May 2012
16 posts
4 tags
Right to Housing initiative
عشوائية؟ لا يا بيه دي مجهودات ذاتية
الفيلم هو أول حلقة من سلسلة ترصد المشاكل والتحديات العمرانية التي يعيشها غالبية مواطنينا في مُدننا وقرانا حيث يواجهون أخطار انهيارات المباني أو التلوث أو الفيضانات، وحرمان من أساسيات المعيشة مثل المياه وأسطوانات البوتاجاز والكهرباء والمواصلات، وكيف أن سياسات الدولة أدت بطريقة مباشرة لهذا القصور. الغرض من السلسلة هو تحديد عدة مطالب يتم الضغط السياسي من أجلها...
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Idea: The Cairo Art Center
Since January 2011 there has been a flourishing art/performance/dance/music scene in Cairo, but space has been limited. There has also been an exponential interest in the city, its architecture, and urban space. With limited resources, artists and artist collectives, performers and musicians have been making due to find space to meet, practice, perform, and create. This maybe an opportunity to...
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Read/download the new Cairobserver publication
Open publication - Free publishing - More amro thabit
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The latest battle between the 'King of Kowloon'...
أحداث ما جرى في آخر معارك “ملك كاولون” و”السيد الوزير المحافظ“ـ
كريم إبراهيم، 22 مايو 2012
في عام 2007 وصلت حياة “تسانج تسو تشوي” المضطربة إلى محطتها الأخيرة. عن عمر يناهز 86 عاماً، توفي هذا العامل الفقير أو “ملك كاولون”، إحدى مناطق هونج كونج التي عاش مواطنها “تشوي” مؤمناً أنها تنتمي لعائلته وأنه ورث عن أسلافه حقاً...
Invitation to observe
The city is part of our everyday lives. We all have to walk down streets and on sidewalks (if they are available), ride transport or drive a car, occupy a city square or a garden (if they are available), inhabit some kind building we call home, and other buildings for work. The city is part of our everyday lives and there is a reason why everything in it is the way it is. There is nothing natural...
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Invitation to observe (Arabic)
المدينة هى جزء لا يتجزأ من حياتنا اليومية. لا مفر من أن نسير فى طرقاتها وأرصفتها (لو وجدت) ونستخدم مواصلاتها العامة ونقود سيارة بها ونحتل ميادين أو حدائق بها (لو وجدت) ونعيش ونعمل فى مبانيها. المدينة هى جزء من حياتنا اليومية وكل ما يحدث بها يؤثر علينا.
لماذا تتخذ المدينة شكلا معينا؟ الشكل الذى تتخذه المدينة لا يتأثر بعوامل الطبيعة فحسب وإنما بالقرارات التى يتخذها البشر. كل شىء تراه حولك فى...
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Comparing numbers: Cairo's terminal 3 and Istanbul...
Below are the numbers for Cairo International Airport’s terminal 3 (built between 2004 and 2009) and Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport’s extension (built between 2002 and 2006). Both airport terminals were constructed by TAV Construction, where the following numbers were obtained.
CAIRO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TB3 TERMINAL
Terminal design capacity: 11,000,000 passengers per year...
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Three must-read books that must be translated
Much of the literature about Cairo or Egyptian architecture in general is produced in Western academia for Western academia. Although some of these books have become classics among English or French reading audiences, they remain unknown to a wider Egyptian audience. Although many Egyptian university students are capable of reading second languages, classic works dealing with Cairo’s...
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Event: Cairobserver publication launch, Sunday May...
With contributions by: Adham Selim, Yahia Shawkat, Ahmad Borham, Ying Zhou, Hussein Omar, Shaimaa Ashour, Steven Viney, The team of Cairofrombelow.org, Max Rodenbeck, Tiffany Wey, Frederick Deknatel, May el Tabbakh, Abdulrahman al-Taliawi and Mohamed Elshahed
May 20, Rawabet Space, 7pm
Join us at 7 p.m. on Sunday, May 20th at Rawabet Space (Next to Townhouse Gallery) for the launch of the...
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Who should save Egypt's archives (arabic)
This article appeared in English on Aljazeera.
حسين عمر
يقال أحيانا إن حماية تراث مصر، مثلها مثل حقوق الانسان والديمقراطية، هى مسائل لايمكن أن يتولاها المصريون وحدهم. اصحاب هذا الرأى يدعون أن انتشار الفساد والفقر والجهل يشكل خطرا داهما على تلك القطع التراثية التى تتمتع بأهمية عالمية
المجلس الأعلى للآثار فى مصر له موقف معروف فى هذا الشأن. فقد أطلق زاهى حواس، الأمين العام السابق للمجلس، فى...
