1. Youssef Aftimus was a Lebanese civil engineer and architect who specialized in Moorish Revival architecture.
13 Facts About Youssef Aftimus
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Youssef Aftimus was born on November 25,1866, to a Greek Catholic family in the historic town of Deir el Qamar.
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Youssef Aftimus attended school at College des Freres Maristes in his hometown as of 1875.
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Youssef Aftimus taught Arabic at his alma mater for two years and co-authored an Arabic grammar textbook, In 1885 he moved to New York City to study civil engineering at the Union College; graduating in 1891.
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Youssef Aftimus was later recruited by the Thomson-Houston Electric Company, and then by General Electric.
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Youssef Aftimus went on to work on the Egyptian pavilion at the Antwerp International Exposition of 1894 and the following year he went to Berlin on an extensive research trip on construction engineering before returning to Beirut in late 1896.
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In 1898 Youssef Aftimus was recruited by the Municipality of Beirut as municipal engineer and he directed the construction of the Grand Serail Clock tower.
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Between 1898 and 1903, Youssef Aftimus became an engineer of the Municipality of Beirut, he designed the Hamidiyyeh Fountain in 1900 which was dedicated by the Beirut Municipality to Sultan Abdelhamid II.
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In 1911, Youssef Aftimus founded a consultant office in partnership with Emile Kacho who was an engineer.
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Youssef Aftimus won the design competition for Beirut's City Hall in 1923, the municipal building still stands at Weygand and Foch crossroad.
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Youssef Aftimus helped found and headed a non-profit charity organization aiming to eliminate tuberculosis.
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Youssef Aftimus introduced this Ottoman revivalist style from Istanbul and from the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition to Beirut by the end of the 19th century; his architectural influence would later dominate Beirut's public constructions in the last two decades of Ottoman rule over Lebanon.
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The Barakat mansion known as the "Yellow House" was designed by Youssef Aftimus and was slated for demolition in 1997 since it was heavily damaged during the Lebanese Civil War.