IDEAS AND WORKS

OF HASSAN FATHY

By ;
MOHAMED AFAYEIN.A
PREETHI KANJALI.M
 Introduction
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.
He was talented in drawing which was to stand him in good stead when
he joined the King Fuad I University (presently Cairo University) to study
architecture.
In 1930 he was appointed as instructor at the Faculty of Fine Arts where
he remained until 1946. In 1953 he became Head of the Architecture
Department.
He was appointed Director of the Educational Buildings Department of
the Ministry of Education between 1949 and 1952.
Amongst his awards are : The Aga Khan Award for Architecture
Chairman's Award (1980), Balzan Prize for Architecture and Urban
Planning (1980), Right Livelihood Award (1980)
 Philosophy
Fathy recognized that architecture is for human beings. He believed that architecture must
be shaped by factors like the wind, sun, nature and the individuality and culture of the
people involved.

He rejected architecture that was not indigenous rooted in the location and the culture of
the area, which in his mind found its trust expression in the vernacular architecture of a
society.

His rejection was of internationalism itself as a homogenizing concept that stripped human
beings of their individuality
 Philosophy
“You must start right from the beginning, letting your buildings grow from the daily lives
of the people who live in them, shaping the houses to the measure of the peoples songs,
weaving the patterns of a village as if on the village looms, mindful of the trees and the
crops that will grow there, respectful to the skyline and humble before the seasons.

There must be neither faked tradition nor faked modernity, but an architecture that will
be the visible and permanent expression of the character of the community.

But this would mean nothing less than a whole new architecture. ”

- Hassan Fathy
Philosophy
Fathy’s Works
 Works
Sadat Rest House , Garf Hoseyn, Egypt

Intended as a resthouse to be used on official trips to the isolated area

around Lake Nasser in Nubia, the residence is actually made up of three
separate buildings sequentially organized according to the status of each. 
Works
Sadat Rest House , Garf Hoseyn, Egypt
In overall the complex is
Works
composed of four
different blocks:

• Guest House
• Rest house
• Security Building
• Garage

Overall complex plan

Sadat Rest House , Garf Hoseyn, Egypt Works

Views of Rest house

Sadat Rest House , Garf Hoseyn, Egypt
Rest House Block
Works

Rest house Ground Floor Plan

Sadat Rest House , Garf Hoseyn, Egypt Works
Rest House Block

Rest house Ground Floor Plan

Sadat Rest House , Garf Hoseyn, Egypt
Guest House Block
Works
Sadat Rest House , Garf Hoseyn, Egypt Works
Security Block
Sadat Rest House , Garf Hoseyn, Egypt Works
Garage Block
 Works
New Gourna Village, Egypt
The village of New Gourna, which was partially
built between 1945 and 1948, is possibly the
most well known of all of Fathy's projects
because of the international popularity of his
book, "Architecture for the Poor", published in
1973 nearly twenty years after the experience
and concentrating primarily on the ultimately
tragic history of this single village. 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 relocaton was
considered as a soluton to reduce the damages
to the Tombs of the Pharaonic period.
The Village was meant to be a prototype but
rather than subscribing to the current idea of
using a limited number of unit types
As he said in Architecture for the Poor, "In
Nature, no two men are alike. Even if they are
twins and physically identical, they will differ
in their dreams.
This is why in this village built by their
inhabitants we will find no two houses are
identical.
It demonstrated, within the era of “modern
movement” that sustainability and social
cohesion could also be met with vernacular
architectures, local materials and techniques
New Gourna Village, Egypt Works
New Gourna Village, Egypt Works
• Old Gourna was a thriving community of 500 hamlets built
along the hills in West Luxor.
• In its design there is an hierarchy to the village which is
easiest read by the system of open spaces.
• Main route to the village interior widens to create a kind of
public square around which many community functions
could take place.
• Houses were planned in irregular allotments.
• Smallest unit in the hierarchy of open space is the
multipurpose courtyard.
• Starting with this private space of courtyard he finally
reached the open fields of the Nile Valley.
• Animal husbandry is a vital link in the family economy.
New Gourna Village, Egypt Works
New Gourna Village, Egypt Works
New Gourna Village, Egypt Works
New Gourna Village, Egypt Works
New Gourna Village, Egypt Works
 Works
Monastirli House, Giza, Egypt
Monastirli House, Giza, Egypt Works
• The house is on an oddly shaped, triangular piece of land with utilitarian functions at a right
angle to the main body of the house, along the base of the triangle.
• The house gradually expands towards a large sitting room that is cantilevered out over the
river.
• The entry sequence into the house, for guests, is carefully controlled.
• The spaces related to guests are equally graced with views of the river.
• Such personal touches continue, culminating in an upper internal court that uses the apex of
the plaster dome directly below as a fountainhead, and mirrors it in an open lattice pergola of
extraordinary delicacy above.
Monastirli House, Giza, Egypt Works
Monastirli House, Giza, Egypt Works
Monastirli House, Giza, Egypt Works
Monastirli House, Giza, Egypt Works
Monastirli House, Giza, Egypt Works
Monastirli House, Giza, Egypt Works