Charles_Ayrout

Charles Ayrout

Charles Ayrout

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Charles Habib Ayrout (Arabic: شارل حبيب عيروط-) (1905 Cairo, Egypt - 1965 Cairo, Egypt) was an architect practising in Cairo and is considered one of that city's 'pioneer' generation, as well as a Belle Epoque/Art Déco (1920–1940) architect for his landmark buildings and villas,.[1] and was one of the most active builders in its Heliopolis district.[2] He summarised his approach in 1932 as to “bring to Heliopolis the principles of modern architecture, but not of avantgarde architecture."[2]

Quick Facts Born, Occupation ...

Family

His father, Habib Ayrout, was an Egyptian architect and contractor, born into a family originally from Aleppo, Syria.[3] After being educated in Paris as an engineer-architect, Habib Ayrout participated in the planning and construction of Heliopolis.[4]

Charles Ayrout had two brothers, the Jesuit priest Henry Habib Ayrout and Max Ayrout, who was also an architect practicing in Cairo.[4]

Style

Ayrout was part of a movement of French educated Syrian-Lebanese Egyptian architects, who were strongly influenced by the French 'modern classicism' of Michel Poux-Spitz and Pol Abraham. This movement also included Antonine Selim Nahas and Raymond Antonious.[5] However, he stressed on learning the principles of Modrnist architecture, and reapplying them in Egypt as opposed to copying them.[2]

Works in Cairo include

[6]
  • Bldg, 26 July/Hassan Sabri, Zamalek
  • 25 Mansour Street, Bab al-Louk
  • Ayrout Bldg, Cherif Pasha Street
  • Bldg Shawarby Street
  • Ayrout Villa, Zamalek
  • Mosseri Building (now Mofti) on Shagaret Al Durr St., Zamalek
  • Bishara Bldg, Nile Avenue
  • Halim Doss Bldg, Midan Shafakhana
  • Ibrahimieh Secondary School, Garden City
  • Kahil Bldg, Kantaret al-Dikka
  • Bldg Gamal el Dine Abou El Mahassen, Garden City (1951)
  • Villa Valadji, Heliopolis

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Mercedes Volait Le Caire-Alexandrie: Architectures Européennes 1850-1950 (co-edition IFAO/CEDEJ 2001)
  2. [2]
    Volait, Mercedes (2006-09-01). "Mediating and domesticating modernity in Egypt : uncovering some forgotten pages". Docomomo Journal.
  3. [3]
    Héliopolis, création et assimilation d’une ville européenne en Égypte au xxesiècle https://books.openedition.org/pufr/3077?lang=en
  4. [4]
    Timothy Mitchell Rule of Experts: Egypt, Techno-Politics, Modernity, University of California Press, 2002, pg. 332
  5. [5]
    R. Stephen Sennott (editor), Encyclopedia of 20th Century Architecture, Vol. 1, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 2004, pg. 202
  6. [6]
    Cairo's Belle Époque architects 1900 - 1950, compiled by Samir Raafat

Further reading

Studies where Ayrout's work is discussed:

On the Belle Époque architecture in Cairo:

  • Cynthia Myntti, Paris Along the Nile: Architecture in Cairo from the Belle Epoque, American University in Cairo Press, 2003.
  • Trevor Mostyn, Egypt's Belle Epoque: Cairo and the Age of the Hedonists, Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2006.
  • A list of Cairo's Belle Époque architects 1900 - 1950, compiled by Samir Raafat.
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