2.4 Iraq Housing Programme Design Drawing

Iraq Housing Programme

“As a member of the Doxiades Organization in Athens between 1957 and 1962, Fathy entered wholeheartedly into both the intellectual and social activities of the Ekistics group, lecturing on the relationship between climate and architecture at Athens Technical Institute and joining the ‘City of the Future’ research project then underway at the Ekistics Centre itself.

The drawings for the Iraq Housing Program, which were associated with this project, include master planning of an entire city, as well as a detailed examination of one component. This component, representing one neighbourhood in the city, is made up of all the elements of a traditional Iraqi village, such as a mosque, market shops, coffee-house, school and houses, with the addition of a park and immaret, or administration centre. Closer examination of the drawingso for what he called Hussiyah Village, while initially giving pause because of an occaisional lapse into ‘beton brut’, which is used as a gesture towards his patron, show a deep concern for the separation of pedestrian and vehicular circulation, and for the types of housing provided for different classes of people, including farming and non-farming families as well as government officials, and tradesmen. The drawings are also accompanied by sketches of vernacular houses with stone basements designed to trap cool night air for recirculation through the house during hot summer days, indicating that they be used as models for single-family houses, with the old system incorporated into the new designs.” (construction not verified)
IHF2115n Site Plan