Ramses Wissa Wassef (1911-1974) was an Egyptian architect, artisan, artist, and teacher whose ideas and work exercised a significant influence on 20th-century Egyptian art and architecture. He earned his BA degree from the Ecole Des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1935 where his thesis project “A Potter’s House in Old Cairo” received the first prize. Later, he returned to Cairo to teach Architecture at the College of Fine Arts in Zamalek.
Above all, Ramses Wissa Wassef placed human physical and psychological well-being at the center of his architectural philosophy. So, he adhered to the ideology of traditional architecture which was adaptable to the country’s climatic, cultural and economic conditions.
Some of his architectural works include Potter’s House in Old Cairo, French College of Daher, French School of Cairo, Junior Lycee school at Bab al-Louq. In addition to Mahmoud Mokhtar Sculpture Museum, Saint Mary Coptic Church in Zamalek, Cairo, Church of St. George in Heliopolis, several other churches in Cairo, Alexandria, and several private houses that includes his art center in Harranya. Ramses Wissa Wassef is a legacy that lives through his humanist architecture works.