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Cairo Heritage Interview
Masa2ak Sokkar Zeyada on Otv. Monday June 2nd 2008
Click image for Egypt Independent's Cogs in the...
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Abbasiya: Protest venue...historical district
Excerpt from Ahram Online:
Amid the endless crowds in Abbasiya Square that spreads out into numerous, equally busy streets lie architectural gems that witnessed the rise and fall of a district and all the social history in-between.
This historic neighborhood was named after its founder, Abbas Helmi I (1848-1854). The first and cornerstone building was the desert Saray of Abbasiya (Abbasiya...
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A national style? excerpt from a 1940 lecture
الطابع القومي و العمارة في مصر
القى المهندس المعماري سيد كريم خطابا في الجمعية الجغرافية يوم ١٩\٤\١٩٤٠ سآل فيه:هل للعمارة في مصر طابع قومي؟
ما يلي هو جزء مختصر من ذلك الخطاب و الذي قد يكون له صدى في الوقت الحالي في ظل التخبط المعماري في مصر و هيمنة”الهوية”أو”الطراز”على الوضع الراهن.
…
لست اول معماري يرفع الصوت مناديا بحاجتنا الى طراز قومي، فقد سبقني الكثيرون،...
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Save Bulaq General Hospital!
Difficult to photograph as it is surrounded by trees, Bulaq General Hospital was built in 1936 as a robust red brick streamline modernist three-story structure near the Nile in Bulaq. The hospital is among a series of what could be called “historic hospitals” that were built by the state in the first part of the twentieth century which have been decaying for decades and neglected by...
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Egypt's forgotten builders
When discussing Cairo’s urban condition certain themes and “characters” reappear often: The disgruntled resident, the frustrated planner, the corrupt politician, the struggling office worker, the predatory investor, the tourist, etc. Often ignored or all together forgotten are the workers and builders who do the physical labor of building mega-hotels, gated compounds, red-brick...
April 2012
10 posts
4 tags
The "White City" and Egypt's modernist heritage
[Aerial view of Tel Aviv’s White City]
In 2003 UNESCO added Tel Aviv’s “White City” to its list of world heritage sites. The “White City” consists of three zones (central White City, Lev Hair and Rothschild Avenue, and the Bialik Area) containing around 4,000 buildings built from the 1930s to the 1950s in various interpretations of the modernist style. Tel Aviv...
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On heritage landscapes (Arabic)
مشاهد تراثية
فى العشر سنوات أو الخمس عشرة سنة الماضية ظهرت الكثير من الدراسات حول التراث والذاكرة والنسيج الثقافى وتأثيراتها على الهويات المعاصرة. تلك الدراسات ركزت بالأساس على السياق الأوربى والأمريكى، حيث بذلت الدول ونخبة المال والأعمال جهودا مكثفة من اجل صياغة الهويات المعاصرة على نحو تضمن قدرا من التلاعب بطريقة تفسير التراث الثقافى. قد يعتبر البعض أن التلاعب هو كلمة بها بعض التجنى ولكن...
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pity the nation دولة تثير الشفقة
pity the nation دولة تثير الشفقة from philip rizk on Vimeo.
Egypt’s agricultural land and its survival and regeneration is important to the future of urban Cairo and Egypt’s cities. These lands provide livelihood to over one-third of Egyptians and these lands should be able to feed the cities. The devaluation of Egypt’s agricultural land due to neoliberal policies has...
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Cogs in the wheel: A day in the life of a... →
Egypt is a massive living organism — a web of ticking clocks, each set to a slightly different millisecond. With approximately 80 million in the country, 18 million of whom are woven into the streets and buildings of Cairo, the traffic of the city may crawl but many would say it is only by the will of God that it continues to flow at all. People are everywhere — driving, jumping off buses,...
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On heritage landscapes
[Sign this petition demanding an immediate response from government to the ongoing onslaught on Egyptian heritage. Click here.]
In the last ten to fifteen years there has been a growing literature on heritage, memory, cultural landscapes and their relationship to contemporary identities. This literature largely focuses on case studies in the European and North American contexts, where for the...
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Alexandria: Forced Evictions "as if we're in Gaza"
At 6am on April 3rd, residents of Ezbet Elamrawy woke up to the sound of gun shots and bulldozers. They were evicted by the forces of the army in uniform. Dozens of buildings which have been inhabited since 2005 were partially or fully destroyed. The residents claim they received no warning and they also claim ownership of the land. Forced evictions by the army such as this have been routine...
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Cathedral of Abbasiya: "a masterpiece in the...
The cathedral at Abbasiya is the seat of the Coptic Orthodox Church. The main building, part of a campus including several churches, offices, library and official reception halls, became famous recently during the coverage of the passing of Pope Shenouda III. The new cathedral was inaugurated in 1968. At the time of its completion the new building was Africa’s largest church. Up until its...
