Semi-Detached Villas 24 & 26

Notes

Zeitoun's architectural style was best displayed in a series of villas he designed in a 1650 meters by 48 meters plot he bought himself, freeing himself from any limits set by clients. Two pairs of semi-detached villas were built, Villas 20/22 in 1954 and Villas 24/26 in 1958. 

In the two pairs he intended to have the interior space expand horizontally and vertically to the extremities of the possible limits in order to create pleasantness, openness, and spaciousness. He also showed great attention to details of consitutive components and their synergy to create the whole. 

In the each unit of the second villa pair, 24/26 villas, the entrance opens to living room directly which features the double height space in center. Symbiotically connected to it is a tiled outdoor space—sheltered with the balcony on the upper floor—creating a buffer with the surrounding green space. The processional uni-directional movement on the ground floor from the main entrance through the living room into the villa goes through an ascension in levelling. Displaying in its natural state is the use of stone for the pillar and wall housing the chimney; an associated could be made to the organic architectural style by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Sources

Abdelbaki Ibrahim?, The Arab Architects: Salah Zeitoun, Center for Architecture and Planning Studies, Masr el-Gidida, 1987, p. 32-34.

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