Work

Architecture for the Poor: An Experiment in Rural Egypt

1973
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Fathy's account of the New Gourna experiment argues that vernacular materials, traditional craft and community participation, not industrial imports, offer a humane and sustainable architecture for the rural poor.

Dwelling Collectivity Settlement Tectonics Climate

Details

Type
Text
Location
Chicago

Classifications

Holder
Communal intergenerational
Source of authority
Lived experienceObservation
Subject
Human centred
Political position
Subaltern resistant
Mode of transmission
Text drawing
Knowledge type
Relational embodied
Epistemic cluster
Western philosophicalIslamic mena

Connections

Referenced by

Sources

  1. Hassan Fathy. Architecture for the Poor: An Experiment in Rural Egypt. University of Chicago Press, 1973.
  2. UChicago Press. n.d.. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo3641441.html.

Cite this entry

First published May 2026Last revised Jul 2026

CLAD. "Architecture for the Poor: An Experiment in Rural Egypt." Atlas of Architectural Thought. CLAD, 2026. https://www.cl-ad.com.au/research/atlas/work/architecture-for-the-poor/. Accessed July 17, 2026.