tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41915977790346274112024-03-13T12:47:03.179-07:00Cairo: The Multi-Schizophrenic City القاهرة: مدينة الشخصيات المتعددةAhmed Zaazaahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10235116621419172494noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191597779034627411.post-35558024289688492472013-05-11T03:16:00.002-07:002013-05-11T03:16:48.977-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />محاضرة ومناقشة مفتوحة. احمد زعزع وأمنية خليل<br /><b>يوم الاربعاء 15 مايو - الساعة 4:30 - قاعة جمال مختار بالاكاديمية البحرية</b><br />1 المشير احمد اسماعيل - مصر الجديدة<br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Parallel Practice</b></span><br />Open lecture and discussion .. by <a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=1408450830&extragetparams=%7B%22directed_target_id%22%3A0%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/ahmed.zaazaa1?directed_target_id=0" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">Ahmed Zaazaa</a> <a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=517752331&extragetparams=%7B%22directed_target_id%22%3A0%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/omnia.khalil?directed_target_id=0" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;">Omnia Khalil</a><br /><b>Wednesday - May 15th, 2013 - 4:30 pm - Gamal Mokhtar Hall</b> </span></div>
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Ahmed Zaazaahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10235116621419172494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191597779034627411.post-19769356260341437372012-04-11T07:20:00.001-07:002012-04-13T05:55:26.723-07:00ثورة العمران<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">ثورة العمران</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">تمثل حالة التحرير المجتمع المستقل ذاتياً الذي نجح في الوقت الذي فشلت فيه كل المحاولات الأخري. و لهذا، فهو دليلاً واضحاً علي أننا نحتاج لإعادة نظر و التفكير في التخطيط الفعلي و عمليات التصميم لهذه المدينة و الدولة ككل، لأنها يجب أن تمكن المواطنين من التحكم في بيئتهم العمرانية المحيطة</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">و لعله من الضرورة القصوي، البدأ في طرح الحقوق المطلوبة للسكن و العدالة العمرانية. فالعمران هو إنعكاس مباش</span></span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">ر للحياه السياسية و الإجتماعية و الإقتصادية للدولة. و الشكل العمراني الحالي هو ما ترسب من الأنظمة السابقة. و التي فصلت المجتمع و حرمته من التدخل في القرارات العمرانية، و نتيجة لذلك ظهرت اشكال من الملائمة العمرانية كرد من المجتمع ليتناسب مع إحتياجاتهم الحقيقية التي غابت تماماً عن ذهن المخطط</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">تلك الأنماط التخطيطية و المعمارية التي فرضت علي المجتمع، تم إستيرادها بلا تغييرات من مجتمعات بثقافات مختلفة ، و التي شكلت المدينة من خلال هذا التوجه بسياسات فصل طبقية، و تم التسويق لها للنخبه، بصيغة الإبتعاد عن فوضى المدينة ومشاكلها. و من ناحية أخري فظهرت ألاف المساكن الحكومية في منتصف الصحراء، لا يصلها أي نوع من أنواع المواصلات أو الخدمات و بالتالي، صارت تلك المساكن مهجورة، و إتجه الناس إلي البناء الغير رسمي بجانب المناطق الحضرية نتيجة سياسة التجاهل لبعض فئات المجتمع و عدم قدرة الحكومة على توفير السكن الملائم لقطاعات واسعة من الشعب</span></div>
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مشكلة الإسكان الجماعي الحكومي لم تقتصر فقط علي بعد المساكن عن المدينة أو مشاكل الخدمات،بل عدم إدراك التركيبات السكانية و الديموغرافية فالمساكن الحكومية التي تم بنائها في الستينات، و أصبحت اليوم في قلب المدينة، كمساكن إمبابة أو عين الصيرة، أصبحت اليوم في حالة تردي أكثر من أحوال الإسكان الغير رسمي. فتلك الأنماط التي صممت بها تلك المساكن، كانت مستوردة من روسيا الإشتراكية و لا تناسب متوسط عدد أفراد العائلة المصرية و بالتالي تم بناء إمتدادات و غرف علي المبني الأصلي، حتي صار مزيج بين الإسكان الحكومي الرسمي و العشوائيات</div>
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لم تكتفي الحكومة السابقة من تشويه القاهرة جزءاً فجزءاً، بل إتجهت إلي خطه علي مستوي المدينة ككل، عندما طرحت فكرة "القاهرة ٢٠٥٠". هذه الخطة التي كانت بتكليف من الحزب الوطني "المنحل"، لتكون خطة دعاية لجمال مبارك. و كُلف بإدارة خطة القاهرة ٢٠٥٠، الدكتور مصطفي مدبولي، و كان عضو في الحزب الوطني حينها. تمثلت خطة القاهرة ٢٠٥٠ في تحويل القاهرة إلي مانهاتن أو دبي، و التخلص من كل ما قد يعيق تلك الفكرة، و اخراجه خارج نطاق المدينة حتى و ان كان اكثر من 70% من سكان القاهرة الكبرى من قاطنى الغير رسميات بدعوى عدم مناسبتهم لنموذج ساكنى العاصمة الجديدة حيث شملت تلك الخطه عدداً من الأحياء الغير رسمية، تضمن التصميم إزالة عدداً من الأحياء الغير رسمية و التي يسكنها الملايين و اقتلاعهم من بيئتهم السكنية</div>
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كلٌ منا مهتم أن يتطور العمران المصري، و لكن المشكلة كانت صرف المليارات في إتجاه لا يتناسب مع المدينة. فمن الممكن أن تقتطع تلك التكلفة إلي الربع، إذا قامت علي دراسات منهجية، لخواص و طباع و سمات و ثقافات المجتمعات المصرية</div>
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و الموقف العام لم يقتصر علي القاهرة ٢٠٥٠ أو علي مشاكل الإسكان الشعبي فقط، فقد سبق تلك الخطه باع طويل من عدم الوعي العمراني في بناء مدن جديدة مجتمعات عمرانية جديدة. و الذي تسبب في زيادة مركزية القاهرة و تضخم حجمها مما أدي إلي كثافة سكانية متفجرة و بالتالي تردي حال البنيات التحتية و الأساسية. ناهيك عن كوارث أخري كالإهتمام بالآثار و المناطق الأثرية و التعامل معها بسياسة أن "وش بويه، رجعت زي الفل". فالإهتمام بالهياكل و الفراغات الأثرية، يعني سياحة داخلية و خارجية، و دخل كبير، حرم منه الشعب بسبب قلة وعي السياسات</div>
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قامت الثورة و تحطمت طبعاً خطة ٢٠٥٠، حيث أنها - و كما ذكرت من قبل - كانت مطروحة من الحزب الوطني. و لكن لم يدم ذلك طويلاً، فقد عاد الكابوس مرة أخري عندما نشر الدكتور مصطفي مدبولي بدأ التفكير في خطة "مصر ٢٠٥٢"، و التي ستعمل علي مستوي الجمهورية. و بالرغم من أن لم يتم الإفصاح عن تفاصيل الخطه، إلا أن المشكلة ليست في الخطه نفسها، بل في توجهات تفكير وزارة الإسكان و الهيئات التابعة لها و سياستهم. ففي أول إجتماع مع وزير الإسكان الجديد، و الذي كان يضم مجموعة من أفضل المخططين، و عندما بدأوا في الإقتراحات لتغيير سياسات الإسكان، فكان رد سيادة الوزير: "ماحدش يتدخل في سياسات الوزارة، و المطلوب منكم إنكوا تقدمولي أنماط إسكان منخفض التكاليف و خلاص"</div>
