Kamal Amin: Seeking Frank Lloyd Wright

The Middle East Architects Association Journal - Egypt

11MEAA JournalJuly 2016

In 1928, on August 24, Kamal Amin (Fig. 1) was born in Cairo to Madame Nadia and Dr. Mohamed Amin (Fig. 2). His stratum

belonged to the upper Egyptian Class of his time. He grew up in the father’s large townhouse on the outskirts of Cairo, where the house, on the ground floor, had his father’s medical practice and pharmacy, and the upper floor was designated as the family household. His Turkish maternal

great-grandfather was granted a large tract of land in the northeast part of Egypt, which remained in the control of the family, at least throughout Kamal’s mother’s life. The wealth of the family, as Kamal Amin describes it, was reflected in the physical setting of the immense maternal

grandfather’s abode in Doumyat, which he still refuses to call Damietta. This residence contained in itself thirty-six bedrooms and several sitting areas, where Amin’s family used to spend the whole summers without the presence of his father who would remain in Cairo attending his professional affairs as a prominent physician.He recalls his father as being a “dominating type of figure” in the house, who had an “unemotional and bondless relationship” with Amin. As a result, their rapport was not the most pleasant and friendly. On the other hand, there were a lot of expectations of him from his family for being the oldest of seven children. According to Amin, his mother was a “resolute woman who was emotionally remote.” As was true of many Egyptian women at the time, her main preoccupations were keeping the household running and a constant exchange of visits to and from friends. She was extremely young, seventeen years old, when she married Kamal Amin’s father, and only eighteen at the time of Amin’s birth. As was expected at the time, her husband was double her age.Kamal Amin’s life in his youth was like many other Egyptians of his social class; going to school, and getting together with close friends, particularly to discuss interesting books that made them think out of the box and develop their critical thinking. When entering college he was not yet sure about his real vocation. Once in the university he decided to join the school of architecture.Soon after he entered the university became very discontented with the way his professors were training the students. Many of them were well-recognized architects in Egypt; however, “they were very much into their own banal, expensive works and had no time to guide their pupils.” However, there was one professor who made the difference, Sayed Karim, was newly returned from Germany where he had obtained a doctoral degree in architecture. According to Amin, Dr. Karim never adopted the tendencies followed by the rest of the faculty, and in consequence, he soon began having problems himself. According to Kamal Amin’s own words, the professors at that time were constantly urging students to dig into foreign magazines looking for paradigms of architecture. Thus, the Bauhaus influence was the fashion followed during Amin’s university days.Amin soon demonstrated that he was, in his own way, also a rebellious chap. He constantly challenged the prevailing teaching methods in architecture. This frequently put him in trouble with the department’s faculty, to the extent that, the very day of his graduation, a city-planning professor, in a smiling and sarcastic manner, told him: “we are letting you graduate only to get rid of you. You were indeed ruining this department.”The university environment was little more than a forum through which Egyptian professors sought to turn students into copying machines to reproduce the Bauhaus movement. All the product of that instruction was like a carbon copy of the work fostered by Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe and previously by Hannes Meyer and Walter Gropious. It was an approach that absolutely demoralized Amin. In 1948, on one of his many visits to the American Embassy Cultural Center library, he came across a book containing plans of Frank Lloyd Wright’s oeuvre. The Robie House’s plans

المستخلصامين كمال المصري المعماري رحلة البحثية الورقة هذه تناقش و المعمارية الهندسة دراسة ثم األساسي تعليمه تلقي منذ إلستكمال األمريكية المعاهد احد في ليقبل المتعدده محاوالته فرانك الشهير األمريكي بالمعماري لقائه تدريبه كمعماري حتى و بجانبه ليبقى الصعبه التحديات و الشروط قبوله و رايت لويد

يتعلم منه و تمتد مسيرة كمال امين ليتبنى ايدلوجية األب الروحي له فرانكفلسفته بنفس التصميم في استمراره و وفاته بعد رايت لويد و الفريده المعمارية التصميمات من العديد انتجت التي المميزه

المميزه عبر تاريخ المعماريين المعاصر

الكلمات المفتاحيه كمال امين - فرانك لويد رايت - مؤسسة فرانك لويد رايت - مجمع الجامعه المسيحية فونيكس - مسكن سكوتسدايل - مجلة فنون

ساوث ويست

Kamal Amin: Seeking Frank Lloyd WrightConchita Anorve-Tschirgi, Arch.