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Lessons from elsewhere: Tucson Trees
As someone who isn’t a specialist in horticulture and with pedestrian observations only, something seems deeply flawed with the kinds of vegetation planted in Cairo’s desert communities. Water continuously flowing from meters and meters of hoses desperately trying to keep small patches of green as green as possible. Trees that need relatively high water maintenance are planted for...
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Nilometer: Egypt was ruled from here
The level of Nile water has been measured for 5000 years to predict farming production. This current Nilometer, or Miqias in Arabic, on the southern tip of Roda Island dates back to 715 AD making it one of Cairo’s oldest sites in relatively good shape but also it is the second oldest building by the Ummayyads (Arab/Muslim) dynasty.
The Nilometer is essentially a measuring device, one big...
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Recycling in Manshiet Naser
By Mahy Mourad
When will we see terms like ‘recycled’, ‘recyclable’ or ‘environmentally friendly’ on the labels of Egyptian products? Demand for environmentally friendly products is on the rise in the world and there are many civil society initiatives aiming to raise environmental awareness among the public in Cairo and other areas of Egypt.
Last month,...
March 2012
18 posts
7 tags
The Tomb of Saad Zaghloul
Today (March 29) is the anniversary of Saad Zaghloul’s return to Egypt from exile in 1923.
The tomb of Saad Zaghloul is a gem of a building in central Cairo that is often overlooked by locals and excluded from itineraries by tourists and visitors. Aside from the its attractive design, the building has a fascinating story.
One short metro stop south of Tahrir Square is the Saad Zaghloul...
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Downtown Contemporary Arts festival...
D-CAF, Downtown Contemporary Arts festival, is Egypt’s first major international multidisciplinary art and cultural event since the 25th of January revolution.
Over the period of 3 weeks, D-CAF will present around 14 music concerts, 15 theatre and contemporary dance performances, as well as a visual arts exhibition, artist lectures, film projections and workshops bringing together over 150...
Event: Demanding Green Space, March 30
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The people demand a mayor for Cairo
At its core, Cairo’s problem is an administrative one. Practical problems abound but what are the mechanisms to solve them and who is responsible? Before expecting any of the everyday problems to be solved the first step for any future administration running the country is to reform Cairo’s administrative structure. Only then can we begin to tackle traffic, housing, waste and...
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Nebny Foundation aims to transform Cairo one...
Nebny Foundation has been working in Manshiet Nasser. The densely populated area is described by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in the following lines (in relation to a separate development project for the area):
The squatter settlement of Manshiet Nasser has the most extreme concentration of poverty of any urban area in Egypt, but far from being a ‘slum of despair’ it is a dynamic...
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Egypt Independent: Megawra brings Cairo’s young...
By Helen Stuhr-Rommereim
A great amalgamation of art and engineering, architectural vision determines the spaces we live in and traverse. In Cairo, questions about the function and organization of the city pervade conversations on a daily basis, whether those conversations take place on a crowded metro or in the middle of a traffic jam, as part of a political debate, or within works of film...
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Postcard #8
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Lessons from elsewhere: New York City #1
لكثير من العرب و المصريين مدينة نيويورك تمثل قمة في مخيلتهم عندما يفكرون في وصف المدينة الحديثة المتطورة.لكن في غالب الوقت فكرة مدينة نيويورك بالنسبة للعرب تختصر في صورة مسطحة لناطحات سحاب و عمارات زجاجية و ابراج شاهقة.في الواقع مدينة نيويورك التي يحلم بها المصريين و العرب ليست فقط مدينة الابراج، بل ان ذلك هو فقط جزء صغير من واقع تلك المدينة.في اغلب الاحياء السكنية هناك ترى مبان تعتبر صغيرة...
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Jadaliyya: An emerging memorial space? In praise...
By Mona Abaza
Mohammed Mahmud Street, also known as sharei’ uyuun al-hurriyyah (the street of the eyes of freedom), is becoming an iconic space. The street has been recently discovered by numerous photographers and passersby, not only for its mesmerizing graffiti but also for the curiosity it has raised; for the remembrance of the martyrs who were killed there; for journalists who still want to...
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Alexandria: A new municipality or public space?
Alexandria based architect May El Tabbakh brought our attention to a new development in downtown Alexandria. The city’s main municipality headquarters, a wonderful mid-20th century modernist structure, was heavily damaged in riots last January and was demolished. Its site has remained empty until now when a large sign announced the construction of a new municipality building on the same...
