippe Saharoff & Francesca Torre

- New Moroccan Style, Susan Sully

- Moroccan Style, Alexandra Bonfante-Warren

- Living In Morocco, Lisl & Landt Dennis

- Islamic Geometric Patterns, Eric Broug

- Islamic Art in Detail, Sheila R. Canby

- Morocco Modern, Herbert Ypma

- Morocco Style, Angelika Taschen

- Islamic Design (a genius for geometry), David Sutton

A tale of the Moroccan Taxi

There are many tales by tourists of their Moroccan taxi experiences.  In Marrakech, there are two types of taxi: the petit taxi (above) which can be flagged down anywhere is small enough to only carry 3 people; and the grand taxi which is more expensive, usually a very old Mercedes, probably left over from colonial times and held together with string.  Every taxi I've been in has a meter, but I've never seen one working.  Drivers prefer not to use them and unless you agree the price before entering the cab, will make up a price at the end of the journey, probably based upon how rich they think the passenger is.  I have heard of a 3 tier pricing system depending upon where the passengers are from: e.g. Moroccan (low price), French (medium) and anyone else (high)!  The American travel writer, Paul Bowles sums up the mentality of the Moroccan taxi driver in an article he wrote about Casablanca for a newspaper in 1966.
One day he attempted to get one of the drivers to set the meter going.  As he got into the cab he said "How does it happen that you taxi chauffeurs never turn on your meters?"
"The meters don't work" the driver said.
"You mean all the meters are broken?"
"They don't work fast enough!"

The Sign

I think I am reasonably practical and generally make decisions based on facts and figures and reasoned justification.  For me, the desire to own a riad in Marrakech is as much a carefully thought through, practical, financial and investment decision, as it is an adventure.  I've read loads of books, websites and blogs and talked to many people who own riads, to form my own opinion of the pros and cons before embarking on this project.  In addition, I do believe that 'gut instinct' can often be reliable if weighed and tested as the gut and brain are linked and sometimes the brain processes complicated options in a microsecond without us having to think things through.  Kind of like how birds know where to migrate to even though they have never been before.  My wife, Laura calls this her 'knower' when she just knows something in her 'knower'.  Since visiting Marrakech for the first time, she has liked the idea of having a house there, but she hasn't known in her 'knower' if it is the right thing for us.  Therefore, for her to be 100% enthusiastic about the project, she wanted a 'sign'.  Here it is!

On the wall in our room at Riad 107, written in Arabic, was the name 'Aya', meaning 'sign' or 'miracle'.  She'd been looking at the sign for a whole week, but not being able to read Arabic, didn't realise!

Moroccan reading list

1. The Spiders House - Paul Bowles

2. The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles

3. The Caliphs House - Tahir Shah

4. Morocco that Was - Walter B. Harris

5. Zohra's Ladder - Pamela Windo

6. Cinnamon City - Miranda Innes

7. Arabian Nights - Tahir Shah

8. The Voices of Marrakech - Elias Canetti

9. A Year in Marrakech - Peter Mayne

10. Alleyways of Marrakech - Peter Mayne

11. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freud

definitely maybe?

09 Dec 2010: Grant and Aziz took us to view a few more riads this trip and of these the favourite was  in Derb El Boumba (meaning pump or fountain in Arabic), in Douar Graoua, which to us has become 'the pomegranate riad' after the large pomegranate tree in the courtyard.   It is empty and derelict, but ticks all our boxes on price, area, size, etc. The site visit has confirmed it as a knock down and rebuild proposition with only one storey (so more simple to demolish).  With a 123sqm footprint it is big enough to create a decent sized 4 sided riad.  The next day Grant called to say that the owners were increasing the price, but by Saturday morning Grant had the situation back in line.  We went back again that day, taking Simon from Riad Laksiba for his opinion, following which we agreed that Grant speak to the owners, agree the price and get them to take it off the market until our next trip back, in January!

Corner of El Boumba and Rue Laarassi

Derb El Boumba

Corner of El Boumba and Arset el Houta

Derb El Boumba (looking west)

Derb El Boumba (looking west with riad on left)

Derb El Boumba (looking east)

courtyard

courtyard

Existing cedarwood ceiling beams (to be salvaged!)

odd window features

ground floor salon (with tajine!)

on the roof terrace (only one storey, so lower than surrounding riads - for now!)

Grant and Laura

Grant and Laura

Grant talking on the roof terrace

neighbours airing their rugs

mint tea anyone?

great windows!

and more interesting features!

Front door!

praying?

nice wall features

can these be salvaged?

pomegranate tree

courtyard

courtyard from roof terrace

©photographs: Laura Hudson Mackay and Simon Hawkesley