
‘If you want to design for the people, you have to go and understand their way of life,’ Fathy is quoted in the book.įathy’s lifelong interest was in housing and collective living for which he created multiple models and wrote extensively about. The first part of the book follows Fathy’s research and participation within Egyptian culture, community and construction, alongside architecture, that all became integral to his design thinking: as a Sufi Muslim, he was aware of the history and practice of Islamic architecture he was also a playwright, completing The story of al Mashrabiyyah (1942) and even designing costumes for it he was a painter, designing architecture in watercolours he was a journalist, interviewing community members about their experience of life.

Architecture Poor Hassan Fathy Pdf series#
Written by Salma Samar Damluji, an architect and writer who worked directly with Fathy, and architect and scholar Viola Bertini who researched a PhD on Fathy at IUAV Venice, the book takes on a personal approach from the very first pages with a series of forewords that highlight memories of Fathy, quotes and set the local scene within which he worked. Opening remarks place Fathy alongside a cohort of other modernist architects working within their national contexts who have recently been given the prominence they deserve including Jose Plecnik in Slovenia, Pikionis and Constantin Doxiadid in Greece – who Fathy worked with from 1957-1961 – and Luis Barragan in Mexico.įathy was in search of a modernism that would reflect the local context of Egypt, and throughout his career his aim was always to create an architecture that could be a model for the people who needed it the most. The book celebrates a growing global interest in Fathy’s work at a time when the history of architecture is being rebalanced as colonialism begins to be reassessed through a more critical lens. The substantial volume combines previously unpublished drawings, personal letters, interviews and photography unfolding the story of his philosophy and work.

This first dedicated and cohesive book on Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy (1900-89) compiles an rich amount of diverse material on the modernist architect known for his work developing traditional Arab architecture alongside principles of modernism.


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