Desert Flower

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Fobe House is located 10 kilometres south of Marrakech, Morocco. Here, in the harsh desert landscape of flat planes, this white horizontal bungalow recalls the traditional Mediterranean whitewashed cubic architecture that has captivated architects throughout time. Fobe House positions itself in a strong lineage of modernist classics and is a skilful interpretation of this heritage. Although the geometry of the building seems familiar, its contrast to this rugged moon-like landscape creates an interesting and intriguing architectural effect: A hidden gem in the desert.

Fobe House is more than just a building. Its mass has been broken down by creating a series of small, individual volumes, thus making the most of the site: The main house boasts large openings which permit spectacular views of desert and the Atlas Mountains – when the heat veil allows it. Then there is the caretaker’s house – two joined cubes; a double garage – a long tube peppered with square openings; the “totem” fireplace that stands between those two structures; three vertical walls that mark the entrance to the property; and the “technical shed” at the back of the pool. The spatial dynamic created between each of these buildings, and the collection of volumes, defines Fobe House.

Glass spoke to the French architect of this unique home – Guilhem Eustache.

Is this your first overseas project, or in an unfamiliar context?
I am originally from Lozere; a wild mountainous French region, located South of the Massif Central. I have built in Paris, in Nimes – areas with extremely different contexts from my native territory. Building in a city is much more unsettling for me than the Moroccan desert or on a slope plot in Brazil. Having resided in Paris since the early 1980s; I always feel that I am perpetually uprooting.

How did the Moroccan context inspire the design?
I have visited Morocco on several occasions over the years. The country immediately bewitched me. And the three Moroccan projects I have worked on to date are certainly fed, to varying degrees, by all the images and impressions accumulated during my stays there.

A detail of a Giorgio de Chirico painting; stumbling upon the Fez dye baths an early morning; a tracking shot in an Orson Welles film; or discovering the Jantar Mantar site in Jaipur. These are all conscious or unconscious sources of inspiration. It is very difficult to pinpoint any precise architectural or artistic influences, in this project.

Relating to new and unfamiliar settings can be difficult for an architect. How did you let the site influence your design process?
Fascinated by the desert, I wanted to establish a close dialogue with the land, the vegetation and the Atlas Mountains on the horizon. We wanted to create a dynamic equilibrium between them and the house, despite their difference in scale. We decided to limit the built areas in order to preserve the wildness that makes this place so interesting and captivating. The design of the project grew out of the site’s topology.

The orientation of each section of the house was determined according to several criteria directly induced by the site – the best views to the Atlas Mountains and the best orientation to protect the inhabitants from the sun or the wind.

Is this a way of creating architectural and sustainable solutions?
Controlling temperature is always a big challenge in a desert context. All of the rooms were created with very high ceilings and with cavity walls which allow natural drafts. In front of most of the openings, we have positioned concrete sun shades, which work best when the sun is at its highest position of the sky. Finally, by using light colours and using water in the pools, the house is also afforded a breath of coolness.

How did you adapt local knowledge to contemporary architecture?
I strongly believe that each region and country deserves architectural solutions adapted to the specific climate, cultural and economic conditions. In Fobe House, we used local materials and techniques such as clay, tadelack and “pierres de l’Ourika”.

You have mentioned the cinema as a source of inspiration. How do you see the relationship between the two arts? And how is this expressed in Fobe House?
There is a fine link between architecture and cinema. Architecture is primarily perceived through movement. The eye moves and the perspective opens, gradually revealing the various elements that constitute a building.

As you approach Fobe House you see a white square in the distance, and as you move closer, it becomes a cube, a white wall, a tube. It is quite exciting to captivate the visitor, to suggest a vertiginous rise of steps, a plunging view into space, or a pan across the landscape.

How would you describe your work methods?
All of my projects, from the first, are interrelated. They are the result of a single relentless pursuit that deepens from year to year. Some details, I have noticed, are recurrent in my work. These are obsessions, small whims, as painters, sculptors or filmmakers can have. I move patiently, in the most serene manner in the knowledge that an architect reaches his full maturity late in life.

by Runa Mathiesen


Guilhem Eustache’s website
Email: contact@guilhemeustache.com |
Tel: +33 (0) 1 43 66 88 83

About The Author

Glass Online architecture and design writer

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