The Stories of Hassan Fathy: Fictional Expressions of Architectural Ideas

The theoretical project of Hassan Fathy involved the writing of many fictional stories about architecture. This paper starts by establishing the current disciplinary interest in the relationship between architecture and fiction. Fathy is then introduced as a writer whose interest in storytelling and literature extends even to his non-fiction writings. The main arguments of the paper are based on the analysis of thirteen fictional stories written by Fathy, some of which have been uncovered through original archival research. Fathy did not only use fiction to express his established ideas in a literary form, but to explore new ideas entirely, including moments of doubt, thoughts on gender equality, and a critique of fascism and colonialism. The paper then argues that given Fathy’s marginalisation from architectural discourse and the kind of ideas he wanted to express, it was necessary for him to use fiction to create an alternative discourse.