Chromolithograph of Home of Sidi Yousef Adami, Nursery
Islamic design formed a part of the earliest architecture curriculum at MIT, which marked the first professional program of its kind in the United States. Many of MIT’s editions of these foundational design books were intentionally purchased by our architecture department shortly after their publication in the mid-nineteenth century. Among those early acquisitions was this copy of Prisse d’Avenne’s L’art arabe, a pivotal study of Cairene architecture, which features stunning renderings of domestic interiors replete with stained glass windows. While some of d’Avenne’s prints focused on single windows to isolate their design for study, this print contextualizes these works as part of a nursery in the home of Sidi Yousef Adami. Below the windows, wall niches store and display household goods including platters, water pipes, and vases, which served an ornamental, yet also functional purpose. D’Avenne’s canonical work thus blended formal and social analyses of architecture, both key elements in a young architect’s training.
“Maison Sidi Youçouf Adami, Chambre de la Nourrice”
Prisse d’Avennes. L’art arabe d’après les monuments du Kaire, depuis le VIIe siècle jusqu’à la fin du XVIIIe,
Maivol. 3. Paris: Ve A. Morel et Cie, 1877.
Rotch Library Limited Access Collection, Department of Distinctive Collections, MIT Libraries