Quick Facts
Biography
Rifat Chadirji (Arabic: رفعت الجادرجي) was born on December 6, 1926 in Baghdad, is an Iraqi architect, photographer, author and activist. He is admired as the greatest modern architect of Iraq, and taught at the Baghdad School of Architecture for many years. He, along with his brother Kamil Chadirji, documented much of Baghdad and the larger region of Iraq and Syria by photograph, fearing the regional architecture and monuments would be lost to the development that was coming with the oil boom starting in the 1920s. Rifat Chadirji's architecture is inspired by the characteristics of regional Iraqi architecture, and the time tested intelligence inherent in it. His Tobacco Warehouse, along with his other great works, are informed by natural ventilation and an architectural language of arches and monolithic piers that remind one of the great Iraqi architectural history.
Work
| Site | Location | Country |
| Central Post Office | Baghdad | Iraq |
| Hamood Villa | Baghdad | Iraq |
| National Insurance Company | Mosul | Iraq |
| Offices and Tobacco Warehouses | Baghdad | Iraq |
| the Unknown Soldier | Baghdad | Iraq |
Associated publications
His publications are primarily in Arabic and include:
- al-Ukhaidar and the Crystal Palace (1991)
- A Dialogue on the Structure of Art and Architecture (1995).
- Regenerative approaches to mosque design-competition to State Mosque, Baghdad. In Mimar 1984,11 page 44-63 ISSN 0129-8372.
- Concepts & Influences: Towards a Regionalized International Architecture, 1987.ISBN no. 0-7103-0180-4.
- Internationalised Tradition in Architecture, 1988. ISBN no. 1-85035-146-5.
| Author | Title | Year |
| Chadirji, Rifat | Introduction to Urban Design and Architecture in Lebanon | 2004 |
| Chadirji, Rifat | Medina Interviews Architect | 1999 |
| Khan, Hasan-Uddin | Regional Modernism: Rifat Chadirji's Portfolio of Etchings | 1984 |
| Chadirji, Rifat | Concepts and Influences | 1986 |
Awards
- 1986: Chairman's Award of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture