Paperback

This volume 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.

This book, "The Architecture for the Poor", is the true history of an Egyptian village that stood in the path of Lake Nasser, created by the Aswan High Dam, built in the mid 20th century along the Nile River at President Abdel Nasser’s behest, using large amount of money from the Soviet Union. This was a major project of the Cold War; and a very, very large political project for Egyptian President Nasser.

This traditional Egyptian adobe village, Gourna or Al Gourna, was scheduled to be evacuated and re-built, at Government expense, along with a good number of other traditional Egyptian villages before the waters of Lake Nasser drowned them permanently. The villagers were to be re-housed in Soviet-styled "modern" housing. For an American to understand Soviet-styled housing, think American urban "Public Housing Projects" of the mid-50's.