Egypts visionary architect 9 it is somewhat ironic that hassan fathy, whose name is so closely associated with architecture for the poor, built much for wealthy patrons. The village of new gourna, which was partially built between 1945 and 1948, is possibly the most well known of all of fathys projects because of the international popularity of his book, architecture for the poor, published nearly twenty years after the experience and concentrating primarily on the ultimately tragic history of this. Hassan fathys vernacular architecture linkedin slideshare. The village was designed and built between 1946 and 1952 by the famous egyptian architect hassan fathy 19001989. See more ideas about architecture, vernacular architecture and egypt. Aug 06, 2012 for inspiration i highly recommend fathys book earth and utopia which you can buy here. New gourna village hassan fathy architectural archives. Home hassan fathy architectural archives site plan reference url share. Hassan fathy believed in the social responsibility of the architect and acted accordingly throughout his life.
Hassan fathy was an egyptian architect, artist, and poet who had a tremendous impact on generations of architects and planners. Architecture for the poor hasan f athy 1 prelude dream and reality paradise lost. The architecture of hassan fathy max nobbsthiessen bachelor of arts, simon fraser university, 2004. Hassan fathy was one of those pioneer arab architects that touched on art hassan fathy 1900 1989, arabic. A vital and useful book for any interested student of the best practices for aspects of the diy community building in impoverished areas of the world. Obviously written with a thirdworld audience in mind, tba. Palm beach architect the american architect an architects guide to construction. New gourna hassan fathy great buildings architecture.
Just like the great master of western architecture, frank lloyd wright, hassan fathys genius was initially appreciated mostly by an intellectual. Architecture for the poor by hassan fathy, paperback barnes. His most major work was the building of the village of new gourna hassan fathy architect steet in new gourna in the aga khan trust for culture christopher little courtesy of the aga khan trust for culture and the american. Fathy, who was born in alexandria in 1900 and died in 1989, was egypts most important architect of the 20th century. Hassan fathy is egypts bestknown 20thcentury architect. Architecture for the poor describes hassan fathys plan for building the village of new gourna, near luxor, egypt, without the use of more modern and expensive materials such as steel and concrete.
In this article originally published by the cairo observer as hassan fathy. An egyptian architect who devoted himself to housing the poor indeveloping nations. Or hassan fathy, an architectural life links to amazon. Hassan fathy march 23, 1900 november 30, 1989, egyptian arabic. Hassan fathy 19001989 is arguably the most widely known and influential egyptian architect of the 20th century. Photo 9 training of barefoot architects book cover of 1983 bangkok. Hassan fathy 19001989 became widely known in the early 1970s when. Abdullah nuridin durkee, hassan fathy in new mexico, via, 1984, 5875. It was created to shelter the community of old gourna gournii who had lived above the tombs in the ancient cemetery of thebes and whose relocation was considered as a solution to reduce the damages to the pharaonic tombs. Gourna proves it can be done, but where is the western barefoot architect. Sustainable architecture, architecture durable, sustainable buildings, constructions durables, design and construction, conception et construction, long now manual for civilization. Planet barefoot books the barefoot architect architects essentials of contract negotiation the architects essentials of professional practice maurice fatio. Hassan fathy was a great architect who identified the tradition and showed why it works.
His impact can still be felt from egypt to greece and even new mexico, where in 1981 he designed the dar arsalam community. Feb 15, 2010 hassan fathy, an egyptian architect, has taught on the faculty of fine arts in cairo and served as head of its architectural section. The countryside if you were given a million pounds, what would you do with them. Pdf ma the architecture of hassan fathy ahmed ragab. The silent dialogue between tradition and modernity. Principles and examples with reference to hot arid climates hassan fathy chicago. Her publications include the architecture of yemen 2007 and al diwan al amiri, doha 2011, and has curated a number of exhibitions in london, paris and madrid. Adobe structures are extremely durable and account for some of the oldest extant buildings on the planet. Abdelrahman ahmed and walter shearer, natural energy and vernacular architecture. Collections architects archives hassan fathy archnet. Hassan fathy, an egyptian architect saw the value of natural building long before it became a fad in the west. Anyone interested either in the conservation, the restoration or the study of paintings will find much of value here. Jan 01, 2011 the village of new gourna, which was partially built between 1945 and 1948, is possibly the most well known of all of fathys projects because of the international popularity of his book, architecture for the poor, published nearly twenty years after the experience and concentrating primarily on the ultimately tragic history of this.
He established a privatepractice in cairo where he also worked as professor of fine arts andhead of the architectural school, at the university of cairo. Hassan fathy is the middle easts father of sustainable. His major contributions were to socalled vernacular architecture which, inspired by traditional nubian and islamic materials and styles, urged an approach to the built environment that was economically and ecologically sustainable and responded to contextual needs of the. Using mud bricks, the native technique that fathy learned in nubia, and such traditional egyptian architectural designs as enclosed courtyards and vaulted roofing, fathy worked with. Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, and water, with some kind of fibrous or organic material sticks, straw, dung, which is shaped into bricks using frames and dried in the sun.
Egyptian architect hassan fathy died in 1989 but left behind a legacy of 160 building projects ranging from small projects to largescale communities complete with mosques and schools. Several websites offer a look at the egyptian architect hassan fathy. Green prophet has railed against projects like dubai burj tower we have pounded our chests at the audacity of masdar citys zero footprint claim, and we have decried the potential consequences of unsustainable approaches to building and planning. Architecture for the poor describes hassan fathys plan for building the village of new gourna, near luxor, egypt, without the use of more modern and expensive materials such as. An exclusive volume presents ideas championed by one of the mos. A handbook for green building, shelter publications, inc.
