Star Wars Fans Restore Luke Skywalker's Igloo-Shaped Home in Tunisia!

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Dermul is a frequent visitor to Tunisia, having served as a guide to the filming locations of the fictional planet of Tatooine (Luke and Anakin Skywalker’s home planet) for more than a decade. According to Architizer, there is a network of crumbling structures and film sets like this one in the Tunisian desert that George Lucas and his production team abandoned when they were finished filming Star Wars.

After returning from a trip to Tunisia in 2010, Dermul noticed that the hut was in very bad shape. Dermul tells NPR that, almost as a joke, he put out a call to help restore Luke’s hut, but people took the cause seriously, and donations from other fans quickly poured in. Dermul and his team raised the $11,000 needed to fix up the igloo-shaped structure, but the Arab Spring uprising in Tunisia slowed the project down.

Once Tunisia’s new government came to power in October 2011, Dermul and his team were able to obtain building permits to fix up Luke’s home. In late May, Dermul and five other workers returned to Tunisia and spent eight days renovating and rebuilding the structure. The hut has been re-plastered, and with a fresh coat of white paint, it looks more like an igloo than ever.

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Via Architizer and NPR

Al photos © Mark Dermul / savelars.com

7 thoughts on “Star Wars Fans Restore Luke Skywalker’s Igloo-Shaped Home in Tunisia!”

Anonymous August 5, 2013 at 3:37 am

Kind of a Dolman.

Dadya December 23, 2012 at 12:24 pm

Unfortunately it is still no more than a showpiece. How cool would it be to actually do such a dome to as to make it livable, sustainable in a harsh environment? It is shaped much like a tandoora oven like they make in Kazakstan and other middle eastern countries for baking flatbread loaves or meat pies. For that purpose they were traditionally made of clay, but now often stone and cement. For a home I suggest a ceramic foam block for insulation and strength. The Mongolian yurt or Navajo hogan is similar but with a smoke hole top center.

domeman August 1, 2012 at 8:48 pm

As a dome and shell structure builder this is interesting to see how it was actually built - timber frame!?? I often get comments about my domes being Star Wars look-alikes. Domes are always fascinating structures I think because they represent something of the perfection of a circle, the womb, natural compound curved shells are some of the strongest structures capable of being built. A "domeshell" structure will last the distance if it's built as a monolthic shell structure - no seems, no joins.

Jonathon July 29, 2012 at 12:48 pm

@magdalene, The original was painted to resemble a white washed desert structure that had years of weathering and dust. For cost and simplicity, I'm assuming they decided to just go white and let the weathering occur naturally. The fact is, this structure was crumbling to dust and wouldn't have been around much longer if not for their effort. These guys spent two years planning and executing a monumental effort for no other reason than their love of the film. Far from insulting the movie, they have done a great service to fans and to the legacy of the film. The insult is to see their efforts denigrated and ridiculed by someone sitting in air-conditioned comfort that didn't lift a finger, except to tap out snide criticism on their keyboard.

magdalene July 23, 2012 at 7:17 pm

...The fact that the original hut from the film was never actually painted white, nor indeed was it ever meant to look "more like an igloo than ever" seems to have been little concern to the supposed devout fan. What it looks like now is more of a bad parody stamped over the original than anything else, or perhaps some alien commode that has been inexplicably dumped in the desert by some negligent intergalactic-travelling-bathroom-appliance salesman. It is almost as much of an insult to the movie as it would be if someone were to re-edit it so greedo shot first... or made Darth Vader scream "Noooooooooooooooo" at the end of Jedi, for example. Not that anyone would be *that* foolish in real life though...

Kapnobatai July 22, 2012 at 9:53 pm

11,000? including plane tickets I presume..

Anonymous July 17, 2012 at 11:59 pm

he's a true fan

Anonymous August 5, 2013 at 3:37 am

Kind of a Dolman.
Dadya December 23, 2012 at 12:24 pm

Unfortunately it is still no more than a showpiece. How cool would it be to actually do such a dome to as to make it livable, sustainable in a harsh environment? It is shaped much like a tandoora oven like they make in Kazakstan and other middle eastern countries for baking flatbread loaves or meat pies. For that purpose they were traditionally made of clay, but now often stone and cement. For a home I suggest a ceramic foam block for insulation and strength. The Mongolian yurt or Navajo hogan is similar but with a smoke hole top center.
domeman August 1, 2012 at 8:48 pm

As a dome and shell structure builder this is interesting to see how it was actually built - timber frame!?? I often get comments about my domes being Star Wars look-alikes. Domes are always fascinating structures I think because they represent something of the perfection of a circle, the womb, natural compound curved shells are some of the strongest structures capable of being built. A "domeshell" structure will last the distance if it's built as a monolthic shell structure - no seems, no joins.
Jonathon July 29, 2012 at 12:48 pm

@magdalene, The original was painted to resemble a white washed desert structure that had years of weathering and dust. For cost and simplicity, I'm assuming they decided to just go white and let the weathering occur naturally. The fact is, this structure was crumbling to dust and wouldn't have been around much longer if not for their effort. These guys spent two years planning and executing a monumental effort for no other reason than their love of the film. Far from insulting the movie, they have done a great service to fans and to the legacy of the film. The insult is to see their efforts denigrated and ridiculed by someone sitting in air-conditioned comfort that didn't lift a finger, except to tap out snide criticism on their keyboard.
magdalene July 23, 2012 at 7:17 pm

...The fact that the original hut from the film was never actually painted white, nor indeed was it ever meant to look "more like an igloo than ever" seems to have been little concern to the supposed devout fan. What it looks like now is more of a bad parody stamped over the original than anything else, or perhaps some alien commode that has been inexplicably dumped in the desert by some negligent intergalactic-travelling-bathroom-appliance salesman. It is almost as much of an insult to the movie as it would be if someone were to re-edit it so greedo shot first... or made Darth Vader scream "Noooooooooooooooo" at the end of Jedi, for example. Not that anyone would be *that* foolish in real life though...
Kapnobatai July 22, 2012 at 9:53 pm

11,000? including plane tickets I presume..
Anonymous July 17, 2012 at 11:59 pm

he's a true fan