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Hassan fathy's vernacular architecture
1. Hassan fathy
Egyptian Architect (1900 – 1989)
The master builder, Hassan Fathy (1900-1989)
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.
He was unique in believing that this language
could exist alongside that of an aggressively
modern one that cut all ties with the past he
Designed 160 separate projects from modest
country retreats to fully planned communities,
markets, schools, theatres, places for worship and
for recreation.
2. • Born to a wealthy family on the 23 March 1900 in Alexandria, Egypt.
• He moved to Cairo with his family when he was eight years old, and settled in Helwan
• A noted Egyptian architect who pioneered appropriate technology for building in Egypt, especially
by working to re-establish the use of mud brick (or adobe) and traditional as opposed
to western building designs and lay-outs
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3. ARCHITECTURAL PERSPECTIVES
• Ancient design methods and materials
• Utilizing a knowledge of rural Egyptian economic situation
• Space design suitable to surrounding environment
• Low cost construction without using R.C.C and steel
• Training locals to build ones own house
SIX MAJOR PRINCIPLES THAT FORM THE CRUX OF FATHY'S WORK :
• The belief in the primacy of human values in architecture
• The importance of a universal rather than a limited approach
• The use of appropriate technology
• The need for socially oriented, cooperative construction techniques
• The essential role of tradition
• The re-establishment of cultural pride through the art of building
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4. DESIGN ELEMENTS (ADOBE WALLS & WIND CATCHERS)
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8. Geographical location : North of Africa, touching Mediterranean sea
Climate : Dry, Arid
Special feature : River Nile flowing from south to North
Main Occupation : Farming on the banks of River Nile
EGYPT
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• As an architect, he was influenced the most by the monumental
architecture in the Pharaonic period also, strongly influenced
intellectually by the concept of the vernacular arch. of the
Nubians.
• Hassan Fathy’s main purpose was housing the poor in developing
nations by applying the concept he was strongly influenced by
which is the vernacular architecture of the Nubians which
opened up his mind to discover the true essence of the heritage
and being inspired by the ancestor’s work.
• His goal was to combine between a comfy descent housing &
being poor, because after all, home is where the person should
feel comfy at ease serene and cool no matter what was the
temperature and the circumstances outside.
9. "Matchbox houses" were too hot in the summer and
too cold in winter.
Nubian craftsmen were masters at constructing
domed and vaulted roofs of mud brick which they
also used for the walls.
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• Hassan Fathy developed his own ideas, inculcating
traditional Arab styles like the malkhaf (wind
catcher), the shukshaykha (lantern dome) and the
mashrabeya (wooden lattice screens) which could
be combined with the mud-brick construction
• He designed complete communities including
utilities and services, country retreats, and special
projects and homes.
• Hassan Fathy had already worked for decades in
his beloved Egypt before he designed and built for
the homeless community of Gourna, Upper Egypt,
which attracted international acclaim.
10. One would enter a home made out of local natural resources with dome shaped ceilings and no electrical
air-conditioning, to find a sudden descent of peace and calm within a cool atmosphere.
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17. OVERALL UNDERSTANDING
• Mud brick – Low heat radiation, low cost, availability
• Thick wall – high insulation
• Small windows not facing the sun.
• Wind catcher – Air circulation, a pressure gradient used to get away with
the hot air.
• Qanat – Used with windcatcher to cool the interior air by deep cut canal in
the floor filled with water.
• Screens – Restrict glare of light
• No use of R.C.C and Steel for high heat radiation
• Courtyard with partial greenery to screen dust and sand in the prevailing
wind.
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18. • Vernacular architecture is a wise thought of generation molded by culture and region in which it
flourishes.
• It is region specific and culture specific.
• Vernacular design is seen as a limitation imposed by the guide lines of region and culture or is it
learning to live with these limitation by utilization of its potentials to the maximum.
• Therefore, vernacular architecture is a result of factor that frame it.
