Rifat Chadirji Archive Architectural drawings and prints, maps and several photographs This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on April 13, 2020 The language of description is English Describing Archives: A Content Standard This is a DRAFT, work in progress, published on April 13, 2020 Aga Khan Documentation Center Department of Distinctive Collections, MIT Libraries Massachusetts Institute of Technology Building 7-238 77 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 https://libraries.mit.edu/akdc/ Rifat Chadirji Archive Table of Contents Summary Information .................................................................................................................................... 4 Biographical / Historical ................................................................................................................................ 4 Scope and Contents ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Administrative Information ............................................................................................................................ 6 Controlled Access Headings .......................................................................................................................... 7 Collection Inventory ....................................................................................................................................... 7 PROJECTS by TYPE .................................................................................................................................. 7 Commercial ............................................................................................................................................... 7 Cultural ...................................................................................................................................................... 8 Developments, Mixed-Use ....................................................................................................................... 9 Educational ................................................................................................................................................ 9 Furniture .................................................................................................................................................... 9 Government ............................................................................................................................................... 9 Other Buildings, Institutions, or Details (for unidentified or unnamed projects) .................................. 11 Professional Associations / Organizations .............................................................................................. 11 Public Monuments .................................................................................................................................. 12 Recreational ............................................................................................................................................. 12 Religious ................................................................................................................................................. 12 Residential ............................................................................................................................................... 12 Student Work .......................................................................................................................................... 14 Urban Planning (more detail to come) ................................................................................................... 15 Um-Kasr Stores; Um-Qasir Stores, Inside & Outside Free Zones [Baghdad?] - Government of Iraq General Trade Establishment .................................................................................................................. 15 Silos for Iraq Grain Board in various districts around Iraq (Nasiriya, Tikrit, Sulamaniya, and ca. 8 others ....................................................................................................................................................... 15 MAPS and URBAN PLANNING PROJECTS ........................................................................................ 15 Baghdad - Abu Ghraib Road .................................................................................................................. 15 Baghdad - Circular Intersection [name or location to be determined] ................................................... 16 Baghdad - Districts Mapping ................................................................................................................. 16 Baghdad - Roads and Property Line Maps ............................................................................................ 16 Baghdad - Property Numbering ............................................................................................................. 16 Baghdad - Tahrir Square Planning ......................................................................................................... 16 Erbil Castle / Citadel Gate ...................................................................................................................... 16 Page 2 | http://libguides.mit.edu/EMMAS_guide | Rifat Chadirji Archive MICROFILMED RECORDS .................................................................................................................... 16 35mm Reels ............................................................................................................................................ 16 16mm Reels ............................................................................................................................................ 18 BOXED LIMITED EDITION PORTFOLIO OF TWELVE ETCHINGS OF RIFAT CHADIRJI DRAWINGS .............................................................................................................................................. 18 The Architecture of Rifat Chadirji ......................................................................................................... 18 KAMIL CHADIRJI WORKS AND PROPERTY [RECEIVED WITH THE RIFAT CHADIRJI ARCHITECTURE ARCHIVE] ................................................................................................................. 19 House of Kamil Chadirji, alternate name: Kamil Chadirji Residence ................................................... 19 Photographs - Kamil Chadirji Photography Equipment and Workspaces ............................................. 19 Eight etchings of Kamil Chadirji photographs in portfolios issued as limited edition, numbered sets in boxes, published by the photographer's son, Rifat Chadirji .................................................................. 20 Page 3 | http://libguides.mit.edu/EMMAS_guide | Rifat Chadirji Archive Summary Information Repository: Aga Khan Documentation Center, MIT Libraries Creator - arc: Chadirji, Rifat Kamil, 1926- Source: Chadirji, Rifat Kamil, 1926- Title: Rifat Chadirji Archive ID: AKDC.2016.0001 Date [inclusive]: ca. 1950 - 1990s Physical Description: 40 Linear Feet. Well over a half of this resource not in its final housing or containers. Some materials are currently in their own designated boxes, other materials are in various and over size files, or in various types of tubes or boxes. Original and/or copies of architectural and urban planning drawings, maps, photographs, prints, and boxed sets of etchings of drawings and photographs.Dimensions vary widely, from smaller than letter size, to oversize (circa 36/48 x 56 inches), to an enormous map 12 x 8 feet in two pieces (top and bottom) 4 foot high strips. Physical Description: 3500 item(s) Language of the Approximately a half of the materials (drawings) in the Rifat Chadirji Material: Archive are in Arabic. English is the language used otherwise, or in addition to Arabic. ^ Return to Table of Contents Biographical / Historical Rifat Chadirji (December 6, 1925 - April 10, 2020), is one of the most influential Iraqi architects of the 20th century. He was also an accomplished photographer, author, teacher, and critic. Chadirji was born in Baghdad in 1926, was educated in the UK, and returned to Iraq upon graduating as an active participant in the modernization of the country, working with notable architects and designers from Europe, the United States, and Iraq including, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Alvar Aalto, and Mohamed Makiya. Chadirji has dedicated his life to the search for an appropriate contemporary architectural expression synthesizing elements of the rich Islamic cultural heritage with key principles of the international architecture of the 20th century. Chadirji believes that architecture's future lies in lessons learned from its past. His designs are transformations of regional forms that seek to express, Page 4 | http://libguides.mit.edu/EMMAS_guide | Rifat Chadirji Archive by means of abstraction, the construction technologies in almost universal use today, while affirming the aesthetic values. In 1986, Mr. Chadirji received an Aga Khan Chairman's Award for Lifetime Achievements. In 2015, Chadirji was awarded the Tamayouz Architectural Lifetime Achievement Award, an award that celebrates the pioneers of Iraqi architecture and is "presented annually to an individual who has had a significant contribution towards the advancement of architecture in Iraq." With