Ehsan Abushadi, Arch

Figure 1.Kamal Amin. Phoenix, AZ, USA-January 2016 (Photograph by Conchita Anorve-

Tschirgi).

Figure 2.Kamal Amin’s parents: Madame Nadia and Dr. Mohamed Amin. (Kamal Amin’s Archives, Regional Architecture Collections, Rare Books and Special Collections Library, American University

in Cairo).


12 MEAA JournalJu

ly 2

016

(1908) formed part of this book, which was a total revelation for the young architect. The epiphany became a major turning point in the career that Amin would embark upon just three years later. That same year he met Omar Mahmoud, an Egyptian architect who in the 1940’s has spent time at Taliesin West Fellowship, Phoenix, where the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation was steadily receiving young architects to learn and work hands-on. One of the main principles of the program is to make the materials and the architect become extensions of each other (Fig. 3).When Amin finished college, he was determined to seek out Frank Lloyd Wright. He knew that taking this step would entail trouble; firstly when he announced to his father that he wanted to go to the United States to continue his training as an architect, and secondly when he applied for a visa to the United States. The latter was a serious issue as he needed a student visa for his extended stay in the US but at the time the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, as the American Embassy informed him, was not a recognized formal School of Architecture (as is recognized at present as the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture). Amin was unwilling to give up on his dream and decided to apply to as many official institutions as he could, until one of them would accept him as a graduate student. The lucky institution was the Rensselaer Institute of Technology (RIT) in New York. Amin obtained his student visa and soon enough found himself on a plane to the US. Upon arriving, Amin went straight to Phoenix, without ever having visited RIT to this day.Amin was lucky; Frank Lloyd Wright was still thoroughly active in supervising the training progression of many young architects, and Amin became one of those receiving instruction. He soon became close to Frank Lloyd Wright and his family (Fig. 4). The young architect was particularly close to Mrs. Olgivanna (Lazovich) Wright, the third and last wife of Frank Lloyd Wright (Fig. 5).Following Frank Lloyd Wright was not an easy step to take; it was a big challenge from the beginning. To learn to make peace with and fully understand their environment, students had to live in canvas tents set up

on the Fellowship terrains located at the base of the McDowell Mountains near Scottsdale. To this day this is a common practice that prevails at the Foundation. Kamal was no exception to the rule and lived in the desert environment for over ten years despite having had the intention of staying for one year only as an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright. He endured the challenge, and as he himself expressed in an interview with one of the authors of this article, he made peace with all living beings, including plants, as well as the inert components from the Arizona desert. This can be easily seen in the building up of his own character as an architect, as well as his determination as a human being. In our interview with him, he recalled: “…I was touched by Frank Lloyd Wright since the day I discovered of his existence, and later on, when I met him in December 1951, that was all that made sense to me.” He passionately remembered that in June 1952, just six months after he arrived to take up the Frank Lloyd Wright Fellowship, he designed a house that his mentor loved so much that Mr. Wright took the drawing and hung it in the garden room, displaying it there for a long time. When Amin recalls this event, his eyes still get moist.He had grown to really admire and care for his mentor. Amin already recalls the pain he experienced one Saturday in April 1959 when the whole Fellowship’s community was waiting for Mr. Wright to appear, dressed as elegant as always, with Mrs. Wright at his side. When somebody came to announce suddenly, it was that Wright had fallen ill and had been taken to the hospital. Four days later, on April 9 Frank Lloyd Wright died. Amin stated that he had never felt so desolate. He freely admits that this was the saddest and most painful event of his entire life.The teachings of Frank Lloyd Wright are difficult to disguise in Kamal Amin’s persona and professional life as an accomplished architect. One just has to browse one of the many existing Frank Lloyd Wright’s catalogues and compare the master’s oeuvre with Kamal Amin’s own architectural work to find the similarities and differences. Amin has fully grasped the principles and philosophy of his mentor; however, developing a style of his own. The fundamental trait that Frank Lloyd Wright passed onto Kamal Amin was his determined honest spirit as a professional architect. It is in his students, like Kamal Amin, where Frank Lloyd Wright’s true legacy lies.The Pinnacle of their associationIn 1950 Frank Lloyd Wright had completed the drawings of a church intended to be part of the Christian University complex of the Southwest Christian Seminary in Phoenix. However, the university was never built and the plans archived. Posthumously, the First Christian Church needed a new place of worship and the

