Architecture for the Poor An Experiment in Rural Egypt PDF Book Download *FREE

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. 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 the villagers to tailor his designs to their needs. He taught them how to work with the bricks, supervised the erection of the buildings, and encouraged the revival of such ancient crafts as claustra (lattice designs in the mudwork) to adorn the buildings.

Hassan Fathy, an Egyptian architect, has taught on the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo and served as head of its architectural section. He has received numerous awards including the 1970 French Literary Prize for this book, which originally appeared in a French edition.

Foreword by William R. Polk

Preface

1. PRELUDE: DREAM AND REALITY

Paradise Lost: The Countryside

Mud Brick: Sole Hope for Rural Reconstruction

Mud for Roofing, Bahtim: Trial and Error

Nubia: Survival of an Ancient Technique of Vaulting

The Nubian Masons at Work: First Successes

Ezbet el Basry: Iblis in Ambush

A Tomb Robbery Begets a Pilot Housing Project

Birth of New Gourna: The Site

2. CHORALE: MAN, SOCIETY, AND TECHNOLOGY

Architectural Character

The Process of Decision Making

Tradition’s Role

Saving Individuality in the Village

Traditional Village Crafts Restored

The Use of Mud Brick an Economic Necessity

Reestablishment of the “Trinity”: Owner, Architect, and Craftsman

Vernacular Architecture of Old Gourna

Change with Constancy

Climate and Architecture

Orientation of Houses Determined Partly by Sun, Partly by Wind

The Malkaf, or Wind Catch

Society and Architecture

Kinship Structure and Local Custom

Socioeconomic Considerations

Rural Crafts in Gourna

The Plan of New Gourna

Public Service Buildings and Amenities

The Peasant House

Combating Bilharzia

Gourna, A Pilot Project

The Cooperative System

In-Service Training

Gourna Not an End in Itself

A Stillborn Experiment, Mit-el-Nasara

National Program for Rural Reconstruction

3. FUGUE: ARCHITECT, PEASANT, AND BUREAUCRAT

First Season: 1945-46

Second Season: 1946-47

Third Season: 1947-48

4. FINALE: GOURNA DORMANT

An Architect in Search of a Patron

Slander Continues

Gourna Revisited

Gourna in Nabaroh

Appendix I: Cost Analysis of Labor and Rates of the Execution of Works

Cost Analysis of Materials and Labor Used in Gourna Village

Cost of Stone

Sand

Construction

Appendix II: In-Service Training

Appendix III: Organization of Work

Appendix IV: Foundations

Appendix V: Brick Making

Extract from Colonel Debes’s Experiments

Extract from Dr. Mustapha Yehya’s Experiments

Appendix VI: Cost Analysis at the Moment when the Project Was Handed Over to the Ministry of Social Affairs

Glossary

Illustrations