An art collecting couple commissioned this modernist villa in Amman, where creativity, nature and family life are in constant dialogue.
Twenty years ago, when Sirine Sidani Abu Ghazaleh and Ahmad Abu Ghazaleh were looking for the perfect home in Amman, they had two requirements. One, that the location felt like “them”– Sirine is Lebanese and was brought up between Paris and Beirut, while Ahmad is Jordanian-Palestinian, but spent his formative years globetrotting; and two, that they could build something from the ground up.
“It felt like a way of laying down our roots,” recalls Sirine. “We wanted our home to be an anchor and a complete representation of what was important to us as a family.” Abdoun, a neighbourhood in central Amman, felt right, with its blend of old and new. At the time, the couple had just dipped their toes into the art-collecting world, and were drawn to the idea that what they brought home could open hearts and minds. “We were, and still are, awed by how art could play a role in documenting both the realities and hopes of the time,” says Ahmad, “but also serve as a powerful tool for unity and sharing untold stories.”
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The couple knew that their new home needed to have the architectural scale and grace to hold these diverse stories together. Drawn to the raw, Modernist style of the late Lebanese architect Pierre Bassil, they commissioned him with one simple request: that his solution keep the family close to nature. “Growing up, we both played lots of sports, so being outdoors and being connected to nature became crucial for our mental wellbeing,” explains Sirine. “We wanted to create the same experience for our kids.” An indoor-outdoor concept with great natural light would also be ideal for appreciating the couple’s growing art portfolio.
Bassil’s design – with its soaring glass windows framed by sleek, stone-clad frames, and strong, rectilinear volumes that jut out from the main block to shade the swimming pool – was soon the talk of the neighbourhood. “When it was built in the early 2000s, people would ask if it was an airport terminal, an embassy or a school,” recalls Sirine. “Now we have many more examples of modern buildings in Amman.”
The way this villa in Amman embraces the outside remains a rarity in the Arab world. Its double-height, glass-lined entrance courtyard – with a Syrian basalt cobblestone floor, walls clad in Jerusalem limestone, and a raised plinth planted with palm trees – sets the stage for what is about to unfold inside. Black British artist Chris Ofili’s politically charged work, Caged Bird’s Song, is displayed in dialogue with a monumental piece by the Algeria-born photographer Mohamed Bourouissa, who is known for his focus on economically disenfranchised people.
Phyllida Barlow’s characteristically menacing yet colourful wall sculpture presides over the scene, a Styrofoam column by Cynthia Talmadge sits on the floor, and a painting by the artist Zhang Wei, who is often regarded as one of China’s first abstract painters and whose work is seen as a rebellion against 1970s Communist control, invites closer inspection. The arrangement is a snapshot of how the couple strives to bring together different creative languages and influences. “We are interested in work from outside our region in conversation with art from our part of the world,” says Ahmad of the philosophy that guides their choices. “Our collection has no geographic boundaries. We are more interested in the conversation related to a universal mission of asking questions about difficult topics.”
A leading entrepreneur, Ahmad caught the art bug at the Venice Biennale in 2011, his first serious acquisition being a work from the Chilean artist Alfredo Jaar’s seminal 1985 series Gold in the Morning, which documented the backbreaking toil of self-employed miners at the Serra Pelada mine in northeastern Brazil. Sirine, who is a board member of the MMAG foundation, which focuses on nurturing the contemporary art scene in Jordan, still finds inspiration in a colourful work by Moroccan artist Yto Barrada that she acquired at Frieze London ten years ago. The couple’s taste and understanding has evolved since they started building their portfolio, but one idea has remained constant: their home is not a gallery, and their art is not meant to be viewed from a distance.
“My appreciation for art and design comes from time spent with my creatively inclined friends,” recalls Sirine. “Especially [the designer] Gregory Gatserelia, who would give me books from the 1930s and 1940s. I would just lose myself in their pages.” When it came to designing the interior of their home, therefore, the couple naturally turned to Gatserelia. The AD100 interior architect’s pared-back approach – think expansive spaces clad in just a few natural, fuss-free finishes – and his ability to frame vistas using volumes created an envelope that unifies the artistic styles of Etel Adnan, Kaari Upson, Tatiana Trouvé, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige. It also leaves room for the family to come together and entertain without being weighed down by the preciousness of it all.
Throughout the many lounges and nooks that dot the open-plan space, art, furniture and people seem in constant dialogue. A case in point is the multifunctional family room, where a 2012 work by Walid Raad, complemented by a multicoloured dining table by the Palestinian brothers Elias and Yousef Anastas, forms the backdrop for Sirine’s dinner parties and artist talks. “We can spend hours completely immersed in a work,” says Ahmad, “and so, especially at home, it is important to give these pieces the space to breathe and become a part of your life.”
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