MIDSUMMER MOURAMA / LAKESIDE DWELLINGS

Cella Collective were approached by Waking Life Festival and Alentejo Land Regeneration Project to construct two lakeside structures for bathing and resting, and pulled together a team of three collectives - ourselves, Public House and La Cuarta Piel. Through a collaborative design and build, we hoped to create a pair of spaces which bring together elements of local ecology, geology and folklore.

In Celtic Portuguese folklore, the 'Enchanted Moura' are described as magical genies who guard watery thresholds and awaken from their slumber in midsummer to guide humans through moments of transition. Physically, this transition might involve passing through a doorway, window or natural edge (the boundary between earth and water). Spiritually, this transition might be from the unconscious to the conscious state, or from the familiar to the unknown.

These dwellings house the 'Enchanted Moura', and invite you to enjoy the threshold between land and water & the process of waiting and becoming; bathing, soaking, cooling aided by porous clay, mud and water.

YEAR
2024

PROJECT TYPE
MATERIALS

COLLABORATORS
Public House
La Cuarta Piel
Waking Life Portugal

BUILD TEAM
Alys Hargreaves, Calum Reilly, Felix Sagar, Ines Miño Izquierdo, Joseph Hillary, Jake Stevenson Grimsberg, Luis Martin Gonzalez, Martin Ocampo, Millicent Green, Miranda Hill, Mon Cano, Nadire Gökmen, Valentin Loeffler

Photograph by Illias Teirlinck

Construction began with the ramming of temporary pontoons into the lakes muddy bed. We then built a timber structure over the water which we clad with materials found on site or locally. This process involved the harvesting of dead and waste canes from a source beside the lake, and collecting clayey-earth from a neighbouring farmer.

After the timber frame was completed, we moved into prototyping and experimenting with local materials to create various types of shading. One shading panel involved the collecting of hundreds of waste canes, cutting them into nearly 2000 350mm pieces and threading them to create splayed shading. Another involved smashing canes to create flat segments which could be woven to form a substructure, which was later clad with local earth.

Unfired earth and fired porous clay elements in the form of sleeping Moura, a Botijo, and Muddy panels aid the transition from land to water.

We experimented with locally sourced earth - dug from a neighbouring farm, and processed on site - to make earthen entrance panels which create a sense of enclosure and guide you onto the platform.

The Botijo

The hanging Botijo is a traditional cooling system made of porous clay; the botijo holds water, cools the water, and bathes visitors.

Made from both unfired and fired clay, some sleeping Moura wash away in the rain, others awaken on Midsummers night to guide humans through states of transition.

The Moura

The Sleeping Moura