The craftsmanship, culture, and art of Dounia Tamri-Loeper's native Morocco is captured, with a dash of modern, contemporary design sensibility, in every Dounia Home luminaire. Coming from a background and family rich in art and entrepreneurship, she chose to build on her education and career by founding her own designer lighting brand--a brand that combined her cultural and artistic heritage with her own design knowledge and experience.
Based on her findings during a rediscovery tour of Morocco, where she was born and raised before moving to the U.S.A. for university, Dounia Tamri-Loeper established her eponymous brand in Marakech in 2015. The first Dounia Home luminaire was the Almas pendant light, designed by Tamri-Loeper and meticulously hand-crafted by Larbi, a master metalworker she'd met during her tour.
Every design begins with inspiration drawn from the art, temples, mosques, and monuments of Morocco. From her U.S. home, Tamri-Loeper interprets these ideas and themes into drawings and sketches, which Larbi--who has become Production Manager, overseeing teams of artisans in Marakech--turns into prototypes, first of cardboard and then roughly in metal. Every step is refined until Tamri-Loeper is satisfied and another luxurious designer light blending African and American sensibilities and traditions is finished.
Devoted to ethical and sustainable business, Dounia Home's expressive lighting creations are constructed of semi-precious metals sourced from Moroccan mines, and crafted by well-paid Moroccan artisans, whose hands contain the accumulated knowledge of centuries of metalcraft, as anyone can see from the wonders they produce.
