Les dernières "maisons-bulles" de Dakar résistent à l'urbanisation galopante
Marième Ndiaye emerges from her home in Dakar, an igloo-shaped building with a 1950s retrofuturistic aesthetic. In this central district of the Senegalese capital, the building's singularity contrasts with the neighboring rectangular buildings under construction.
The small concrete "bubble house" - or "balloon house" - is eye-catching and looks like it came straight out of a science fiction film.
In the 1950s, some 1,200 of these small dwellings were built in several neighborhoods of Dakar to counter a housing shortage after the Second World War. They were constructed by spraying a giant balloon with shotcrete, which was then deflated.
Row upon row, these light-colored domes, which could be built in 48 hours, quickly emerged from the brownish Sahelian soil.
Conceived by an American architect, then launched by the French colonial authorities, these constructions intended for the Senegalese population of Dakar received a mixed reception: Senegalese families, traditionally large and multi-generational, quickly felt cramped there.
But the land on which they were built quickly increased in value, arousing great covetousness. Today, only about a hundred of these homes survive, the others having succumbed to Dakar's rampant urbanization.
"It's sentimental"
Without historical or architectural societies to preserve them, the small igloos have no other main protectors than their last inhabitants.
"When I was little, we only had balloon houses" in this Zone B neighborhood, says Marième Ndiaye, who grew up there and still lives there.
"We're destroying the balloons, transforming them," laments the 65-year-old retiree, whose bubble house remained intact, while her younger brothers wanted to tear it down and build something else. "For me, it's sentimental," she confides.
The reasons for residents to preserve their bubble houses are varied, Dakar architect Carole Diop explained to AFP. But "unfortunately, many families who could afford it ended up demolishing their bubble to build a new apartment building."
Many of the surviving balloon houses have been modified to better suit the needs of Senegalese households.
With an average diameter of just six meters, a standard bubble house like Ms. Ndiaye's included a bedroom, a living room and a bathroom, according to Carole Diop.
In building them, the French colonial authorities did not take into account the size of a traditional Senegalese family, the architect points out, and "many families adapted and found ways to meet their need for space," notably by building extensions.
Marième Ndiaye's bubble house, purchased by her father in the 1950s, is now part of a large family compound where she lives with half a dozen relatives spanning several generations. The bubble house sits in the middle of the compound's square courtyard, where other rooms have been arranged along the perimeter walls.
"something extraordinary"
Although balloon houses can become hot when exposed to direct sunlight, despite the presence of a vent on the roof to evacuate hot air, Ms. Ndiaye insists that hers is comfortable.
A 10-minute walk away, Sekouna Yansane recently built a large house next to the bubble house his father bought in the 1950s. He incorporated the dome into the vast building, making it a room that protrudes from one side.
As an artist, he was reluctant to leave the small building in the hands of property developers.
"I find it very unusual, I love it," exclaims the 65-year-old man, "it reminds me of when I went to Mongolia, the yurts."
His immediate neighbors, on the other hand, have demolished their balloon. "Why destroy them? These are things we should keep," says Mr. Yansane, for whom a good house always has "character."
American architect Wallace Neff, who invented the bubble house, is best known for his Spanish Colonial-style buildings and the residences he designed for Hollywood stars like Judy Garland and Groucho Marx. But he considered the bubble house to be his greatest contribution to architecture.
"At the rate at which the city is becoming denser and evolving, I think that unfortunately in 100 years, there will be no more balloons," says Carole Diop when asked about this.
Sekouna Yansane, for his part, hopes that they will survive: in which case, "it will be something extraordinary."
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Tu m’étonnes!
Rasez moi ça et vite!
C'est un patrimoine culturel. Il permet de se rappeler le passé.
....tout raser c'est du n'importe quoi et quand je vois l'autre qui dit que ca permet de se rappeler du.....passé. Le passé c'est le passé; il faut évoluer
Il faut manquer d’ambition pour rester dans ces conneries
C'est où ça à Dakar?
On en trouvait à l'époque au point E et à la zone B .
Et à Bopp aussi. C'est original et très solide. Mais il fait chaud à l'intérieur
le ministre de l'urbanisme devrait sortir un arrêté pour interdire toute destruction de ces habitations
Interdire la destruction d'un bien privé ? De quel droit le ferait on ?
...je pense que ce ministre dont tu parles a d'autres priorités
On en trouve aussi à ouakam
À thies aussi sur la route de l’école polytechnique
C'est j'y passe chaque jour.le village s'appelle KIPOU.
En quoi ces maisons en cases en plein milieu de Dakar représentent-elles une image positive pour l'image de Dakar d’aujourd’hui ? Que les propriétaires les rasent et construisent mieux à leur place.
Il ne doit plus avoir plus de 3 maison en cet ancienne forme. L'état intelligent néocolonial avait ouvert ces logements de la Zone B Ballons aux petits fonctionnaires chauffeurs, plantons Salon plus une chambre. La Zone B et Zone A aux cadres.. Aujourd'hui ces personnes sont décédées et les héritiers ont vendu ou transformé. Zone B Ballons est devenu partout des Immeubles à 2 ou 3 voire même 4 étages.
Ces maisons pourraient regler le probleme de logement qui est de plus en plus cher
...comment ;explique nous et surtout soyez convainquant.....Merci d'avance.
Ça me rappelle les habitations de l ethnie mousgoum qui habite les rives du lac Tchad
C est mieux que les cases en paille ... Ils peuvent être utiles dans nos campagnes
Faut étudier cela pour remplacer les cases
Les anciennes toilettes à l’école des puits, niary Tally.
J‘ai habité toute ma vie dans une maison pareille a Cité Douanes. plus connu sous le nom de Boule Douanes. entre Colobane et les Hlms. Nous avions 3 ballons tres confortables. Ce que le reportage ne dit pas c‘est que ces constructions sont presque indestructibles. Je me rappelle mon père voulait faire des travaux de plomberie. l‘ouvrier a laissê tombé! Il faut conserver ce patrimoine construit par les francais! Désolé pour les fautes de clavier, à l’etranger depuis des années.
A la SICAP il y avait aussi les cités célibataires construits pour les jeunes colons militaires célibataires. ILS sont partis et ces petites maisons sont occupées par des familles sénégalaises très nombreuses
Ndeyssane Boule DOUANES.
Il en reste toujours
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