Egyptian architect who pioneered appropriate technology for building in Egypt, especially by working to re-establish the use of adobe and traditional mud construction as opposed to western designs & materials. His work was labour-intensive, energy-efficient, sustainable and focused on localism.
Graduate of King Fuad I University (Cairo University).
Awards- Aga Khan’s Chairman Award for Architecture, Right Livelihood Award & Balzan Prize 1980. UIA Gold Medal 1984.
Hassan Fathy’s work opposes the very notion of western architectural influence, as depicted in all of his projects. Highly influenced by the traditional and cultural values, and embedded these characteristics to produce something that would be in harmony with the local context. He was involved in 160 separate projects, ranging over a wide domain.
1957- moved to Athens to team up with worldwide planners advancing the principles of ekisticaldesign under the heading of Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis (architect, town planner) [LEAD PLANNER OF ISLAMABAD].
Influenced by houses of Mamluk and Ottoman Cairo; shaded and ventilated owing to two-storey halls, mashrabiyas and courtyards, and the prominent indigenous mud brick construction.
BOOKS WRITTEN BY FATHY
He designed his first adobe building in the late 1930s.
Most famous projects:
New Gourna Village (1945-48) [community settlement]
Hamdi Seif AI-Nasr Rest House, Fayum Egypt [villa/rest house]
Khalil al-Talhuni House in Shuna Janubiyya, Jordan [pvt res]
New Baris Village in Kharga, Egypt (1960s) [community settlement]
Akil Sami House in Dahshur, Egypt (1979) [pvt res]
Beit ar-Rihan in Kuwait City, Kuwait (1981) [pvt res]
Housing project for 7000 inhabitants of Gourna, a village built on the site of the Tomb of Nobles in the ancient cemetery of Thebes (Luxor). Political and financial complications as well as residents’ opposition to relocation prevented completion. However, New Gourna remains a dynamic living settlement, with housing and public facilities, though nearly 40 percent of the original buildings have been lost.
The venture outstandingly connected the antiquated Nubian Vault method, something Fathy is currently frequently connected with, having revived it. This procedure empowers vaulted rooftops to be worked without the requirement for the typical timber system and utilizing just standard mud blocks.
This project brought about the revival of the Nubian vault.
NEW BARIS VILLAGE, KHARGA:
Agricultural community proposed by Organization for Desert Development due to the discovery of a water well 60km south of Kharga Oasis. Initially intended for 250 families. By using thermal mass & natural air movement, a temperature reduction of 15°C was achieved in order to store the perishable farmed commodities of the community.
Domestic quarters of the village, are organized along relatively linear north-south streets to take advantage of the shading that the buildings can cast on the streets throughout the day. In addition to this, the houses themselves are clustered around courtyards which are joined by takhtaboosh to adjoining open areas and eventually to the pedestrian way itself, so that a combined convective system provides continuous airflow.
