Egyptian Architects: Within the Context of Egypt’s Cultural and Intellectual History

By Abdel-moniem El-Shorbagy

This book evolved out of the examination of the works of selected Egyptian architects, whose architectural views and approaches have had an outstanding influence on the development of Egypt’s twentieth century architecture. It contains an analysis of their architectural background and education, and the influences that shaped their thoughts, architectural views, identities and passion for ideal forms. It also examines the influences of modern architectural movements as well as traditional architecture and cultural identity on their work within the context of Egypt’s cultural and intellectual history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookRix
• Release date: Dec 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9783748724711

Book preview

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Egyptian Architects

Within the Context of Egypt’s Cultural and Intellectual History

Dedication

To my wife, five children and extended family

Contents

Acknowledgment

Introduction

Chapter 1 Historical Background

Chapter 2 Revival of Traditional and Islamic Architecture

Chapter 3 Integration of Modern and Traditional Architecture

Chapter 4 Modern Architecture versus Tradition

Chapter 5 Late 20th Century: a period of Uncertainty

Conclusion

Images credits

References

Acknowledgment

This book would not have been possible without the help and support of my wife Mervat El-Shafie. I am most grateful for all her advice, constructive criticism and encouragement. She has patiently read my chapters and made positive suggestions and comments.

Introduction

This book evolved out of the examination of the works of selected Egyptian architects, whose architectural views and approaches have had an outstanding influence on the development of Egypt’s twentieth century architecture. It contains an analysis of their architectural background and education, and the influences that shaped their thoughts, architectural views, identities and passion for ideal forms. It also examines the influences of modern architectural movements as well as traditional architecture and cultural identity on their work within the context of Egypt’s cultural and intellectual history. The main aim of this book is to trace the ways in which Egypt’s architects have responded to the various architectural movements, approaches, and styles. The prime scope of this book is to examine the architects’ varied responses and classifying them into main categories in order to draw a distinction between those who have opted to use traditional forms and building materials and techniques from the past and those who have made considered responses to the ideals and principles of traditional architecture in a modern sense.

A discussion of these architects, who preferred to completely ignore the past and employ modern architectural approaches, materials and method of construction, will also be included. However, this would reveal the significance of Egyptian architects’ approaches while placing them within the wider perspective of twentieth-century architecture. The sheer span of time from the late 19th century to the present makes the study of the architecture of Egypt’s architects fascinating as well as problematic. In the late 19th century and early twentieth century, Egyptian architecture came under, either the direct influence of the work of foreign architects living or working in Egypt and the influence of Egyptian scholars trained in Europe, or the indirect impact of Western architectural publications. The influence of these events was perceived in two ways. While some architects believed that Egyptian architecture has lost its sense of architectural identity, others were impressed by the new modern architecture and the movement of westernization. However, in order to understand the philosophy and architectural concepts that shaped the architecture of both architects’ approaches over this long period, an understanding of the historical circumstances within which they lived and worked, is necessary. A brief history of modern Egypt and the many transformations in Egyptian nationalist orientations over time will clarify how Egyptian architects perceived and realised their architectural work.

Chapter 1

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Throughout history, Egypt was characterised by its conservatism and a long-established traditional social structure which formed what could be called ‘Egyptianity’. This Egyptianity had been affected by a series of invasions by foreign conquerors, which were underlined by three essential events. These were the Arab-Islamic conquest in the 7th century, the non-Arab-Islamic conquests from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries and the European encroachments beginning with Napoleon’s invasion in 1798 (Vatikiotis, 1980). The crowning event in establishing a brilliant period of Islamic civilisation and a prosperous centre of Islamic culture was during the Fatimid dynasty that ruled Egypt from 969 to 1171. During this period the Islamic character of Egypt, especially its capital Cairo, emerged, represented still in the architecture of the