Figure 4.Frank Lloyd Wright (left), Barbara Kattrabaugh (middle), and Kamal Amin (right). (Kamal Amin’s Archives, Regional Architecture Collections, Rare Books and Special Collections Library, American University in Cairo. Original in

Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives).

Figure 5.Kamal Amin (left) and Olgivanna (Lazovich) Wright (right). (Kamal Amin’s Archives, Regional Architecture Collections, Rare Books and Special Collections Library, American University in Cairo. Original in Frank Lloyd Wright

Foundation Archives).Figure 3.Young Kamal Amin (right): working in a

construction, and unidentified person (left). (Kamal Amin’s Archives, Regional Architecture Collections,

Rare Books and Special Collections Library, American University in Cairo).



plans for the university church were dug out of the archives at Taliesin West (Fig. 6). The Foundation started working on the project. However, Kamal Amin had now surpassed his mentor’s structural knowledge and modified the design, perfecting the structure, while conserving the design’s original essence. In the original design the large spans of the building could not accommodate the steel, concrete and glass pinnacle at the center of the prayer space. Amin had to increase the incline of the roof, and the height of the pinnacle for the design to be structurally sound.Although modifications to the design are officially described as the addition of the baptistery and the choir loft, and officially accredited by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to “Taliesin West” architects, Kamal Amin was the individual who readjusted the structure and supervised the construction, which was started in 1971 and was completed in 1972 (Fig. 7).Frank Lloyd Wright drew his inspiration from everywhere, predominantly, from nature, different cultures, and geometries. These were clearly or ambiguously evoked in his designs. In this case, the chapel has been largely interpreted as evoking triangles to represent the trinity. We think this requires more research as Wright integrated many geometries in his designs particularly triangles even in secular buildings and private houses. Frank Lloyd Wright was enthralled by the art and architecture of the Far East, taking inspiration from them in sculpting and art. This passion manifested itself in the design of the chapel’s spire and bell tower (Fig. 8).

Among the key features of the same building are the Arbor or concrete pergola that makes the outdoor gathering spaces appear as an extension of the indoor spaces (Fig. 9). Amid the ridges in the roof are stained glass panels that slowly build up to the pinnacle lighting up in spectacular colors, only seen from inside contrasting with the bronze tone of the fair faced concrete (Figs. 10 & 11).Continuing with the Frank Lloyd Wright PhilosophyFollowing the death of Frank Lloyd Wright, Kamal Amin stayed on at Taliesin West practicing and teaching for the Foundation, or as it was called then, “The Fellowship,” until the mid 70’s when he left and started working independently. Although no longer with him, Frank Lloyd Wright had left a profound impression on Amin, architecturally, philosophically, socially, and emotionally. Kamal Amin’s own designs reflect this strong legacy. They follow the same design principles and techniques that Amin learned and helped develop with Wright.Reflecting this, for example, are the homes in Scottsdale, Arizona and many other works in the American southwestern as well

Figure 6.First Christian Church. Floor Plan (1971). Adapted and copyrighted by Douglas M. Steiner 2014.

Figure7.First Christian Church. Metal structure engineered by Kamal Amin 1970. (Kamal Amin’s Archives, Regional Architecture Collections, Rare Books and Special Collections Library, American University in Cairo. Original in Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives).

Figure8.First Christian Church. Whole view. (Photograph by Conchita Anorve-Tschirgi).

Figure 9.First Christian Church. Outside-Arbor. (Photograph by

Conchita Anorve-Tschirgi).

Figure10.First Christian Church. Roof stained glass panels.

(Photograph by Steve Urgola).

Figure 11.First Christian Church. Pinnacle lighting-roof stained glass panels.

(Photograph by Steve Urgola).

