Workers Monument

Notes

The architect was called upon for the design of a worker's housing complex. Given that his vision for a complex was for it to be diverse and different from the monotonous and inhumane housing projects typical of those prevalent at the time, it clashed with that of the responsible authorities causing the project to be aborted.

Yet, he was still commissioned to design a monument that would supposedly animate the housing complex project. As the housing complex project was abandoned and neglected, Chadirji saw that the authorities had narrow interests limited to the monument, self-serving to them but useless as a gesture.

With the lack of a meaningful message or value for the monument, Chadirji chose to design it as an ephemeral non-memorable monument. Accordingly, he designed it to be a semi-circular arch, with a non-definite purpose, built with brick. The material used was knowledgeably going to degrade and weather, transforming the arch into a pile of bricks.

Sources

Chadirji, Rifaat, Al-Ukhaider and the Crystal Palace, London: Riad El-Rayyes Books Ltd, 1991, p. 413

Chadirji Foundation for Architecture and Society

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