Faculty of Medicine at the University of Aleppo

Architect: Ahmed Adnan Ikhlasi, MHD Samir Moudarres
Year: 1965
City: Aleppo, Syria
Building use: Educational
Status: built
Team: electrical eng. Michel Mansour – mechanical eng. Taj Al-Din Diya – furniture design. Adly Qudsi – site eng. Munther Kayyali.

The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Aleppo was established under legislative decree No. 1740 in 1965. The initial design for the faculty building was done in 1965 by Syrian architects Ahmed Adnan Ikhlasi and MHD Samir Al-Moudarres, but construction didn’t start until 1967 after decree No. 1080 was issued outlining the internal system of the faculty, and the first students arrived in the academic year 1967-68.

The faculty building is situated on the eastern side of the University complex near the main entrance, on a site sloping towards the south that overlooks the university square. It aligns with the University administration building to the west, also designed by Ikhlasi, which in turn aligns with the faculty of Law to the south, designed by Mudarres. 

Together, they form an urban composition that envelops a plaza. Later on, in 1979, the university hospital was added to the west.01

01 “University of Aleppo,” n.d., LINK.

The faculty building exhibited a modular design that was spread over a large area. It consisted of five units connected through corridors and stairwells on multiple levels. This ensemble formed a linear cluster enclosing a central courtyard. The first two units to the south of the faculty can be accessed through the plaza, sandwiched in between them is an external staircase that leads to the courtyard, from which the other three units on a higher level are accessible.  

The southeastern unit includes a cafeteria on the ground floor and an amphitheater on the first. The southwestern unit shares a stairwell with the next unit that accommodates labs on its first floor, which in turn shares a stairwell with the next unit, a square-shaped building on the northwestern corner of the faculty. This unit features another, smaller courtyard at its center, and connected with a stairwell to the final unit of the faculty on the northeast.

The modularity of the faculty design was reflected in its facades; the ones overlooking the courtyard featured a modular grid of vertical elements, notably different from the exterior facades.

The amphitheater building stands out for utilizing a concrete frame structure and a distinctive saw-tooth roof. All other buildings were constructed using simple skeleton frame construction.

01 “University of Aleppo,” n.d., LINK.

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