摘要: Description　　At the turn of the last quarter of XIX century, the city of As-Salt, at that time ruled by the Ottoman Empire, witnessed the development of an architectural movement – or school. This sch

Description

　　At the turn of the last quarter of XIX century, the city of As-Salt, at that time ruled by the Ottoman Empire, witnessed the development of an architectural movement – or school. This school was the result of the pioneering work of a ‘stone master’ (mu'allim in Arabic) who had migrated to As-Salt from the nearby city of Nablus, which was capital city of the same district. Upon his arrival in As-Salt, Abdel-Rahman 'Aqruq worked under the supervision of a French missionary and architect, Father Jean Moretain, who designed and directed the construction of the Latin Mission of Salt (1869-70). Later on Mu'allim 'Aqruq started designing and building houses for the new bourgeoisie of Salt and became the leading personality of a group of builders, stonecutters and craftsmen, who gathered around his charismatic character. The architectural creations that derived from this school (1869-1921) shaped the new identity of what became, in less than fifty years, the first capital of the new-born Jordanian nation (1921). During this time, also known as “Salt Golden Age”, people belonging to different tribes, religions and cultures mingled and socialized in a newly created urban space. Since his first creation in As-Salt, the Sukkar House (1879-84), Abdel-Rahman 'Aqruq based his original approach on the solid know-how of the Arab craftsman, forging a new architectural language derived from the Middle-Eastern tradition; rejecting historicism, and paving the ground to the birth of an original ‘school of architecture’. A Neo-gothic/Neo-classic lexicon rich in ornamental details characterizes this school, making it belonging to the new language of Eclecticism spreading rapidly in the towns of the Ottoman Empire. Main reference and source of inspiration are to be found in Nablus and other capital cities of Late Ottoman Empire such as Damascus, Jerusalem, Cairo and, of course, Istanbul. Mu'allim 'Aqruq and his followers absorbed this lexicon giving birth to a new original style. Localized in As-Salt, and carved in the Salti yellow limestone, this original architecture joined traditional and modern elements. This original Arab Eclectic architectural language finds in As-Salt the socio-economic and political conditions allowing its intellectual and practical flourishing and development. Istanbul, Damascus, Jerusalem and Cairo being a trajectory upon which the city of As-Salt, in that historical period, not only lied but prospered, becoming, as a result of political peace and economic growth within the Ottoman Empire, the container of and the fertile soil for a unique and original Arab architectural development in modern times.