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He graduated from the School of Architecture in Rome and is currently the Dean of the School of Art and Design at the University of Jordan. He was previously the Dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Amman.
Ali Abu Ghanimeh was born in 1957 in Irbid, Jordan. Graduated from the School of Architecture in Rome, he is currently the Dean of the School of Art and Design at the University of Jordan. He previously served as the Dean of the School of Art and Design at the University of Jordan. Engineering from the University of Amman. He holds conferences and seminars at various Arab and European colleges and universities. He is the author of many publications, including: “Paolo Portoghesi”, “The Mosque between Tradition and Innovation”, “Islamic Architecture in Sicily”, “The Court in Mediterranean Architecture”. I met the architect Abu ghanimeh many years ago during one of his business trips to Italy and I was delighted to have the opportunity to ask him some questions because he managed to operate in an environment very different from ours, one that is deeply rooted in the Mediterranean Every country along the coast.
You have always had a close relationship with Italy since your youth, when you spent a lot of time in Rome. Do you think travel is still an effective tool for young architects or young students to explore the world?
I believe travel is very important for everyone. Travel is important for everyone, but especially for architects, because you encounter other cultures, other identities, other materials, other architectural languages, other interior spaces, and other ways of experiencing those spaces. You can learn better by traveling than by just reading architecture books. Since I first arrived in Italy in 1975, as a student, I have found it very useful to visit the various Italian countries from south to north. I lived in Rome for 17 years and knew the developments of the 80s and 90s. Here I learned how buildings are researched and designed. I see ancient buildings next to modern ones. I met architects like Paolo Portoghesi and many others, including Aldo Rossi, who I met in Venice. I always tell my students and associate colleagues to travel because traveling means knowing and developing yourself, and this applies to architects and people in general.
We often talk about Mediterranean architecture. There is no doubt that the Mediterranean basin has a strong architectural character, both in antiquity and through much of modern times. Do you think this reading is still valid today?
The people of Jordan live in Mediterranean architecture and we are part of it. Since I spent a long time in Italy, I have a lot of experience with the language of Mediterranean architecture. Architecture of stone and earth, trees and nature. An architecture of material and environmental relations, with a courtyard and a tree in the middle.with architects Oliva Longo and Ivana Passamani I from the University of Brescia wrote an article about the courts of the Mediterranean region, with contributions from many architects who lived in the Mediterranean basin, from Italy to Lebanon, to Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Greece and other countries that saw courts as houses basic elements. Another presence we find in Mediterranean homes is the tree, which is also present in buildings and cities. There are many similarities between Mediterranean people. There are also similarities in the smell of food, the taste of candy, and nature. Mediterranean architecture reflects these places. Personally, I am happy to be a Mediterranean man. People living in the Mediterranean area are open to other people’s cultures. Color, for example, is another fundamental element, and indeed the black volcanic stone of Catania is also found in Umm Qais, Jordan.
In your research you often deal with life. Taking a single-family villa as an example, you believe that there is still a close connection between materials and nature, environment and form. Is there still an interest in this ancient sensibility in Italy, or in the Mediterranean in general?
Houses are an important part of humanity. Having a quiet, healthy home, summer or winter, and the right space has been important since time immemorial. That’s what Jordan’s family is looking for. As technology evolved, the house changed and so did the materials. Stone was essential to the houses of the past, creating considerable thickness. Today, with our reliance on technology, the house is losing its personality. The courts have also changed. I miss my grandparents’ house, and in modern houses we chase the speed of technology.
Today, there is a greater focus on sustainability in building construction. Passive management of hot and cold ratios, environmentally friendly materials, natural elements: water, wind, etc. are all factors that affect the quality of the project. Shape is also influenced by this important requirement. How do modern histories and modern forms reconcile with these demands?
You can’t build today like you did in the past without the workers of the past, it’s hard to find traditional materials and it’s hard to find people who can live there. In modern homes, you can turn on and off lights and operate blinds using your mobile phone, but modern technology has lost its human touch. Technology is replacing taste and beauty. Artificial intelligence is replacing the beauty of nature. We should strive for housing models with a strong human consciousness. Technology helps, but we can’t rely on it. Houses should continue to be built from natural materials, extracted from the earth and resettled in it.
What did you learn from Italy?
I learned from Italy and Italian architecture, from the people, from the architects, from social life, from friends, from the beautiful places I visited in Rome, Naples, Brescia, Palermo, Assisi, Perugia, Gaeta. Learned a lot during the visit to the place. I stayed at friends’ houses and got to know their lifestyle. For example, among the people of Naples, I see them smiling, they shout, and despite the difficulties their world may have, they are living well. I learned to smile even when you are not happy because smiling brings luck, peace and beauty. Therefore, the buildings and houses in these places are built with the beautiful colors of Etna, as in Catania, or in other cities, where the colors of the fruits are brought into the houses. This is a building that brings luck to those who live in it.
Thank you Ali.
Author: Giuseppe di Giacomo
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