Comfortable Modernization: Hassan Fathy’s Architecture and the Decolonization of Egypt

The 20th century modernization of the developing world came with its own discomforts. This project looks at a particular episode in the modernization of Egypt. The architecture of Hassan Fathy, as this dissertation argues, aimed at comforting its subjects towards the emerging forces of modernization. This dissertation looks at Fathy’s engagement with the problems of modernity and contemporaneity, especially in rural context, and how his architecture aimed at positioning its subjects in a state of equilibrium by providing a model for managing the conflicting temporalities of change. This dissertation connects multiple forms of archival materials and looks at Fathy’s treatment of the book, the brick, space, the environment and the window screen to develop what could be described as a theory of comfortable modernization