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ما الجهات المختصة بالعمران؟</div>
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- وزارة الإسكان</div>
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- هيئة التخطيط العمراني</div>
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- صندوق تطوير العشوائيات</div>
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- هيئة المجتمعات العمرانية الجديدة</div>
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- هيئة التنسيق الحضاري</div>
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- المركز القومي لبحوث البناء</div>
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- هيئة الطرق و المواصلات</div>
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- وزارة الآثار</div>
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- وزارة الأوقاف</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">فما هو المطلوب؟</span></div>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><div style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">ليس المطلوب الأساسى هو الإطاحة بأشخاص بعينهم بل المطلوب البدأ في قبول أفكار و خطط جادة، مدروسة جيداً. </span></div>
</span></span></span><br />
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">المطلوب هو الأخذ بالأبحاث العلمية التي لا حصر لها و التي تحتوي علي أفكار تناسب أحوال الشعب المصري، و لكنها ملقاه في أدراج الوزارات.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> المطلوب هو العمل بمبادئ العدالة العمرانية. المطلوب هو تفعيل مبادئ حقوق السكن. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">المطلوب هو العمل من خلال عمليات تصميمية تعكس و تستوعب الثقافات المصرية الحديثة. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">المطلوب هو تمكين الناس من البيئات العمرانية المحيطة.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> المطلوب هو تفعيل مبدأ المشاركة المجتمعية في كل المشاريع و الخطط.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> المطلوب هو تغيير السياسات بشكل عام. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">المطلوب هو وقف الإزالات القهرية التي تتسبب بتدمير مجتمعات، إستثمرت الكثير لبناء نفسها</span></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">المطلوب هو عدم تحويل القاهرة إلي دبي أو مانهاتن، بل تحويلها إلي قاهرةً يرتقي أهلها بها</span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"></span></div>
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><div style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><div style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><div style="text-align: right;">
و كيف يتم ذلك؟</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
الثورة مستمرة… تلك الثورة التي خاض الكثير منا معاركها و فقد الكثير من نفسه من أجل صورة ذهنية مخلصة و صادقة للوطن ككل. فمعظم من سيهتم بتلك الثورة العمرانية، قد درس تاريخ المدن المصرية، إما في كليات العمارة أو الآثار أو التخطيط العمراني أو الفنون الجميلة، و يعلم جيداً كيف تم التحول في المدن و ما آل إليه الآن… و كل منا له وجهة نظرة، و التي تعتبر حريته المطلقة، و لكن لتكون وجهة نظر ذات قواعد راسخة، يجب أن تكون مدروسة و تتخطي الجماليات الشكلية</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
لن يتغير شئ بمفرده، و لكن يجب أن نقوم و نبدأ في العمل. فمن المؤكد أن في ذهن كل منا، مخزون أفكار لا حصر لها. و من المؤكد أيضاً أن بعض تلك الأفكار قد خرجت من الذهن و تشكلت في أفكار علي ورق.</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
يتم بالتوعية العمرانية، من خلال نشر أبحاث و مقالات و فيديوهات، لكي تنشر أفكار العدالة العمرانية لغير المتخصة</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
يتم بمراقبة كل ما يجري في الجهات المختصة بالعمران، و نشرها و نقدها نقداً منهجياً</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
يتم بالنزول إلي الشارع و فهم متطلبات المجتمعات المصرية جيداً و دراستها دراسة منهجية و أكاديمية</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;">
يتم تغيير نظرتنا أولاً و قبل الغير متخصص، عن المجتمعات الغير رسمية و العشوائيات و السعي لفهم تلك المجتمعات و التعلم منهم. و لي تلوين مبانيهم لتصير أجمل. فقد يكون جمالهم يختبئ فيما وراء مجرد الشكل و اللون</div>
</div>
</span></span></span></span></div>Ahmed Zaazaahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10235116621419172494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191597779034627411.post-50929306834581708692012-02-16T03:22:00.000-08:002012-02-16T04:25:55.647-08:00Decoding Elements of Transformations: Investigating social, political and economical transformations, through decoding visual elements done by low-income communities in public housing buildings.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmcnQUmIUR04zkJqtHdrqyKAXIgYirR7E3Ta7u6Q1xuOd3nE440rA1NY3l3raL0wfZyN3_Riu6loGQDe-lIvqrX-pURbXyzz6EG8sO65JNomxbALHeJ_JKZV0GZW3X12s5y_uE_4Sh2LX3/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmcnQUmIUR04zkJqtHdrqyKAXIgYirR7E3Ta7u6Q1xuOd3nE440rA1NY3l3raL0wfZyN3_Riu6loGQDe-lIvqrX-pURbXyzz6EG8sO65JNomxbALHeJ_JKZV0GZW3X12s5y_uE_4Sh2LX3/s640/1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">*This Paper was written in 2010.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-right: -4.95pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-right: -4.95pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">“</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">We
humans are incapable of accepting reality as it is, and so create places to
transform reality according to the ideas and images of what we think reality
ought to be.</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">” (Sack, 2003) The
continuous transformations done by humans to change the spaces they live in is
a process that will never end. The form of living spaces has changed
drastically along the years due to this fact. (Gaber, B. 2009)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-right: -4.95pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-right: -4.95pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">The
government’s policies in housing didn’t develop since Nasser’s era, even
building’s prototypes are remaining the same for the low-income housing, which
rang a bell for researchers, scholars and experts to </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">identify and examine Its shortcomings in an
attempt to investigate the possibilities of growth and adaptability in future
projects. Yet, for many years and through their own initiative, public housing
dwellers have been engaged in alteration and extension activities aimed at
adapting their dwellings to better suit their needs.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-right: -4.95pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-right: -4.95pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">These transformations were shown in
extensions and additions of structures (Vertically and horizontally) to the
building, where these structures act as codes that can be decoded to identify
social, political and economical changes occurring in Egypt, where this study
is trying to decode these additions.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-right: -4.95pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-right: -4.95pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">
</span></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: medium;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: medium;"><div style="margin-right: -4.95pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Introduction</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-right: -4.95pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">“</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">One
of the central characteristics of architectural form is the way it acts as a
symbol or signifier of function, human culture, political power, or any kind of
meaning that can be inferred by the person that experiences form.” </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> That’s how Kent Jay Stein in 1999 began
introducing Geoffrey Broadbent theory about forms and meanings, where a slight
change in the signifier can present a whole different meaning; not only in
architecture, but also in all elements our eyes can see.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">All
elements surrounding us are codes to ease communication: arrangement of letters
forming a certain word is a code, street signs and what differs one another are
codes, traffic lights, architectural form…etc. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">In
the 16</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">th</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> century, Leonardo Da Vinci drew the MonaLisa, and he took
in consideration presenting it in very precise and calculated proportions and
relationships between elements to state a notion of aesthetics, but about 400
years later, an artist influenced by Van Gogh drew the same Monalisa, but by
stressing on brush strokes, he gave a whole different notion of impressionism.
In 1919, Marcel Duchamp drew an exact replica to the Monalisa and just added
two lines on her face to form a moustache, where these two simple black lines
added to the piece, gave a different notion of Dadaism. Then in 1934, Frida
Kahlo drew the Monalisa once again and placed the Monalisa’s face by Frida’s
face herself, where that again gave a whole different meaning, as Frida has an
accident that affected her spiral chord causing her a kind of paralyze and by
placing her face on the Monalisa, she showed a symbolism approach. Dali also
placed his face on the Monalisa again in 1954, which was so surrealistic to
have a male face on a female body. Several contemporary artists imposed their
own lines on the Monalisa to give different statements, </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Roy
Lichtenstein turning her to a comic art, Andy Warhol by repetition and giving
different colors, Fernando Botero by making her look fat, Claudia Williams by
turning her into a totally ugly woman, till in 2001, Banksy, a Graffiti artist,
drew the Monalisa on a wall in London and he added a weapon and headphones, to
state a notion of contemporary culture of war and globalization.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjulQUEP1896xiB8RInhuSU8aDwron37ObAJUpAERjzcPnHCNHjqPNGr2EoY_3WvGhF8UyqCuWwznRMQBHPzOfupcyw_I4cDwJ_ns_zbFgbvu-0YDT2Ml7Gan52zYb_e7JQ597L_z_cjovA/s1600/aa.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjulQUEP1896xiB8RInhuSU8aDwron37ObAJUpAERjzcPnHCNHjqPNGr2EoY_3WvGhF8UyqCuWwznRMQBHPzOfupcyw_I4cDwJ_ns_zbFgbvu-0YDT2Ml7Gan52zYb_e7JQ597L_z_cjovA/s640/aa.tiff" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">The
example of the Monalisa shows how the codes - added to the painting by
different artists through different time spans - empowered the theory of
transformation, where each element added to the painting gives a whole
different meaning and can reflect a political or social state of the time. This
study is using both theories (Change and transformation, and semiotics) to
investigate reasons and reflection of additive structures extensions on
low-income public housing buildings.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="margin-right: -4.95pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Brief History on
Housing in Cairo</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-right: -4.95pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-right: -4.95pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Since 1970, researchers and professionals had
special interest to investigate the pattern of change in the structure of Cairo.
