 Residential houses in Hassan Fathy Village | ||
| Hassan Fathy Village · قرية حسن فتحي Ṭōd el-Baʿīrāt · طود البعيرات | ||
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Hassan Fathy Village, Arabic:قرية حسن فتحي, Qaryat Ḥasan Fatḥī, „Ḥasan Fatḥī Village“(The former New Qurna, New Qourna, New Gourna, al-Qurna al-Hadida), and Death of el-Ba'irat, Arabic:طود البعيرات, Ṭōd / Ṭaud al-Baʿīrāt, are two villages on the Nile west side of Luxor on the way to the monuments of Thebes West. 1 Ṭōd el-Baʿīrāt is on the south side of the street and Hassan Fathy Village is on the opposite side. The clay architecture settlement of Hassan Fathy Village, which is hardly used today, was one of the most ambitious settlement projects of the Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy.
background
Hassan Fathy (* March 20, 1900 in Alexandria, died November 30, 1989 in Cairo) is probably the most important architect in Egypt of the 20th century. It is tragic that it was not accepted in one's own country and is hardly known in western countries. However, he enjoys great respect among the connoisseurs. Throughout his life, his architecture was for the lower classes of the population, so his buildings should be made of clay architecture. His buildings should be aesthetically valuable and use the advantages of clay construction such as pleasant air conditioning and inexpensive construction.
Although he was able to carry out around 30 of his 110 projects, most of them are now in decline. Ultimately, his ideas and buildings were spurned because his modern ideas were not understood. An exhibition under the title “Dream Images of Architecture” in winter 2005 in Frankfurt am Main was able to bring his work closer to the German public.
In addition to his most famous village project in Qurna, New Bārīs was the one of today Hassan Fathy Village, twenty years later, his second largest and last major project.
The village project was organized by the Egyptian Antiquities Service Egyptian Department of Antiquities initiated to about 7,000 residents of Sheikh ʿAbd el-Qurna To be able to relocate cheaply, whose residential buildings stood next to or above the ancient Egyptian Bemate graves. But the residents did not want to move, as the proximity to the ancient sites had provided a rich source of income for decades.
The planning and work on the village was carried out from 1946 to 1952. The buildings were built almost exclusively from adobe bricks, limestone blocks were only used occasionally. These are materials that could be obtained on site. Due to the rejection by the residents, the project was discontinued in 1952 and never completed.
The high water table and the lack of maintenance mean that the village is now falling into disrepair. Both the Unesco[1] as well as the World Monuments Fund[2] are now trying to preserve the village as a cultural heritage.
In the first decade of the 21st century, the residents were relocated from now on, namely to New Qurna, Arabic:القرنة الجديدة, al-Qurna al-Hadida, „New Qurna“, In dialect (ig-) Gurnat (ig-) Gadīda spoken, also New Ṭārif, eṭ-Ṭārif el-Gadīda in the north of eṭ-Ṭārif, called. This village, which is much more remote, has no chance of becoming a cultural heritage with its houses that look the same. And for this village the name Neu-Qurna, which had actually already been given, was needed.
getting there
Both villages are at the intersection of the asphalt road leading to the archaeological sites in Thebes West and the trunk road Armant and Esna or after Naqada, about two kilometers from the local ferry to Luxor away. You can get there on foot, by taxi or by microbus.
The micro-buses to Armant also start in the area of this intersection.
Tourist Attractions
About in the middle of the village branches off 1 25 ° 42 '54 "N.32 ° 37 ′ 21 ″ E a slightly wider street that leads to the mosque in Hassan Fathy Village. You pass the Kulturpalast with its theater and to the north of it the library. It is not uncommon to come across locals who earn some money with a guided tour.
The 1 Palace of Culture(25 ° 42 '56 "N.32 ° 37 ′ 21 ″ E), قصر الثقافة, Qaṣr ath-Thaqāfa, is located on the west side of the street. At both ends of the crenellated wall there are entrances to the Palace of Culture. One crosses buildings with two by three domes and arrives at the large open-air theater. In the east is the stage, in front of it an open space that was probably intended for a possible orchestra. This open space is limited on three sides with four rows of seats each. The artists were able to get to their booths on two floors from the stage or the stage stairs.
To the northwest behind the Kulturpalast is the 1 school(25 ° 42 '57 "N.32 ° 37 ′ 19 ″ E).
If you walk further north you come to a large, misshapen square, on the north side of which is the 2 mosque(25 ° 42 ′ 58 ″ N.32 ° 37 '24 "E) of the village is located. On the left side of the facade is the entrance, the minaret and the stairs to the minaret. First you come to an almost square courtyard, which is filled with trees and bushes. On its east side is the liwan with the prayer niche, the Mihrab or the Qibbla, and the pulpit, dem Minbar. The Ivan has a large dome with window openings. Only the spandrels of this dome have been decorated. L-shaped three- or two-aisled pillar halls with domes rest on their mighty arrows extend on both sides of the ivan.
A climb to the top of the minaret is worthwhile, as several buildings can be explored from here, e.g. B. the mosque itself and the market building.
South of the mosque on the other side is that 3 Market building(25 ° 42 '56 "N.32 ° 37 '24 "E). The domed arcade in the north is accessible. While the mosque is being renewed again and again, there are already significant structural damage in the area of the arcade.
The Residential houses of the village are to the east of the mosque and market. They have two floors, which are grouped around an inner courtyard. The houses included a bathroom, a latrine and a fireplace. The stalls for the animals were some distance away. With a bit of luck, you can see the inside of such a house, for example that of the architect Hassan Fathy himself.
kitchen
There is a small restaurant in the area of Sheikh ʿAbd el-Qurna about 100 meters east of the Ramesseums, more in Gazīrat el-Baʿīrāt and Gazīrat er-Ramla as in Luxor. There is also a local snack bar south of the West Bank Hotel.
accommodation
- 1 West Bank Hotel (to the east of Tod el-Ba'irat, south of the intersection, on the western side of the street). Simple, fairly clean hotel.(25 ° 42 '48 "N.32 ° 37 ′ 31 ″ E)
There is also accommodation in Gazīrat el-Baʿīrāt and Gazīrat er-Ramla, in Sheikh ʿAbd el-Qurna, Luxor as in Karnak.
trips
From here you can go on excursions to any place in the West bank at.
literature
- : Architecture for the poor: an experiment in rural Egypt. Chicago [et al.]: Chicago Univ. Press, 1973, ISBN 978-0-226-23916-3 .
- : Hassan Fathy. London: Concept Media [among others], 1985, Architects in the Third World, ISBN 978-9971-84-125-6 .
Web links
- New Gourna Village with a description of the settlement el-Qurna el-Gadīda (archnet.org, in English), now called Hassan Fathy Village.
- Hassan Fathy with a biography and the listing of his projects (archnet.org, in English).
Individual evidence
- ↑UNESCO launches safeguarding project at New Gourna Village, part of Ancient Thebes World Heritage site
- ↑New Gurna Village in the World Monuments Watch List of Most Endangered Sites from 2010, which lists the 100 most endangered cultural monuments in the world.
