Abdel Wahed El Wakil: Background, Awards, and Work Essay

Introduction

In the current world, the rate of modernization is taking place at a very fast pace. This has affected all most every aspect of human life. In line with modernization, it has also affected the traditional method of designing and construction of various structures with the introduction of architecture as a major discipline. In the Muslim world, architecture was instituted a long time ago. This means that it incorporated tradition. With modernization, these traditional aspects of designing structures are at a threat to the traditional heritage. Despite this, the architectural works of Abdel Wahid El-Wakil are currently being distinguished. The discussion of this paper is aimed at illustrating the background and works of Abdel Wahid El-Wakil.

Background information

Abdel Wahid el Wakil was born in the year 1943 in Cairo, Egypt (Keegan para.1). During his childhood, he went to the Victoria school and later joined the English school. During the period of schooling, his major areas of study in terms of subjects were the sciences and art. In line with his educations, he joined Ain Shams University in Cairo where he was admitted to the faculty of engineering.

In this department, he studied for a Bachelor of Science degree in architecture and graduated from this university in the year 1965 (Keegan Para. 3). From the year 1965, he worked as a lecturer in the department of engineering at the Ains-Sham University to 1970 since he had acquired a first-class honors degree in his undergraduate degree.

During his period of lecturing at the university, he had a mentor who was also in the faculty of architecture. During this time he also continued with his studies. This was under the guidance of his mentor Hassan Fathy. It was Hassan Fathy who greatly influenced Abdel Wahid El-Wakil especially in relation to the architectural career. This is due to the fact that Hassan Fathy was a very well-established architecture in relation to indigenous works of architecture.

After leaving the teaching field, Abdel Wahid ventured into his career. This was in the year 1971 where he went into private practice. This was through the establishment of an office that was based in Cairo.

He also worked as an advisor to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism in the year 1972 and later as a consultant to UNESCO in the period 1979 to 1980.

As time went by, he established more offices at Kent, Ashford, and also at Jeddah. Later he ventured into the international architectural environment by establishing offices in Miami. Here he taught at the University of Miami from the year 1991 to 2001 (Keegan Para. 6).

Abdel Wahid as a traditional designer and awards

Most of Abdel Wahid’s architectural work is evident in the mosques that he designed. This made him be very prominent in the architectural industry especially in Saudi Arabia. Abdel Wahid is described as a unique architect. This is due to the fact that his designs stood out from the others. This arises from the incorporation of tradition in the process of designing modern buildings which give a continuity element of tradition. This made most of his designs have an element of history. In order to incorporate tradition into his design, he separates the individual traditional works into various elements depending on the nature of the plans that were used (Khaled, p. 7). This enables him to copy them in a new design that he desires. In the process of copying, Abdel Wahid may either or not involves some modification on the design. This results in a very impressive design. His designs have been greatly acclaimed in the Muslim world due to the maintenance of the Muslim heritage. This has made his work be described as being of significant impact on the development of contemporary Islamic (Mohammad, p. 36).

In line with historical architectural design, Abdel Wahid incorporated the designs of Hassan Fathy. This is most evident in designing woodless construction technology. This technology proves to be very efficient especially considering the fact that the technology involves the use of construction materials that are locally available

Awards

His unique method of design earned various awards. For instance, he was awarded the Aga Khan award twice. The first was in the year 1980 for designing the Halawa house that is located at Agamy in Egypt (Mohammad, p. 34).

Due to his passion for architectural work, Abdel Wahid conducted intense research in the architectural field. The research work earned him the King Fahd award in the year 1985. This made him be awarded the title of a professor in the year 1988 by two recognized bodies are the International Union of architects and the International Academy the Architects. His work was also greatly appreciated by the American Institute of Architects and was thus acclaimed as an Honorary Fellow of the institute.

Later in the year 1989, he was awarded again with the Aga Khan Award for designing the Corniche Mosque that is located in Jeddah. In this mosque, his designs clearly exhibit his capacity in design work. This is due to the fact that the Mosque is well curved from a historical design and maintains its historical design.

While still in Saudi Arabia, Abdel Wahid received an award in the year 1994 due to his contribution to the Islamic architectural work at the city of the Prophet Al-Madinah Munawarah.

The International Congress for Mosque Architecture also awarded Abdel Wahid El-Wakil in the year 1999 for his contribution with regard to designing the contemporary mosque.