The changes, which took place during this period, were faster and more
important than those, which took place since the beginning of the nineteenth
century, where the Egyptian social order, political approaches and economic
aspects has changed drastically causing transformation of urban patterns in
Egyptian cities stems from different reasons. These reasons were: a rapid
increase in population not matched by additional new housing units, internal
migration from rural to urban centers, deterioration of old parts of the cities
without upgrading or equivalent replacement, accumulation of housing shortage
over the years, and finally, the increasing gap between the cost of housing and
income levels.</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCF_jtDtsfu_vawxP9sXyUHaKgabD9dznT2tApwxdoJu4H0Os3m6FNwyKmaXwYGJ4hDnh7KxqMM1VAVldEHSwDq-Y63FO_rWUKYwbdxiRfFMAPm_UrhYPNwLwpsgMlebiYNVRyXu7DrtrU/s1600/aaa.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCF_jtDtsfu_vawxP9sXyUHaKgabD9dznT2tApwxdoJu4H0Os3m6FNwyKmaXwYGJ4hDnh7KxqMM1VAVldEHSwDq-Y63FO_rWUKYwbdxiRfFMAPm_UrhYPNwLwpsgMlebiYNVRyXu7DrtrU/s400/aaa.tiff" width="225" /></span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">With
an average </span><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">density</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> of
35,000 inhabitants per km², Cairo today has one of the highest population
densities in the world, with certain areas reaching over 100,000 inhabitants per
km² (David Sims, 2004).</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">
</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Cairo’s expansion has
become necessary because of the major </span><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">housing crisis</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">
the city is currently experiencing, which hits the poorest the hardest. In
spite of the saturation of the downtown area, disadvantaged families still want
to live there to be able to take advantage of its benefits. The housing
shortage is forcing these families to settle in </span><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">precarious and sometimes unusual dwellings</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">:
unstable floors are added to old buildings, temporary homes are built directly
on building roofs and even in the tombs. In fact, although there are few actual
slums in Cairo, this </span><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">verticalization
of the city’s living space</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> represents a variation on the same
theme and is equally unsound.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">
</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Another
example of housing on the city boarders are the informal settlements The phenomenon
has its roots in the 1960s, when small agricultural areas on the fringes of
"formal" Cairo began to be subdivided by farmers and middlemen and
sold to individual owner-builders. It accelerated dramatically</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">after the 1974 open
door policy was proclaimed,</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">
</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">fuelled by ever increasing flows of remittances
from the hundreds of thousands of Egyptians</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">working mostly as
laborers in the</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Gulf
and in other oil economies. It</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">
</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">was at first totally ignored by the</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">authorities, even
though the very act</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">of
subdividing land for building</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">
</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">purposes without a permit was illegal,</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">as was building without
a permit.</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">The
process was completely informal in the sense that land was bought and
transferred and buildings were erected with no legal paper work and a total
reliance on personal trust, mediated when necessary by the existing community.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Attempts to
increase the development of low-income housing by government were held, to
accommodate zounds of immigrants, instead of dwelling informal units inside
Cairo in addition to the natural demographic growth.</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> The government has attempted to deal with the
housing shortages by construction of public housing projects. Most of these are
blocks of apartments in five-storey walk-ups. Since 1960, when the program was
greatly expanded, annual production has fluctuated between 10,000 and 20,000
units, dropping to less than 6,000 in years when national priorities led to
budget reductions. In order to make this housing affordable to low-income
people, rents were lowered to nominal levels. The government's inability to
properly maintain the buildings eventually prompted their conversion to
ownership. The heavy subsidies, which this approach entailed, have placed an
enormous financial burden on the government, preventing it from even coming
close to meeting the demand for housing through new construction. Therefore, in
the late 1970s the government adopted a policy of up-grading existing areas to
capitalize on the standing housing stock (AKPIA, 1984. Sited in </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Ali, Emad el Deen, 2003</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> </span><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Change
and Transformation Structure</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Change and Transformation, is a
structure where time is a very essential aspect to crystallize the system. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">“Time
and change appear to be increasingly important dimensions in the study of any
artifact domain”.</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> (Hillier & Leaman, 1973), but a great difference
between Change and Transformation must be studied well, where change is making
over a radical difference and time here is immediate and not through sequence
and process, as Transformation, where the conversion is not drastic as in
Change, but it is development of a system through time. “</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Process can be well
perceived in increasing the complexity of the content by adding a new element
to the system through time, which leads to an improvement and development for
the benefit of the system itself in situation, of not loosing its structure</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">.”
(El Feki, 2009)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">“The concept of transformation, which
is the heart of the theory evolution… in evolution theory, transformation is
the mean by which time and variety are bought into an inextricable
relationship. Similarly, in structuralism it is through transformation that
variety is to be explained and the dimension of time recovered</span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">.” (Hillier & Leaman, 1973)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Transformation in Public housing Policies</span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">The
systematic involvement of the Egyptian government in the terms of public
housing started with the 1952 revolution and the rise to power of Gamal Abdel
Nasser. The new government’s interest in housing manifested itself in two main
ways.</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">The first was a series of laws passed at
five-year intervals to reduce and control the rents of housing units
constructed after 1944. The second was the state’s involvement in the
construction of low-cost public housing built on the outskirts of Cairo and in
cleared informal areas in the centre of the city. From 1965 to 1975, there was
a sharp drop in the production of public housing due in part to the priority
given to military expenses as a result of a quasi-permanent state of war. As
the population continued to increase and urbanization followed, the gap between
demand and supply, both private and public, greatly widened. (</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">El-Batran & Arandel, 1998). </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmAXZsxYSilnGIwFT7Ww5EhYO_1ts2So5oi4soYy5Z5Yy7DPP_kug_sEZlCAFNKjH1gHbaaMiaicnXmRiE6z-3sui06zeYsbfcL20vcJhVxq6OgtYcwSoLbqGtSJHokajSmqPXrFg61bTp/s1600/aaaa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmAXZsxYSilnGIwFT7Ww5EhYO_1ts2So5oi4soYy5Z5Yy7DPP_kug_sEZlCAFNKjH1gHbaaMiaicnXmRiE6z-3sui06zeYsbfcL20vcJhVxq6OgtYcwSoLbqGtSJHokajSmqPXrFg61bTp/s320/aaaa.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">“After 1975, President
Sadat engaged the country in a new direction, namely the Open Door Economic
Policy </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">(Infitah),</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> marked by a greater political and economic opening to the west and a
move away from a state controlled economy towards a market economy.”</span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> (Waterbury, 1983) With regard to housing, the government announced that
it would only be responsible for the construction of low-income housing, and
the private sector would have the primary responsibility for providing housing
units to the middle and upper-classes. In addition, the state disengaged from
the production of rental housing and maintained the policy of rent control with
only minor modifications.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">The increasing demand for affordable housing in
Egypt has urged governments, during the last decades, to commit themselves to
provide completely finished housing units for medium and low-income families.
