 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 June 1999 Issue No. 434 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 June 1999 Issue No. 434
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Living Travel Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Gargoyles by the Nile
By Fayza HassanIn her recently published book, Magda Baraka comments that one of the most significant marks of European influence on the Egyptian elites could be observed in architecture. "From the latter part of the 19th century and well into the 20th, European architects were setting the architectural norm," she writes. They were the ones entrusted with the design of public and private buildings; many enjoyed distinguished careers during a period when cosmopolitan Egypt was looking to the West for inspiration. Among the trendsetters was the Italian contractor G. Garrozzo, originally hired by Khedive Ismail to build the Opera House, and who later, in various capacities, became involved in the construction of the Abdin and the Giza palaces. Other work that bore his mark included the Savoy, the Shepheard's and the Grand Continental hotels, villas in Heliopolis, as well as the Tawfiqiya and Abbasiya schools.
Garrozzo, like many others who were employed by the khedive, had to put up with difficult conditions: Ismail had the well-known habit of entrusting several designers, architects and contractors with the same job at the same time, usually without defining their respective responsibilities and without informing them that they could be working at cross purposes, which resulted in a great deal of confusion. Furthermore, sudden changes of mind and a chronic shortage of funds made these khedivial commissions rather unpredictable affairs.
Building in Egypt had nevertheless become fashionable as economic conditions deteriorated in Europe and architects responded in droves to the khedive's invitation. To counterbalance the uncertainty of their future at the hands of their royal patron, they sought -- and found -- an eager clientele among rich members of the foreign community and the Egyptian and Turkish aristocracy, in the mood for a change from the traditional Arab style dwelling. Garrozzo -- who later established a company with his sons, trading under the name Garrozzo e Figli -- must have been able to grab the lion's share of this lucrative market, since Baraka credits him with making "a dramatic impact on the architecture of Cairo".
photo courtesy of
Youssri Sameh Moussa
Swiss banker Jean I. Hug (b.1862 in Heinfelden, Switzerland), of Hug & Co., and his wife Marcelle, were among Garrozzo's distinguished clients, commissioning him, some time in 1908, to build the gothic-style riverfront villa located at No. 3 Aziz Abaza Street, Zamalek, between the Arts Centre (formerly Aisha Fahmi's villa) and the Indian Embassy, recounts writer Samir Raafat. At the time, "the residents of Gezira at the heart of Zamalek were almost exclusively top foreign and colonial administrators... members of the royal family... leading figures of the cosmopolitan business elites... and a few native upper class figures," comments Baraka.
It is unclear how the villa commissioned by Hug came to be built in a style strongly reminiscent of Italian Gothic, except that, since the 1850s, Gothic revivalism in architecture had become fashionable in Europe and its adepts were soon called upon to adapt this style to Mediterranean conditions in the Near East. In Turkey in particular, the building of the Crimean War Memorial erected in appropriately transposed Italian Gothic had generated a great deal of interest and controversy in professional milieus. It is very likely that Garrozzo kept himself informed of the various architectural trends in Europe and was willing to engage in some experimentation of his own. The result was a unique villa built with special masonry which was then decorated by the French atelier of Lehman.
When the castle-like red brick and stucco construction was completed, turrets, arches and stained-glass windows adorned its façade; a profusion of mythological reptiles poked their fiery tongues at potential visitors, while stone damsels in distress looked forlornly toward the small pier at the bottom of the carefully landscaped garden. Under the brilliant Egyptian sun, and enframed by verdant lawns, the effect, although a little incongruous, must have been stunning. Today, it has become an integral part of the unequaled style of the street.
Upon the banker's death, his widow, intending to retire in Switzerland, sold the house to wealthy landowner Hassan Faizi Bey, who was in the process of acquiring several villas in the vicinity, and who subsequently offered it to one of his daughters. The last owner of Villa Hug was MP Mohamed Sameh Moussa, the long-time secretary of the pre-1952 Saadist Party and a son-in-law of Hassan Faizi. The other Faizi daughters were also beneficiaries of villas along the Nile, including what is today the Iraqi residence and Indian chancery, both in Zamalek. As for the villa belonging to his only son -- Mohamed Faizi -- it was torn down and replaced with an enormous apartment building, also on Aziz Abaza Street, according to Raafat.
The villa remained in the family for three generations, passing on to Youssri Sameh Moussa through his mother, but after the revolution, as its upkeep was becoming a little too steep, he decided to rent it. At one time an Institute of Education for Girls (Amira Fawqiya Al-Gedida), Villa Hug was leased for most of the past 25 years to a Latin American embassy which used it as a residence for its ambassadors. One of these ambassadors received, as his personal house guest, Venezuela's president, Señor Rafael Calderas. Another house guest, Señor Nava Carrillo, was nominated his country's minister for foreign affairs shortly after returning to Caracas, according to Raafat. Unimpressed by the quality of the visitors who may have stayed under the roof of his villa, Sameh Moussa says he was appalled by the state of neglect in which he found it when he eventually retrieved it. The wood paneling and painted ceilings which lent its interior an extra mediaeval touch were seriously damaged, he says.
The villa was sold a few years ago to Nawal El-Digwi Enterprises and is at present undergoing what looks like a complete restoration. Asked about the name of the architect or contractor in charge, the future of the villa and whether rumours that it will be housing the headquarters of a modern university were true, the new owner was non-committal. "You can ask me those questions when the work is finished in a few months," was her only answer.
Sources:
Mark Crinson: Empire Building, Orientalism and Victorian Architecture, Routledge, 1996 Magda Baraka: The Egyptian Upper Class between Revolutions (1919-1952) Ithaca, 1998
