AI reconstructs pharaonic architecture modules into abstract expressionist compositions

hassan ragab fragments pharaonic architecture modules 

With his new AI-generated series Post Pharaonic Architecture, interdisciplinary designer Hassan Ragab explores abstract expressionism interpretations of monumental ancient Egyptian architecture. The designer looks to the primordial stone-carved forms of Pharaonic architecture and renders the historic structures through a juxtaposing, abstracted lens of the expressionist movement of the 20th-century. Utilizing text-to-image artificial intelligence tool Midjourney, Hassan Ragab recomposes the fundamental modules of the primitive architecture into dynamic and abstract compositions. The resulting imposing stone structures reveal ornamented facades engraved with fading hieroglyphs, intricate openings and sweeping, fragmented layers.

an abstract expression interpretation of ancient forms

Egyptian multidisciplinary designer Hassan Ragab extends his practice beyond the physical dimensions of architecture, and furniture, product and textile design, to explore computational experimentation and digital fabrication. With Post Pharaonic Architecture, Ragab utilizes text-to-image tool Midjourney to envision how ancient Egyptian architecture from the past would look through the abstracted expressionism perspective of the 20th-century.

The images depict imposing, isolated structures carved intricately of stone, uniting the characteristic monumental scale shared by both abstract expressionism and Pharaonic architecture. The designs of Hassan Ragab juxtapose the distorted, emotive forms and sculptural masses of expressionism, with the primitive language, character, and materiality of Pharaonic architecture. The traditionally simple yet robust and imposing nature of ancient pyramids are here fragmented into dynamic modules, and reconstructed in abstracted compositions. Stacked, overlapping tiers, sweeping horizontal curves intersecting imposing columns, and intimate recesses and niches compose the elevation. Meanwhile, the unadorned textured facades of ancient pyramids, are here embellished with gestural strokes of giant, fading hieroglyphs.

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project info:

name: Post Pharaonic Architecture
designer: Hassan Ragab | @hsnrgb

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