In an exaggerated concern over physical features and standards, government
officials have forwarded their systematic approach, underestimating its
socioeconomic and cultural shortcomings and excluding the low-income group from
participating in the formal housing production. The decision makers assumed it
in the 1970s that households were evolving towards a “modern way of life” which
would be appropriately catered for in prefabricated mass housing dwellings. It
was also assumed that households would quickly adapt themselves to the
dwellings they were provided with. Such a deterministic approach, combined with
the urgency to meet the housing needs resulted in the wide spread use of almost
the same version of five-storey walk-up dwellings in various geographical areas
without any consideration neither to different climatic conditions nor to
households’ different social backgrounds and lifestyles. An average household
size being estimated at 6 to 7 people (Behloul, 2002).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> Government construction of
subsidized housing has proved prohibitively expensive, and has thus been unable
to meet the demand, while rent control has discouraged private investment in
housing.</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Private sector construction shifted to condominiums, and transfers
of rental units, involved increasingly larger "key money" charges.
Attempts to control the key money system only depressed turnover rates, while
attempts to limit condominiums in order to promote rental construction further
stifled the market. Consequently, informal sector housing has become
widespread, accounting for an estimated 70% of all new construction in Cairo
(AKPIA, 1984 sited in </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Ali, Emad
el Deen, 2003</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">). Informal and illegal housing continued in the 1980s and 1990s.
It is estimated that in 1994 more than 4 million people were living in illegal
settlements in the Greater Cairo Region. The efforts of the government to
control the growth of the city have not been sufficient and it kept growing in
most directions, particularly to the west and north, to reach an estimated
population of over 12 million in 1994 (UN.1993).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">The Egyptian government has applied several actions
and policies in an attempt to resolve the housing problem, including rent
control, providing public housing, and subsidizing building materials. Most plans
have had limited success because governmental administrators view the problem
from a different perspective than that of the public. However, urban areas in
most</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Egyptian cities are currently confronted with a
number of problems that have emerged because of the ever-increasing gap between
the rapid urban population growths on the one hand, and the limited supply of
land, infrastructure, utilities, services, and government funding on the other
(El-Batran & Arandal, 1998).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">The housing problem in Egypt has a social
dimension, which cannot be underestimated. The impact has been felt in the
changing structure of the Egyptian urban family. The traditional extended
family has become of the nuclear type. Urban conditions are restoring the
traditional form of residence, which is resulting in a trend back to the
extended family. Since newly married young couples cannot afford the high cost
of a flat, they continue to live with their parents, thus combining more than
one nuclear family. They may be of different generations, as in the case of the
parents and their offspring living together, each with his own family; or they
may constitute only one generation after the parents die and the household is
occupied by the siblings, each with his own nuclear family (El-Safty, 1984).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Additive Structures and Extensions </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">As a result of the inappropriateness of public
housing and its failure to respond to users’ needs, many families decided to
engage in informal building activities inside the formal sector. For instance,
a variety of modifications and extensions were carried out in public houses
without formal permissions. Given the scale of “illegal” building activities,
local authorities had difficulty in maintaining a firm attitude towards
transformers and usually ended by ignoring them. Transformations have resulted
not only in an increase of the actual housing stock, but in changing entire
housing environments into dynamic, mixed-use developments where daily
activities overlap and maximum use of the available space and resources is
made. The new environments could be described as a combination of formal and
informal housing, since they assimilate characteristics of both types.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">The researches stated the development of
transformations in</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">public housing projects in Cairo where there have
been evidence of informal user transformations. The factors that affect the
extent of transformation developing in different public housing projects were classified
under two categories: factors related to housing environments and others
related to housing units. The case of “Imbaba”, a housing estate of 5000
dwellings built in the late 1950s in Cairo illustrates clearly how the distress
brought about by overcrowded conditions has provoked uncontrolled extensions
and construction activities by the inhabitants (Salama, 1994).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">In a survey of 208 flats in this estate, it was
found that almost half the sample had built extensions. The total average area
gained depended on the flat location. Larger extensions were observed in the
ground floor flats, which gained an average of 67 sq m compared to an average
of 30 sq m for flats on other floors. However, there was also evidence that
some parts of the estate remained unchanged (Salama, 1994).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">The socio-economic homogeneity of the households
living in the same block of flats was another factor found to influence the
occurrence and type of transformations. This was particularly important in the
case of vertical stack extension where households are expected to co-operate
and contribute financially to the building of the initial structure.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">In Imbaba, extensions and additions were the norm, not the
exception. In fact, there were so many additions; it was very often difficult
to tell where the original building was. The interesting thing about all these
public housing areas is that while the individual units are generally small and
not very accommodating, the spaces in between the buildings are quite generous.
