The Hell of Reinforced Concrete is a didactic play written by the great Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy. Here he argues passionately for the continuity of the ancient vernacular architectural traditions of Upper Egypt, traditions developed over millennia in response to local climatic and environmental conditions but under threat from new modernist construction techniques – like reinforced concrete.

The Hell of Reinforced Concrete has been performed on the opening evening, 26 May, at the Salon Suisse of the Venice Biennale of Architecture. For a review of the play as well as a video capture of the whole evening, see the Zürich-based architecture magazine Hochparterre‘s coverage of the evening. Programme

Stage direction: Nicholas Weeks

Graphics animations: Lucas Oettli

Cast: Natania Prezant, Nyan Storey