AMMAN – A family
villa in Jabal Amman speaks to the long architectural and
anthropological history of Jordan’s capital.
اضافة اعلان
After Circassian migrants settled in a Jordanian valley in 1878, in what is now known as
downtown of Amman, buildings started to crop
up around Al-Husseini Mosque.
The mosque was the center of the
urban growth of the city of Amman. Later on, buildings started to climb up the
mountains, shaping a new urban pattern that in the future formed the backbone
of the city's identity.
The Jerash earthquake of 1927 resulted in some building demolitions and deaths.
After that, residents moved towards the top of these mountains and occupied them.
Soon, the valley would become a
commercial hub. The altitude and topography were the main factors contributing to the construction in Amman.
The Jabal Amman neighborhood, like many others, came into existence through
this process. What makes the history of the neighborhood, now a thriving
quarter full of restaurants and cafes, unique from others is the people who
lived there.
The
neighborhood was mostly inhabited by the elites of the community; Jabal Amman
was home to politicians, artists, and merchants.
The Mango family was among the wealthiest families in Amman at that time. Ibrahim
Mango established the renowned “Mango Market” in Downtown Amman with his merchant brother, Hamdi
Mango.
The family owned palaces in Jabal Amman. Hamdi Mango’s first palace has now
became the Royal Film Commission.
Villa Mango was constructed by Hamdi’s sons, Kamal and Ali Mango. It is considered a landmark in Jabal Amman, and the city at large, for its
distinctive, eye-catching architectural features.
Located at
the intersection of Omar bin Al-Khattab Street – previously known as Mango
street — and Rainbow Street, the house was built by Kamal and Ali Mango in the
late 1940s, and designed by the architect Mukhtar Saqr.
The construction of Villa Mango followed a different architectural approach
than other buildings in Amman built during the same era, as contractors used
rose stone brought all the way from Jerusalem.
The blueprint
was divided into two sections to accommodate the two brothers, as opposed to the wide-spread plan of “the three-bay house,” which was very popular in Amman
and the Levant in the 1920s.
Perhaps the first element that catches the eye about the house are its balconies,
made of rounded stone at the end of a linear composition, and supported by double
columns and facing opposite the Jabal Al-Akhdar neighborhood and Downtown
Amman valley.
One could say that the
building was influenced by the Bauhaus movement. The house's style can be traced in its form, expression, and architectural language,
but it still manages to preserve a sense of identity.
Members of the Mango family live in the villa to this very day. Even after the revamping
of Rainbow Street, during which many families left their homes. Villa Mango remains
a witness to the historical architecture of Amman.
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