Consequently, people have figured out many ways to use this space. And while
many of the additions certainly serve to support only one family, many of them
have to work together when families on the upper floors want to add on as well.</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 9pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">It seemed that almost everyone in
Imbaba had made some alteration or addition to their space, but the most
significant ones were on the ground floor. One had turned his bedroom into an
internet café. And inside, most people had invested in new tile, new furniture,
refrigerators, etc.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Activities Transformations appeared in adding curtains
to balconies for privacy or adding light structure for a window to convert it
into a small terrace. While in the built environment, transformation took a
more important place, where those additive structures transformed the cubic
pure form of public housing building, into a more complicated form, where
smaller cubes were attached to the building in different places, and even in
some cases, the building is transformed once more into another pure cube but a
larger one.</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Decoding
Additive Structures to Meanings</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">“He
analyzes this concept by showing how shifts in the architectural language can
mask, enhance, or confuse meaning in built form, but fundamental symbols that
are read across time and history remain constant.”</span></span></i><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> That’s how Kent started his article in 1997, talking
about Broadbent. All previous transformations have certain code, which is the
additive structures and extensions. Community unintentionally gave very precise
meanings by building these extensions, where each element that has been added
could reflect a certain problem in public housing buildings.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Different background for people may result different
decoding for the problem, as the same building with its additions may be seen
as </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">a great shame to the modern city and an
eyesore to governments as a constant reminder of their weakness and
inefficiency. </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Or in another view it may
be seen as a </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">true manifestation of the inhabitants'
real needs and requirements but in an unorganized and unplanned fashion. Or in
a more harsh view it would be seen as a criminal act that deserves punishment.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">But in either views, there is a stronger notion these
additions are telling, as Proff. Dina Shehayeb stated in the book (</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Cairo’s Informal Areas Between Urban
Challenges and Hidden Potentials):</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> </span></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">“</span></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Mass housing projects follow an
industrial approach, with standardization as the main objective. For example,
the latest target of 85 000 dwelling units annually are all 63m2 two bedroom
apartments. Filling entire neighborhoods and districts with thousands of
apartments, all of which have the same design, is not realistic. Even if it
suits some, it will not suit all, especially given that the largest portion of
the demand (56%) is for three enclosed rooms.”</span></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> (Shehayeb, 2009). Needs are not
fulfilled… this is the exact meaning these codes are saying, from the simplest
action, which is the curtain in the balcony to the most complicated ones as a whole
rooms added to the building.</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Conclusion</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">The key issue here is that
communities perceive forms by looking to elements in a surface and deep
structure, denotative and connotative approaches to reach a meaning, because
“Meanings are in people, not in objects and forms” (Amos Rapaport), and Umberto
Eco gave a guideline for architects and designers in 1932 by saying: “</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">All the ingenuity of an architect or
designer cannot make a new form functional (and cannot give a form to a new
function) without the support of existing processes of codification”.</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic'; font-size: 11pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Da
Vinci’s Monalisa is the original, and then several artists added elements on it
to give new intentional meanings. The connection here to what happened in the
public housing buildings in adding structures was again to give a new meaning,
but unintentionally, and a reason and reflection to the political, social and
economical transformations in Egypt</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span></div>Ahmed Zaazaahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10235116621419172494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191597779034627411.post-70776393160130917162010-09-12T12:27:00.000-07:002010-09-12T13:14:50.679-07:00Constructive Chaos: Resilience to Space Acquisition<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjvo4GoBT-zliBd5wf_cRlPAnzmPa5Fb7e3inOOu4YLHq76Gq8H08vE97sfgLayUSQekCZXua1N_I9u9X2l25QjYInlzsKG5VVuu0h8CSFCMkqCZ1TRADgdD1ZnOtbXXJAo1Axwlya7WnA/s1600/ing-6776.jpg"></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaG4s63LmUgjTxya5aoX8Juw2fNhyphenhyphenP9pO6a6OYfFF6NpCurdbB-xdP4q2-EaeDnw98DpaFLjpsK6mKWvZo-sctrb5nUvjCLE4FIfx2ufU_bmUjvySeWhTLai45OW8hZKU7I1kdyw8TXuO_/s1600/IMG_2185.JPG"></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Resilience refers to the capacity of an individual or community to cope with stress, overcome adversity or adapt positively to change. The ability to bounce back from negative experiences may reflect the innate qualities of individuals or be the result of learning and experience. Regardless of the origin of resilience, there is evidence to suggest that it can be developed and enhanced to promote greater wellbeing. Resilience is not regarded as a quality that is either present or absent in a person or group but rather a process, which may vary across circumstances and time.