| Youssif Aftimus | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 25, 1866 Deir el Qamar, Chouf, Lebanon |
| Died | September 10, 1952 |
| Nationality | Lebanese |
| Work | |
| Buildings | Beirut City Hall and Hamidiyyeh Clock Tower |
Youssef Aftimus (25 November 1866–10 September 1952); (يوسف أفتيموس) was a Lebanese civil engineer and architect who specialized in Arabo-Mauresque architecture. Aftimus was the leading Lebanese architect and urban planner during the first half of the twentieth century, he is the author of many of Beirut's well known landmarks such as the Beirut Municipality Building, the Grand Serail's Hamidiyyeh clock tower, the Hamidiyyeh Fountain and the Barakat Building.[1] [2] More than an engineer and an architect, Aftimus was also academic, a journalist, a visionary urban planner an enthusiastic patriot, politician and philanthropist.[3]
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Youssef Aftimus was born on November 25th 1866 to a Greek Catholic family in the historic town of Deir el Qamar. Aftimus attended school at Collège des Frères in his hometown as of 1875.[4] In 1879 he transferred to the Syrian Protestant College (later known as the American University of Beirut to complete his studies where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Aftimus taught Arabic at his university for two years and co-authored an Arabic grammar textbook before he left for New York where he studied civil engineering at the Union College as of 1885; he graduated from UC in 1891.[2] [4] The Pennsylvania Railroad company presented Aftimus with his first job; he worked on the Hudson Canal and the Pennsylvania Railways.[4]
In 1893 Aftimus was working under a pioneer in Neo-Mauresque architecture and was chosen to design the "Persian Palace", "Turkish Village" and "Cairo Street" pavilions for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Cairo Street was a particularly popular attraction in the fair.[2][5] Aftimus went on to work on the Egyptian pavilion at the Antwerp exposition and the following year he went to Berlin on an extensive research trip on construction engineering before returning to Beirut in late 1896. In 1898 Youssef was recruited by the Municipality of Beirut as municipal engineer and he directed the construction of the Grand Serail Clock tower.
During his work in Beirut he met Manouk Avedissian, better known as Bechara efendi al-Muhandes his future father in law, he married Rose Avedissian in 1899.[4]
Between 1898 and 1903, Youssef Aftimus became an engineer of the Municipality of Beirut, he designed in 1900 the Hamidiyyeh Fountain, which was dedicated by the Beirut Municipality to Sultan Abdelhamid II. The fountain, originally on Riad el-Solh/as-Sour square was later moved and is still presently in the Sanayeh park. In 1911, Aftimus founded a consultant office in partnership with Emile Kacho who was also an engineer. Aftimus won won the design competition for Beirut's City Hall in 1923, the municipal building still stands at Weygand and Foch crossroad.[4]
The end of the 19th century saw a Ottoman cultural revivalist movemement aiming at defining an architectural Ottoman style which was sparked by the publishing of Iprahim Eldem Pasha's Usul-i mimariyi osmani (Principles of Ottoman Architecture) in 1873. Ottoman architectural revivalism was very eclectic and drew upon many styles including Ottoman Baroque, modern Islamic architecture, vernacular Beaux-Arts, Neoclassicism. Aftimus' participation in the Chicago world fair was his break as an Ottoman revivalist architect. Although he had little knowledge of Istanbul's architectural culture, his expatriate work for the Ottoman government familiarized him with particular trends in the Ottoman capital. Aftimus introduced this Ottoman revivalist style from Istanbul and from the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition to Beirut by the end of the 19th century; his architectural influence would later dominate Beirut's public constructions in the last two decades of Ottman rule over Lebanon.[2]
The Barakat mansion also known as the "yellow house" was designed by Aftimus and was sentenced for destruction in 1997 since it was heavily damaged during the Lebanese civil war. The mansion is located in Ashrafieh's Sodeco area, intersecting the civil war demarcation line. It was saved by Lebanese activists (particularly the architect Mona Hallak) who had articles about the mansion published in the press almost on a daily basis, wrote petitions, and organized rallies in front of the building. Protestations finally led to the suspension of the decision to destroy the Barakat building in 2003 and the municipality of Beirut decided to acquire it in order to install a memory museum with objects tracing the 7000-year history of the city. The municipality counts on the support of France to advance the restoration.[7][8]