The Legacy of Hassan Fathy

RA: So it's a political success?

MM: And it's a common enthusiasm.

RA: So why is there no such political momentum in favor of adobe?

MM: Its momentum was in the 70's and early 80's, and by the mid-80's it had pretty much fizzled out.

Hasan Uddin-Khan (HK): Why do you think that is?

AWW: Fashion, fashion.

MM: I think there was so much problem with the code people. Even though we have the most enlightened adobe code in New Mexico, it's still very restrictive. You can't use a natural mud plaster with unstabilized brick, which will work fine but implies periodic maintenance. It's a cultural thing: Traditionally you would get your family or your community together every two or three years to re-apply the plaster as a group project. Now that we're kind of a non-extended-family society, we just don't think that way any more.

JS: I think that's another reason why [Fathy's project at] Abiquiu has been questioned. It was a lifestyle difference. If you listen to the lectures that Hassan Fathy gave at the opening of Dar al-Islam, he was talking about adobe but the people who were asking questions were saying, "Well, we think it's too cold here for adobe, and we don't know if we can maintain the buildings." This self-build, hands-on maintenance approach does not really work in America.

AWW: It's more than this. Hassan Fathy is not just introducing a construction material. He was introducing a style and even a quality of life that we are losing. When I went and saw the Amish people I was stunned: I think if Hassan Fathy had gone there he would have found his hometown in America.