HASSAN RAGAB, THE ARCHITECT OF DREAMS

HASSAN RAGAB

HASSAN RAGAB, THE ARCHITECT OF DREAMS

Text:  Tatiana Stolyarova

Photo: Hassan Ragab’s credit

August 2 2023

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The new world of Artificial Intelligence we are stepping into has been reshaping our perception of the physical reality. It gives the endless opportunities to the whole generation of creatives to express themself in a different way, using revolutionary tools and technologies. Today we talk to one of such new wave artists, Hassan Ragab. Native Egyptian, based in the US, this talented interdisciplinary designer is pushing the boundaries of possible with the AI text-to-image generators, exploring visions of fantasy architecture often inspired by his home country cultural heritage.

First of all I would like to say that I’m fascinated by your homeland, Egypt; this ancient kingdom with its richest history and culture, this true birthplace for the whole modern European civilisation (and not Roman and Greek as they used to think) is an endless source of inspiration for you I believe? What is your relations with Egypt now when you are residing in California?

I would like to believe that I am just as Egyptian as I have always been (and just as any other Egyptian). Most of my friends and family are there. I try to go back as much as I can and most importantly that is what I am trying to pass on to my son, although he was born in the United States, he will always have this pure Egyptian blood in his veins.

You are a multidisciplinary designer and artist, whose fields of competence include museography, exhibition design, computational design, furniture design, architecture, construction, digital fabrication and conceptual art. How would you describe yourself in one(two) words?

An experimental person.

When and how did your AI journey start? Was it preceded with some physical creations, ‘classical’ education?

It started last year with the rise of the big Text2img models, It was out of pure exploration of the new tools, just for fun. But it has and it is still taking me into different turns. It came after a career in computational design and construction over the past four year so yeah there was alot of physical creations over my 13 years career. My classical education is in architecture but my career has allowed me to gain informal experiences in the aforementioned topics.

physical creations

Do you envisage that one day your digital ‘novel’ architecture would be integrated into the real urban one? Physical would meet virtual to become something sustainable?

Maybe, I am still exploring. I am sure that I want to build something in the future but I am not sure I want to be a traditional architectural practitioner, I think I am more of an artist than an engineer.

As per the AI generators, what is/are your favourite tools you use in your work?

Midjourney and Stable Diffusion.

How are you pushing the boundaries of the digital world?

By exploring the potentials of using AI in art using architectural and design elements, basically trying to understand how these tools work and how to use them to come up with ideas I could have never come up with otherwise.

Talking about sustainable, anyone who had a chance to visit the ancient architecture treasures of Egypt, be it the Pyramids, palaces or temples would be astonished by their sustainability and technical engineering advancement - they are here almost undefeated since thousands of years. Can we nowadays build anything pareil?

We can if we have the right mindset. But Architecture now is all about capital, politics and statements. Most of the remaining ancient architecture around the world revolved around devine concepts, which allowed their creators to invest in heavenly ideas that pushed them to perfect their creations. If we want to build something that stands the test of time we have to let go of our ego and materialism and aspire to more meaningful concepts that respond to the fundamental needs of our paradigm, not for the needs of the few who are on the top of the capitalist materialistic pyramid.

the ancient architecture treasures of Egypt

Do you see and threats which the rise of the AI rise represent to the real world?

There are alot of things that could go wrong, but it will be because of how humans misuse the technology, not because the technology itself is bad or harmful. Ai is just a tool. And just as we are only as powerful as the tools we are using, the tools we make are only as good as us.

the threats

The tram is recurrent in many of your art works, as a housing on wheels, what does it represent to you, probably in an allegoric sense?

For me, the tram is a personal reflection on the image of Alexandria throughout the year. It’s personal; hence why it is poetic. It represents how I see the city in an intangible and abstract way.

How would you describe your ideal house/ place where your live from design and human points of view?

It will definitely be a beach house. Maybe on a cliff looking over the Pacific Ocean in Southern California or in the Red Sea in Nuweiba. It will be built using local materials and will be organic and modest, a welcoming home which is open to everyone to share their lives and create happy memories.

ideal house

Which architectural/ art movements do inspire you most?

Abstract expressionism, Art Nouveau and the different phases of Egyptian civilization.

Can you share with us the current and/or future projects you are working on?

My Projects are all over the place right now between design, art and music. I can’t go into details right now unfortunately, but I am also taking part in several exhibitions around the world.

future projects
future projects-2

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