In the history of building, Wahbi al-Hariri is one of the names that keeps returning.
The record lists Wahbi al-Hariri as Syrian American artist, architect, archaeologist, and author (1914–1994).
Wahbi al-Hariri was born at Aleppo in 1914. His recorded nationality is Syria. He trained at Beaux-Arts de Paris.
Modernism rejected ornament and historical style, arguing that a building should express its structure and its function - a claim contested ever since.
He is recorded as architect, archaeologist and writer.
His work is associated with classicism.
An architect is judged by how a building is used a century after the drawings.
Recognition followed: Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.
That the work was built in Syria shaped it: climate, materials, planning law and who holds the budget all decide what can actually be built.
Wahbi al-Hariri died in 1994, aged 80. The buildings remain, still in use by people who never knew the name - which is the particular afterlife architecture offers.
Achievements
- Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres
- Movement: Classicism
- Trained at Beaux-Arts de Paris