In the year 2009, Abdel Wahid also earned the ‘Driehaus Award’ and a price of $ 200,000. This was due to his effort with regard to classical architectural work. Apart from the classicism in architectural design, the award also recognizes the incorporation of the continuation of historical architectural designs. Incorporation of history indicates that the architectural work is fostering a particular community (‘Abdel Wahid El-Wakil wins 2009 Dreihaus prize’)

Abdel Wahid El-Wakil architectural designs are also recognized by Charles the Prince of Wales. His architectural design made him honor Abdel Wahid El-Wakil by making him an adviser in the architectural department of the Wales School of architecture (Charles, p.11).

His prominent Mosques

According to Mohammad, one of the areas where his architectural work is prominent is with regard to the Mosques (p.34). This is due to the fact that he designed eleven mosques that are located in Jeddah and Medina which are cities located in Saudi Arabia. These include Corniche, Rarity, Julaffi, Binladin, Juffali, and Jeddah, the mosque of the king of Saudi, Aziziyya, and Sulayman. Others include the mosque of Quba and also Qiblatyan that is located in Medina. According to Mohammad (p. 34), the Quba mosque was believed to be a reconstruction of the first Islamic mosque. This is due to the fact that it was elected where the first Islamic mosque was located.

In all these architectural works Abdel Wahid explored comprehensively their design and the materials to be used. His main objective was to include traditional methods of building and also on the traditional materials to be used. The materials used are mainly bricks which are used in the construction of the walls, dome, and also the vaults apart from being used as surface materials (Mohammad, p. 34).

Abdel Wahid’s work is also unique from that of his mentor Hassan Fathy in that it includes traditional diversity. This is due to the fact that it incorporates traditions of the Ottoman of Turkey, Mamluk from Egypt, Rasulid from Yemen, and also Seljuq from Iran (Mohammad, p. 34). His architectural work involves the merging of these traditions in various aspects resulting in a design that illustrates harmony.

His work stands out clearly in the maintenance of Islamic heritage. In describing the current architectural designs, he states that they are very superficial and do not reflect the actual Islamic heritage (Mohammad, p. 39).

His designing work through the incorporation of tradition is perceived by many as a reaction to the current development with regard to architecture in the 21st century. In all his designing of the mosque, there are traditional quotations that Abdel Wahid included. These resulted from the Islamic historical monuments. For instance, this is evident from the construction of the Saudi Mosque which depicts a number of elements from the Cairene Mosque that was dated in the early fourteenth century located in Sultan Hassan (Mohammad, p. 34).

In the design of this mosque, all the interior works had an element from Isfahan Mosque. Another example of a tradition is that of the Binladin mosque that was similar to that of the Sinan Sokullu Mehemet mosque in Istanbul.

His designs had a very peculiar aspect in the modern architectural work despite the fact that they are based on historical architectural designing elements. This is due to the fact that they have a very attractive sculptural quality which makes them be outstanding in respect to the sky, sand, and sea background (Mohammad, p. 36). In the construction of these structures, bricks were the ones that were exclusively used.

Mosques outside Egypt

Apart from his architectural designs in the Middle East and Egypt, his architectural design is also felt through his Student Muhammad Mayet in South Africa. This is due to the fact that he maintained the traditional aspect of designing a Mosque in South Africa. This is through the construction of the Kerk Street Mosque that is located in Johannesburg. This mosque is very significant to South African Muslims. This is due to the fact that it reminds them of the history in terms of worship. This results from the fact that the location of this mosque was used by the Muslims in their worship since the year 1870. This shows that the new building evokes an element of history amongst the South African citizens. The design resulted in the construction of a very stable building after the collapse of the original formal mosque 75 years ago (‘Sacred Room’). This mosque is hoped that it will accommodate more worshippers in comparison to the traditional mosque. He was also involved in the designing and construction of the Houghton Mosque located in the outskirts of Johannesburg in South Africa

In all his architectural design work, Abdel Wahid mainly used western methodologies. According to Mohammad, his architectural work stands out to be very well defined and at the same time has an element of complexity (p. 39). This is due to the fact that the designs include elements illustrating three different phases that is the past, modernity, and also post-modernism.

Major houses and mansions

The Halawa House

Apart from the mosques, Abdel Wahid El-Wakil’s work also involved the designing of beach homes and houses. This is evident from the design of the Halawa house that is located in Agami Egypt. This house was completed in the year 1975. This was a magnificent design by this architect in that it considered the hot environment of Egypt (‘The grove art dictionary’).

The Halawa house was designed to be constructed in a courtyard. This means that in designing the house, Abdel Wahid had comprehensively considered the space. The use of whitewash color made it possible for the house to filter the heat of the sun. Its construction also utilized the locally available building materials depicting a great degree of simplicity.

Al Suleiman Palace

Basing on the design of the Halawa house, Abdel designed the Al Suleiman Palace. This palace was however constructed on a larger space.