Figure 12.Scottsdale Residence (1970’s). Main Level Plan. (Readapted from Seven Organic Works: Architect Kamal Amin, L’architettura, 31(9). Kamal Amin’s Archives, Regional Architecture Collections, Rare Books and Special Collections Library, American University

in Cairo).


14 MEAA JournalJu

ly 2

016

as other locations of the United States and abroad. Like Wright, Amin did not shy away from innovative and intimate designs integrating elements of the natural environment.A fine example of this is the Scottsdale Residence, a house in perfect harmony with the Arizona desert (Fig. 12, 13, 14, & 15).

Built on the grounds of the Foundation, the house’s concrete shear walls are laid out in a contemporary way creating a unique language of open spaces that are open to the surrounding’s view (Fig. 16). An overhang allows for indirect light to filter into the house while blocking direct light, as well as creating a shaded terrace, and connects the main house to the guesthouse making the open air corridor, or “breeze-way”, an

ideal place to lounge as an air current flows through (Fig. 17). One of the key features of the house is how the aggregate in the concrete is not made up of small stones as is the norm in contemporary construction, but rather formed of large slabs of the stone found in the area (Fig. 18). The natural landscape and building are one, existing in perfect cohesion (Fig. 19).There is much Egyptian architects can learn from how

Kamal Amin uses the desert as a fountain of inspiration and harmony. As he is quoted in

an interview with the Southwest Art Magazine, he “wish[ed] to show how the desert exhibits an intelligent economy of structure. Hopefully, Man will be led to see the need for borrowing ideas from Nature. It is possible, for example, to scale down big buildings in favor of building clusters of independent units, which are more economical, more satisfying, and less hectic to live in. We can learn from the desert an interdependence of Man to Man and Man to Nature.”

Figure19.Scottsdale Residence (1970’s). Seen from afar. (Photograph by Conchita Anorve-Tschirgi).

Figure 17. Scottsdale Residence (1970’s).

Breezy Way-Open Air Corridor. (Photograph

by Conchita Anorve-Tschirgi).

Figure 18.Scottsdale Residence (1970’s). Outside Stones Walls. (Photograph by

Conchita Anorve-Tschirgi).

Figure 14.Scottsdale Residence (1970’s). Section through Living Room. (Readapted from Seven Organic Works: Architect Kamal Amin, L’architettura, 31(9). Kamal Amin’s Archives, Regional Architecture Collections, Rare Books and Special Collections

Library, American University in Cairo).

Figure 16. Scottsdale Residence (1970’s). Living Room view towards outside open space. (Photograph by Conchita Anorve-

Tschirgi).

Figure15.Scottsdale Residence (1970’s). Section through Guest Room. (Readapted from Seven Organic Works: Architect Kamal Amin, L’architettura, 31(9). Kamal Amin’s Archives, Regional Architecture Collections, Rare Books and Special Collections

Library, American University in Cairo).

Figure 13.Scottsdale Residence (1970’s). Lower Level Plan. (Readapted from Seven Organic Works: Architect Kamal Amin, L’architettura, 31(9). Kamal Amin’s Archives, Regional Architecture Collections, Rare Books and Special Collections Library, American

University in Cairo).



Bibliography- Dutton, A. (February 1980). Desert Spaces, Southwest Art, 9(9), 58-62.- Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. http://www.franklloydwright.org- Kamal Amin Archives, Regional Architecture Collections, Rare Books and Special collections Library, American University in Cairo.- Kamal Amin Interview. Made by Conchita Anorve-Tschirgi & Steve Urgola for the Archives of the Regional Architecture Collections, Rare Books and Special collections Library, American University in Cairo. Interview held at his residence in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. January 2-5, 2016.- Kamal Amin Interview. Made by Indira Berndtson and Greg Williams for the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives. Interview held at the Sitting Room in Taliesin West, Arizona, USA. June 20, 1989. (Architect Kamal Amin provided a hard copy of this interview for his archives held at the Regional Architecture Collections, Rare Books and Special collections Library, American University in Cairo).- Pedio, R. (September 1990). Seven Organic Works: Architect Kamal Amin, L’architettura, 31(9), 612-633.

Documents

Kamal Amin: Seeking Frank Lloyd Wright