Narrow House Bassam by El-Okeily

This curios house located in Bilzen, a small city in the north-east of Belgium is the first building designed by the Egypt born and Brussels based architect Bassam El-Okeily. Its wide glass front fills the building’s modest width of only 5,30 m and stages the cubistic interior – the dramatic colourful light concept does the rest.


“The house has a closed ground floor exterior ( topped by a total transparency in glass. The display window reveals two balconies in skewed positions projection from a white façade.
The lower balcony contains a reading corner for a library belonging to the gentleman of the house, while providing him with a sheltered view of the street. The upper balcony accommodates an artist’s studio, the private domain of his wife. Blue light turn the façade into a spectacular light sculpture after dark. it’s a narrow house in a narrow street, which offers the tale of a man , a woman and their passion.
Architecture become a pretext to chair something else than the sidewalk. A house is a space to live; it could also be a place to remain.”

Bassam El-Okeily