Zahran mansion

He is also recognized for his effort in the designing of most of the mansions in the Middle East. An example of this is the design of the Zahran mansion. His architectural design is also evident in the design of the Azera and the Kandiel houses which were constructed through the use of bricks. In designing all these mansions and houses, Abdel Wahid el Wakil included a wide range of the Arabs traditional aspects of design.

Currently, Abdel Wahid El-Wakil is mostly involved with a number of projects especially in the capitals of Middle East countries.

For instance, in Lebanon, he is involved in designing a number of projects aimed at the construction of structures within the ministry of foreign affairs.

He has also been involved in the designing of major business premises. These mainly include the shopping malls that are common in Islamic countries and offices. In all these designs, their constructions involved a lot of traditional designs.

Critics of Abdel Wahid El-Wakil architectural work

Despite the magnificent designs by El-Wakil, there is a sharp criticism of his work. This arises from the fact that despite his intense research on how to incorporate tradition in his designing, he omits the element of the surrounding especially with regard to the urban settings. According to Mohammad, upon placing El- Wakil’s mosques designs in the modern urban towns, there is a sharp contrast which makes them not appear as effective compared with the contemporary buildings (p.37). This illustrates that his designing work does not comprehensively consider the effect of the urban surrounding on his designs.

This illustrates that there is a lack of sensitivity in his design with regard to the surrounding in the modern world.

Despite the criticism by other architects, Abdel Wahid El-Wakil notes that the modern architectures that claim to be reviving the Islamic structures do not truly reflect the Islamic tradition. This is due to the fact that modern architecture mostly incorporates Western aspects of planning. This makes their designs to be very much superficial by just integrating a few elements of the Islamic traditional ornamental elements (Mohammad, p. 39). In comparison with Abdel Wakil’s work, his architectural designs eliminate this superficiality which makes it to be more prominent.

Conclusion

Designing is one of the most important aspects of architecture since it determines the outcome of a structure upon its construction. Due to the current rate of incorporation of modernism, the traditional aspects of design are being eroded. Despite this Abdel, Wahid El-Wakil has made a great effort in maintaining the traditional aspects in his architectural design. This has made him act as a link between divergent times that is traditional designing and modernism.

Abdel Wahid El-Wakil has emerged to be a very influential architecture amongst the Islamic countries. This has made most of his work to be published in major international journals of architecture. He has also been described as architecture with great skills. Upon starting his career in Egypt, his work became very significant which made him be recognized in Egypt and also internationally.

In his career, Abdel Wahid has earned numerous awards due to his articulate architectural design and integration of tradition. His designing work also stands out to be classical and has an element of traditional continuity. This has made him be recognized by most architectural institutes and unions internationally.

Most of his architectural design work is evident in the construction of mosques, especially in Arab countries. His work stands to be unique from that of his mentor Hasan Fathy which is limited to the Egyptian culture. His design incorporates a wide range of traditions from different countries such as Iran, Turkey, and Yemen amongst others.

His architectural work also resulted in the designing of major mansions and beach houses such as the Zahran Mansion and the Halawa house. All these incorporated the concept of utilization of locally available materials. They also addressed the hot Egyptian climate effectively.

With the emergence of third-generation technology, architectural design has become very effective. This is due to the development of modern CAD programs that aid in the process of architectural designing. It is Abdel Wahid El Wakil’s dream that he will take his architectural career a level higher.

His architectural design has however been criticized. This is due to their lack of consideration of the surrounding especially with reference to the urban areas. Despite the increased modernity, the architectural designing work of Abdel Wahid has not been greatly influenced. This is due to the fact that his design has continued to utilize traditional architectural concepts mainly from his country and the Middle East.

His work is however distinctive from that of the modern Western architectures. The difference results from the fact that modern Western architects incorporate Islamic traditions in their designs superficially.

References

1. Al- Asad, Mohammad. ‘The mosques of Abdel Wahid El Wakil,’ 2009.
2. Charles, Prince of Wales. ‘A vision of Britain: a personal view of architecture.’ New York: Doubleday, 1989.
3. Keegan, Edward.‘Abdel Wahid El Wakil wins the 2009 Dreihaus prize.’ Architect Magazine, 2008.Henley Woods, LLC.
4. Answers.com’ Art encyclopedia: Abdel Wahid El Wakil’ Web.
5. Asfour, Khaled. ‘ Identity in the Arab region’ Cairo: Misr International University. 2009.
6. ‘Sacred Room’ Web.
7. Artnet, ‘The grove art dictionary: Abdel Wakil El Wahid’. Macmillan Publishers, 2000.