Architecture for the Poor

"Fat'hy demonstrates very powerfully that it is possible to build for the poor, in his country at least, cheaply and humanly by the use of earth for building and by teaching people to build for themselves. There is no other book quite like this. It is an important work and should have far-reaching effects on planning and building in the richer countries where the environmental consequences of present building techniques are being examined and questioned."

Architecture for the Poor describes in detail Fat'hy's plan for building the village of New Gourna from mud bricks, employing such traditional Egyptian architectural designs as enclosed courtyards and domed and vaulted roofing. Fat'hy worked closely with the people to tailor his designs to their needs; he taught them how to work with the mud 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.
Although bureaucratic red tape and other problems prevented the completion of New Gourna, Fat'hy's ideas have recently begun to command widespread attention. As a Time feature article on Fat'hy points out, "To date, nobody has been able to build public housing for less than $1,200 per unit, -more than most developing countries can afford. As Fat'hy has proved...he can bring the cost down to $500 per unit, including a kitchen and a latrine.
He designs housing so that peasants can build it much as their fathers did in the past. No structural steel, concrete or wood is needed, just mud bricks and the native technique that Fat'hy learned in Nubia. As a result, he says, he has 'a billion clients' --the world's poor."
Hassan Fat'hy, an Egyptian architect, has taught on the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo and served as head of its architectural section. He has received the Union of International Architects Gold Medal, the Egyptian government's National Prize for Arts and Letters, and the Aga Kahn Award for Architecture. He was also awarded the 1970 French Literary Prize for the present work, which originally appeared in a French edition.
---The University of Chicago Press