In his lifetime he designed more than thirty projects including several villages for the poor. In 1985, hassan fathy donated an extensive collection of drawings and writings to the aga khan award for architecture. In his book an architect for the people, american architect james steele wrote of fathy, rather than believing that people could be behaviorally conditioned by architectural space, fathy felt that human beings, nature, and architecture should reflect the personal habits and traditions of a community rather than reforming or eradicating them. Architecture for the rich, there is a critical relook and rework of the principles and philosophies of hassan fathys work in new gourna and his deliberates vis a vis. Salma samar damluji is an architect who worked with fathy. The barefoot architect paperback october 28, 2007 by. Hassan fathy hassan fathy was responsible for 160 projects from houses and schools to largescale communities. Mar 28, 2016 the other myth perpetuated about hassan fathy is that his architecture represents the continuity of islamic architecture, an argument forming the spine of ahmad hamids 2010 book hassan fathy and continuity in islamic art and architecture. This comprehensive book clearly explains every aspect of this endeavor, including design siting, orientation, climate consideration, materials sisal, cactus, bamboo, earth, and implementation.
Hassan fathy 19001989 was an egyptian architect and engineer who has been credited with bringing the vernacular architecture of egypt to a wider audience, and for putting neglected traditional building systems to work for the poor. He designed nearly 160 separate projects, from modest country retreats to fully planned communities with police, fire, and medical services, markets, schools, theatres, and places for worship and recreation. A handbook for green building by johan van lengen architecture sustainable buildings. Fathy was recognized with the aga khan chairmans award for architecture in 1980. Completely practical and honest, and vitally uptodate for building anywhere but the hideously codeinfested wealthy western world. Architecture for the poor describes hassan fathy s plan for building the village of new gourna, near luxor, egypt, without the use of more modern and expensive materials such as steel and concrete. Safeguarding project of hassan fathys new gourna village. An indispensable architect in the history of modern islamic architecture is the egyptian hassan fathy 1900 89. World heritage centre safeguarding project of hassan fathy. Egyptian architect hassan fathy 19001989 undertook two projects to. Hassan fathy egyptian architect 1900 1989 the master builder, hassan fathy 19001989 was one of the first architects to break with modern architecture and to found a new approach based on a conception of interpreting forms and masses from the past. Shelter publications made this new edition available in 2008 because of the relevance of the content. Press published his book architecture for the poor. This comprehensive book clearly explains every aspect of this endeavor, including design siting, orientation, climate consideration, materials sisal, cactus, bamboo, earth.
Aug 28, 2004 several websites offer a look at the egyptian architect hassan fathy. Architecture for the poor by hassan fathy, paperback. This collection on archnet of over 1,200 images and drawings, each associated with a corresponding site record, represents the first time that the work of this important and groundbreaking architect is made available to a wide. He designed houses to meet the needs of the families living in them.
Architecture for the poor describes hassan fathys plan for building the village of new gourna, near luxor, egypt, without the use of more modern and. Introduction hassan fathy was born in egypt in 1899. Middleton was able to publish his book build your house of. The egyptian architect hassan fathy was born to a wealthy family on the 23 march.
Abdelmoniem elshorbagy and others published hassan fathy. Build your architecture from what is beneath your feet. Hassan fathys new gourna model village lies shambles. Hassan fathy was a cosmopolitan trilingual professorengineer architect, amateur musician, dramatist, and inventor. Postwar discourses on science, development, and vernacular. Planet barefoot books the barefoot architect architects essentials of contract negotiation the. Open library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published. Islamic art under european influence and contemporary trends. We know you wrote in your book, architecture for the poor, that the peasants needed decent houses, but houses are. A question they were always asking us when we were young, one that would start our imagination roaming and set us daydreaming.
Using mud bricks, the native technique that fathy learned in nubia, and such traditional egyptian architectural designs as enclosed courtyards and. To link to the entire object, paste this link in email, im or document to embed the entire object, paste this html in. Hassan fathys is a name that is instantly recognisable among arab architects and conjures up idyllic images of handsmoothed walls and domes covered in. A handbook for green building by johan van lengen architecture sustainable buildings green design. This is the first english edition of the barefoot architect by johan van lengen, originally written in spanish, published in the 1980s and distributed widely in mexico and throughout latin america. However, when one looks at the photographs of his works, they do not look like modern architecture but traditional, moreover vernacular, buildings. He has received numerous awards including the 1970 french literary prize for this book, which originally appeared in a french edition. Reviewed by laszlo nemeth fathy is an architect and a skilled. She was elected member of the academie darchitecture 2017, received the academie darchitectures restoration award in 2015 and the global award for sustainable.
He is hardly known outside of egypt and was unpopular in his native country throughout his life. The book covers the cultural aspects of building and living and the engineering principles employed. See more ideas about vernacular architecture, architecture and building design. In 1946 hassan fathy, egypts green architect, built a model village near luxor called new gourna out of mud. However, in actual fact, he was a modern architect, only three years. Fathys inclusion in jencks landmark book the language of postmodern. This is the first english translation of the barefoot architect tba, which was originally written in spanish in mexico in 1982. Before it was fashionable or even fathomable, he was championing earth architecture in the hopes of bringing decent. Sustainable architecture, architecture durable, sustainable buildings, constructions durables, design and construction, conception et construction. Using mud bricks, the native technique that fathy learned in nubia, and such traditional egyptian architectural designs as enclosed courtyards and vaulted roofing, fathy. He wrote about his experience in a book that was to make him famous. Just like the great master of western architecture, frank lloyd wright, hassan fathy s genius was initially appreciated mostly by an intellectual. Published for the united nations university by the university of chicago press chicago and london. Hassan fathy, an egyptian architect, has taught on the faculty of fine arts in cairo and served as head of its architectural section.
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