Photography: Rifat Chadirji
14 April 2020: The Aga Khan Award-winning architect Rifat Chadirji, who helped shaped Iraq’s contemporary architectural style, has died from COVID-19.
He passed away on 10 April 2020, aged 93, following a long career that saw him complete several iconic projects in Baghdad – including The Tobacco Monopoly Headquarters and the now-demolished Monument to the Unknown Soldier.
Chadirji was known for mixing traditional forms with contemporary elements to create what he described as ‘an architecture which at once acknowledges the place in which it is built, yet which sacrifices nothing to modern technical capability’.
Iraqi Architect Rifat Chadirji, the father of Iraqi architecture, a recipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture & designer of @mckduae Abu Dhabi National Theatre passed away today.
Our deepest condolences to his family & loved ones. pic.twitter.com/yJTQPdfGal
— نورة الكعبي (@NouraAlKaabi) April 11, 2020
