Architecture for the Poor: An Experiment in Rural Egypt (Phoenix Books)
by Hassan Fathy
Totally fascinating. I think the part that's going to remain my favorite is the lesson in how to build arches and domes with mud brick (and I'm sort of trying to convince my dad to build a pizza oven in the backyard so I can try it out).
The parts detailing the trouble Fathy had with bureaucracy were also instructive, if wince-worthy. I wonder to what degree his detractors would disagree with his perspective---but he does a good job of laying out the details, so I'm inclined to think his version of events is accurate.
You might not expect a book about radical city planning/architecture in Egypt in the 1960s to be interesting, but it is. I'm not sure I can put it any other way.
Now I have to return it to Spring House. (Maybe.)