Crises of Vernacular Architecture: The Tale of Two Versions of 'New Gourna' in Upper Egypt.

Ahmed, Khaled Galal; ElGizawy, Lamis

doi:10.21608/bfemu.2020.127290

Crises of Vernacular Architecture: The Tale of Two Versions of 'New Gourna' in Upper Egypt.

Document Type : Research Studies

Authors

Khaled Galal Ahmed ¹
Lamis ElGizawy ²

¹ Assistant Professor., Architecture Engineering Department., Faculty of Engineering., El-Mansoura University., Mansoura., Egypt.

² Associate Professor., Department of Architecture., Faculty of Engineering., El-Mansoura University., Mansoura., Egypt.

10.21608/bfemu.2020.127290

Abstract

Gourna, a vernacular village in Upper Egypt was built above Pharonic heritage site. ill order to protect the monuments from theft, the Egyptian government commissioned Hassan Fathy in 1940s to design a new settlement for The Gourna residents. Unfortunately the project failed as most of the residents refused 10 move 10 the new village. Recently the government repealed the attempt but this time the second version of the New Gourna came significantly different from the Fatny's one. The main objective of the paper is to investigate if the second version of New Gourna is going to overcome the problems associated with the Fathy's New Gouma and deaJs successfully with the vernacular architecture of the region. It has been found that both of the two 'New Gouma' projects reveal how the top-down official processes might end up with either a superficial mimicry to the authentic vernacular architecture or an imposed alien built environment. Thus, it is expected that the recent project is going 10 end up in failure as its predecessor. Finally, an alternative approach when dealing with the regions of vernacular architecture is desperately needed in order to sustain their social, cultural , economic and environmental essence.

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