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Who Rules: The Importance of Governance Structure...
by Muneeb Ansari
An important, yet often under-discussed factor that affects urban planning outcomes is the process through which planning decisions are made. The process reflects both the incentives guiding policymakers and the relative power of those policymakers at various levels of government. As such, the structure of Cairo’s local governance systems matters when discussing urban planning...
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State faliure and everyday urban practices
الحي، الساحة و السايس
عبدالرحمن الطلياوي
ربط تسلسلي لفشل السياسات الحكومية و تأثيرها المباشر على تفاعل المواطن بالشارع في حياته اليومية بالمدينة.
عرض: بين رحلة و اخرى، مستقبل و مودع
تبدأ القصة من حيث عدت من الخارج لاجد السياس قد ملأوا شارع البيت، بقمصانهم الصفراء و اصواتهم العالية.
عندما اعود بذاكرتي لاتتبع تطور ظاهرة السايس على مدار عمري كشاب، اتذكر انه منذ 10-15 سنة كان...
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Resident Perspective: Heliopolis
Resident Perspective are a series of standardized interviews with Cairo residents to get their views on the city and their neighborhoods.
CO: Describe your neighborhood in three sentences or less: Sundus: Quite, creative, peaceful ,cheerful ,connected
CO: How did you end up living here?
Sundus: Lived there all my life. It was my grandparents’ house, my parents lived here and I live...
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Redefining Heritage
ُThis article is available in English, here.
مى الطباخ
(ليس هناك فى الواقع شىء أسمه تراث – لورا جين سميث ٢٠٠٦)
سمعت تلك الجملة للمرة الأولى خلال دراستى فى “مركز التراث المستدام” التابع لجامعة لندن وقد ساعدتنى على تغيير فهمى لمشكلة الحفاظ على التراث. حتى تلك اللحظة كنت أعمل فى الحفاظ على المبانى التاريخية فى مصر وانجلترا مع التركيز على حماية قيمتها الملموسة. وبعدها بدأت أفهم أن...
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Qubbat Afandina and the stolen Kiswa
On the morning of 1 March, two historic and valuable pieces of embroidered cloth, Kiswa, hanging in the mausoleum of Khedive Tawfiq, were stolen. The Kiswa is a ceremonial decorated cloth, often with gold threads, offered by the Egyptian ruler to cover the Ka`ba in Mecca. The stolen objects, although have historical value, are not registered with the department of antiquities. The building from...
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Yahia Shawkat: private cars are not a solution
الشعب يريد وسيلة تنقل كريمة
يحيى شوكت في جريدة الشروق 27 فبراير 2012
جاء على صفحات ملحق الأهرام منذ فترة مقال بعنوان «الشعب يريد سيارة شعبية»، يرسم ملامح لحل قضية التنقل فى مصر من خلال صناعة سيارة مصرية منخفضة الثمن، كما أن هناك مجموعات داخل دوائر التصنيع تروج لأفكار مماثلة.
●●●
فهل السيارة الشعبية هى الحل الأمثل لقضية التنقل فى مصر؟
لنتناول التنقل فى أكبر وأكثر مدن مصر تطورا.....
February 2012
15 posts
2 tags
Paris was never along the Nile (Arabic)
باريس لم تكن أبدا على ضفاف النيل
يشيع استخدام عبارة “باريس على النيل” بين المستشرقين وكثير ممن يحسون بالحنين إلى الماضى. وقد ذاعت تلك العبارة فى أوساط البرجوازية المستاءة من القاهرة المعاصرة والتى تحاول أن تجد فى الماضى ملاذا تهرب إليه، وهو فى هذه الحالة العلاقة المتصورة بين القاهرة وباريس التى يعدونها عاصمة الحداثة فى العالم بأسهر. أما المستشرقون المعاصرون فيستخدمون تلك العبارة...
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A new beginning for Egyptian tourism (Arabic)
بداية جديدة للسياحة المصرية
فى معرض الحديث عن التحديات الاقتصادية التى تواجه مصر، تتكرر الإشارة إلى مشاكل السياحة فى أعقاب ثورة 25 يناير، حيث انخفض عدد السياح الذين زاروا مصر فى 2011 بنسبة 30% عن السنة السابقة. ورغم هذا الانخفاض فإن شوارع وسط البلد فى القاهرة ما زال بها عدد ملحوظ من الأجانب. لو جلست فى مقهى الحرية أو المقاهى المحيطة بجاليرى التاونهاوس، سوف تحس بأن أزمة السياحة غير...
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Metro Line 3 partially opens
This week and after more than five years since construction began, Cairo residents welcome a new metro line. When finished Line 3 will run from Cairo Airport in the east to Imbaba and Cairo University in the west. The first stage, which has been opened, is only five (Attaba-Abassiya) of the total 32 stations on that line. Officials have announced that phase two is %60 complete. Although it is a...
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