Yaasoub Rafik House

Notes

When granted commission for this house, Chadirji informed his client his intent to experiment with novel ideas.

Accordingly, the architect conceived a design with a recurrent U-shaped motif. Beside regular rectangular walls, the structure included U-shaped walls and flaunted them on the house’s exterior giving it a unique character; the walls showing to the exterior were taller and resembled semi-cylindrical towers of fortresses. These walls also allowed an ambient reflection of light that seeped into the interior.

The interior also expressed the U-shaped motif in extrusions and niches while also featuring slender non-structural arches throughout it and also around the inner courtyard.

While this motif was fundamentally for aesthetical purposes, Chadirji was able to wield functional utility out of it, be it when generating ambient light with the exterior walls or when animating the interior and separating its functions. This experience was critical for Chadirji’s career as it manifested a style which he would be later famous for.

Sources

Chadirji, Rifaat, Al-Ukhaider and the Crystal Palace, London: Riad El-Rayyes Books Ltd, 1991, pp. 440-443

Chadirji Foundation for Architecture and Society

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