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 272px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7mTlmePudGR2CkOSFIBiI4WChRGJLHNPDPI2qCCCrXnB83CUSJxOUdnKVocTUkiLitTcE5kF4Nb5dduilHg5tKsbEM9RUyf01M0WEqAIpK-t7DaXcIO13NCli4B9qLanqY4VePJZistMR/s400/41242_470034491578_771631578_6631472_4966241_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516115638407456818" /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div>The work is a reflection on how the formal efforts of planners attempts to mask the city, yet the notion of resilience simply breaks-down under the pressure of cultural norms that are more than often stronger than the written law. The work thus tested the tendency of a dynamic community to acquire space as a resilience action towords a static system. The instillation is a flexible interactive space, defined by light moveble walls where the user walk into the space and have the freedom to reset, expand and extend the space to attain a desirable space for himself, but without trespassing the margin which was in my case, the pavement. Different settings were mapped by documenting from the process to the final design by taking shots for the space itself and public space surrounding it.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiII8lB8IIbXTioea3xzGeO9LSEHr2UXy5zPrtoNJyGjol083a2TOQ3nSHB2u6gRwnnCBgyXTuWH3pbbQ5yNr-tj-l8UUyOi6YZs4I5Bbtc7JPLN-_Rc6wi6nAMKW9IBG2z8FTDKT3MBtXd/s400/asddassad.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516113906027565362" /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Each user was totally free to adjust, extend and acquire space to accommodate his/her needs of space by pushing cardboard Partition from inside. Extending the space accordingly affected the street space, so street user – as a reaction – pushed back the partitions into the inner space again.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaG4s63LmUgjTxya5aoX8Juw2fNhyphenhyphenP9pO6a6OYfFF6NpCurdbB-xdP4q2-EaeDnw98DpaFLjpsK6mKWvZo-sctrb5nUvjCLE4FIfx2ufU_bmUjvySeWhTLai45OW8hZKU7I1kdyw8TXuO_/s400/IMG_2185.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516118947904791362" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div><br />This three armed relation between the order I put, the user from inside and the street user outside was my interest. The mapping reflected user’s attepts to acquire a public space and turn in into private, where user interacted with the space as an owner for a couple of minutes. Most of the users pushed all partitions to be fully streched structure, breaking the pavement margin. The structure acquired 20% of El Moez Street and 40% of Borgwan’s way, which affected the street flow, specially in rush hours. Surprisingly most of street passers got stuck in the bottle’s neck which the structure formed. Passers reacted with this very light structure as if it is a stone structure which can’t be moved although the wind is always giving a slight motion to the partitions. But with a time interval of about every one hour, one of the passers gets angry with the affect of the structure on the street, pushing it all inside again.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVo9vz21ceY3OUcISMXVTaI2bAAZwIDoQ5hbECxf_kF4ql0tQgzmagUlT_T53jiPnvEmyFRoLsO6En0b2BGYMdqOwxMtYnHU4OiowAZYu1cVY8_7N3xiQ_vKln3PRScB6oWtFohtpN8q2O/s400/2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516114521380852546" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 177px; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLvOT5yG9Ot4tl3PKA4LwwEBXckObdyaNeHCtHsv8P1H65cI-0g7w36Cu9vNrKOFmhEt2oX2hywJdPdcH6-xJqyV7na4XdzDAHa6RSTdbO5ELeL4GkomjuVG1p72GKlSdkzFwoZt_WKIlP/s400/asdasd.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516116579503226898" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 75px; " /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgERjXHLvWYaqWjquP3H87-HbEZHaNu28uouKE4ZLr0-p0fu9-qIzkRrdOFygVG0Mtr0Xcms_ayowBdPUI13ahc5nVVsAMho-w5l1XyhNicyyQH2lm-LNqL1_Xz82WIccXS7Zc_iepElHOA/s400/3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516117299884139490" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 127px; " /></span><br />Results of mapping showed that in such a space where the authority is very strong because of the street identity turned to be a touristic area, community resilience is very weak, accepting any ununderstandable structure and be very aware to not approach it. Decay of the structure was another interesting result to state my point, where the structure was destroyed from the inner partitions, while partitions facing el Moez street, were totally safe.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjvo4GoBT-zliBd5wf_cRlPAnzmPa5Fb7e3inOOu4YLHq76Gq8H08vE97sfgLayUSQekCZXua1N_I9u9X2l25QjYInlzsKG5VVuu0h8CSFCMkqCZ1TRADgdD1ZnOtbXXJAo1Axwlya7WnA/s400/ing-6776.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516119749459840850" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 114px; " /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 22px; font: normal normal normal 24px/normal 'Century Gothic'; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">Resilience is not regarded as a quality that is either present or absent in a person or group but rather a process, which may vary across circumstances and time, where in all ways </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">Community Resilience is an Indicator of Social Sustainability... but still there are questions which were not answered, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">How can a designer measure the critical mass of resilience before breaking down the system? </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">Can an Equilibrium state occur between community and system?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Century Gothic', serif;font-size:7;color:#606060;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 28px; "><b><br /></b></span></span></div></span></span></div>Ahmed Zaazaahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10235116621419172494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191597779034627411.post-59881096957269731462009-11-07T03:27:00.000-08:002009-11-13T03:11:30.569-08:00في انتظار سيادة المحافظ<div align="right"><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">العمل في مجال العشوائيات ليس بالشئ السهل علي الاطلاق، فقد تضطر احيانا الي السفر خارج القاهرة و الذهاب الي احدي الاقليم لالتقاط صورة واحدة لوضع ما، ثم تعود و انت في قمة سعادتك... فما بالك لو انه مؤتمر و ورشة عمل و جولة في منطقة عشوائية...؟ و قد كان هذا الوضع تماما، يوم اتصلت بي الدكتورة دينا شهيب (مثلي الاعلي في مجال العمل بالعشوئيات و مشرفة رسالة الماجستير الخاصة بي) يوم الاربعاء و اعلمتني بانه سيقام مؤتمر و ورشة عمل في مدينة الاسماعيلية يوم الخميس و سوف يحضره السيد المحافظ لمناقشة وضع المناطق العشوائية في الاسماعيلية و التنسيق مع الجهات المختلفة كالمجالس المحلية و الجمعيات الاهليه و من هم مثلي من الباحثين المعماريين الاجتماعيين... بالطبع امتلئني الحماس حيث ان الوضع لن يكون التقاط صورة و السلاموا عليكوا، بل سيكون صور و مؤتمر و ورشة عمل و مقابلة السيد المحافظ.<br /><br />اويت الي الفراش هذه الليلة و بدأت في ترتيب افكاري التي سأطرحها غدا في المؤتمر، حتي غلبني النعاس محتضن افكاري كطفل يحتضن حذائة الجديد ليلة العيد.<br /><br />استيقظت باكر الخميس باحساس غريب، و كأن اليوم يومي، و كأن يومي كاحد ايام صديقي الكاتب محمد المعتصم في وصف احد ايامة (http://almodawana.wordpress.com/)، و الذي سأحاول ان اصف مثله كيف كان يومي رائع... فكما قلت، استيقظت باكر الخميس حوالي الساعة 5:30 ص، مستشعرا اهمية اليوم و لا استطيع الانتظار (فانا احب عملي الي حد الهوس)، مستقبلا جو رائع، ربيعي يتخلله لمسة سقيع، افطار لطيف خفيف، ارتدي ملابسي المفضلة، اعداد اوراقي، و نزلت من البيت... الجو يزداد جمالا – او انا فقط من يشعر بذلك – ركبت سيارة اختي لأن بها كاسيت و انطلقت مستمعا الي موسيقتي المفضلة... رائع طريق الاسماعيلية صباحا، يفجر حنين ما لا استطيع ان اتعرف تماما حنين الي ماذا، و لكن الشعور موجود. ابدأ في الاقتراب من مدينة الاسماعيلية و يستقبلني مدخلها الرائع من غابات الاشجار، ما هذه المدينة؟ انها رائعة الجمال. اخرجت الكاميرا و بدأت اصور كل ما حولي، حتي انني اصبت بذهول حينما كنت استرجع الصور علي الكاميرا و استوقفتني صورة، اعتقدت انها لوس انجلوس. فقلت " الله يمسيك بالخير يا عبد المنعم يا عمارة" فهو محافظ الاسماعيلية السابق و صاحب الفضل في تحويلها الي تلك الجنه صغيرة.<br /><br /></span></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYgfOqivw1hXMDURM0v7Wj7KBxWtBBa3R8RKoQm5O6tbxWrV5FJ-o9xjuFr1YrO7mLYztAzZbfZ7-LnPTsBgr_NTUNYK1a19b_8xc5DWN4K1HD98r5FD_the-fxFaPP821hh7IKeQmEV-/s1600-h/1g.jpg"><span style="font-size:130%;"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401325430845955730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYgfOqivw1hXMDURM0v7Wj7KBxWtBBa3R8RKoQm5O6tbxWrV5FJ-o9xjuFr1YrO7mLYztAzZbfZ7-LnPTsBgr_NTUNYK1a19b_8xc5DWN4K1HD98r5FD_the-fxFaPP821hh7IKeQmEV-/s400/1g.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><div align="right"><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">وصلت اخيرا الي فندق ميركور الذي سيقام فيه المؤتمر، مبني الفندق هو مبني علي طراز عمارة ما بعد الثورة مطعما بلمسة اسلامية. لفت نظري عند دخولي المبني النجف في السقف، حيث ان كل نجفة تستوعب حوالي عشرين لمبة، و لكن ادارة الفندق استعاضت العشرين لمبة بلمبة واحدة فلوريسنت ابيض في كل نجفة، فسألت نفسي، لماذا ابيض؟ من امؤكد انه سيكون قبيحا جدا ليلا. دخلت القاعة التي سيقوم بها المؤتمر حيث استقبلني الدكتور خالد عبد الحليم - ايضا من اكفا العاملين بمجال العشوائيات في مصر – و قام بتعريفي علي الحاضرين و تعريف الحاضرين بي، و قال لي: نحن في انتظار سيادة المحافظ...<br /><br />القاعة المقام بها المؤتمر ليست بالكبيرة، تتوسطها ترابيزة طويلة، يلتف حولها حوالي خمسين كرسي، يجلس علي تلك الكراسي مجموعات من الحاضرين. لفت نظري الحاضرين، حيث انهم منقسمون الي مجموعات متفرقة. فكانت هناك مجموعة من مرتديين البدل في سن الخمسين و من الواضح انهم مديرين مصالح ما، و نساء بدون كموظفين المصالح من بتوع " يا استاذ، ورقك ناقص" و " تعالى بكرة تاني" و "انت هتعلمني شغلي ولا ايه؟". و مجموعة اخري من النسخة الرجالي من اولائك الموظفات. و رجل يتحدث بالفصحة طوال الوقت و الأخرون من المهندسون المعماريون و الاجتماعيون و حفنة رجال لا اعرف سبب وجودهم، فهم نائمون من قبل ان يبدأ المؤتمر...<br /><br />دخل رجل القاعة مبلغا الحاضرين بوصول سيارة السيد المحافظ، فانطلقت سيدة من مكانها تطلب من الدكتور خالد ان يقوم باستقبالة قائلة: " قوم يا دكتور استقبل السيد المحافظ... يييه... انت مش لابس بدلة ليه بس يا دكتور؟". انطلق بعض الحاضرين مع الدكتور خالد ليستقبلوا سعادة المحافظ. لم تفت دقيقة من خروجهم من القاعة، حتي دخل رجلا يرتدي بدلة و سيديري، يحمل كل الصفات الشكلية لشخصية القواد، قائلا بابتسامة للجميع: "السيد المحافظ لمل ييجي، هتقوموا تقفوا... هه؟". بصراحة لم ارد اثارة مشاكل حيث ان حضوري كان خدمة من الدكتورة دينا شهيب.<br /><br />خيم الهدوء علي الجلسة بشكل مفاجئ، و في خلال ثواني كنت قادرا علي سمع خطوات سيادة المحافظ و هو يقترب من القاعة، يقترب اكثر، و اكثر، و اكثر، ها هو صوت حذائة علي الارضية الرخام و اضح جدا، و لسبب ما عرفت صوت حذائة علي الاخص و ليس الذين كانوا باستقبالة. فجأة فتحت ابواب القاعة ليدخل القواد و رجلان من الحاشية يتوسطهم السيد المحافظ و يخلفه الدكتور خالد. يقوم فجأة كل الحاضرين، و بالامانة كنت سأقوم انا الاخر، و لكني غيرت رأيي علي أخر لحظة. لم يكتف الحاضريين بالقيام فقط، بل بدأوا يسقفون، و السيد المحافظ يتخخللهم بتباهي متواضع.<br /><br />السيد المحافظ هو رجل طويل و عريض و له هيبه، مرتسم علي وجهه جدية غريبة ذكرتني بشكلي كل صباح لحظة استيقاظي من النوم. جلس السيد المحفظ علي رأس التربيزة طبعا ثم جلس الحاضرين جميعا.<br />قامت سيدة للاشادة بالسيد المحافظ للاهتمام بحضورة للمؤتمر و اهتمامه بمشكلة العشوائيات، ثم قدمت الدكتور خالد ليبدأ العرض الاساسي للمؤتمر و ان اسم المؤتمر " التعامل مع العشوائيات علي ثلاث مراحل". قام الدكتور خالد بشغف يشرح الوضع و كيفية التعامل معه من خلال عرض رائع، حتي انني التهيت مع العرض و نسيت السيد المحافظ. زاغ بصري عن العرض للحظة، لاري السيد المحافظ لا يتابع العرض اطلاقا، فهو لم يكن ينظر الي الشاشة و اعتقد انه لم يكن حتي يستمع الي ما يقال. قضيت باقي العرض في مراقبة السيد المحافظ، و اقسم انه لم ينظر للشاشة و لو مره واحدة.<br /><br />انهي الدكتور خالد عرضه و جائت اللحظة التي كنت انتظرها، و هي انني سأستمع لرأي السيد المحافظ عن مشكلة العشوائيات و كيفية معالجتها. اعتدل السيد المحافظ في كرسيه المميز عن باقي كراسي الحاضرين، مستهلا كلامه: " لن اتحدث عن العشوائيات...!" فطرأ في بالي مباشرة سؤالا: لن يتكلم عن العشوائيات؟؟ هل سيتكلم اذن عن المانجه العويسي الاسمعلاوي؟. خيب ظني السيد المحافظ بعدم التحدث حتي عن المانجه، بل تكلم عن ان القاعة التي كان سيتم بها المؤتمر تحت الاصلاح و ان بالاسماعيلية بدائل من القاعات لاستيعاب مؤتمرات - في تلك اللحظة اخرجت قلمي و ورقة لكتابة ما تقرأونه الأن – تكلم ايضا عن كيفية ادارة المستشفيات و عن اهمية زيارة مستشفي الاسماعيلية، ثم تحدث عن ترشيد استهلاك الطاقه و عن تجربته في الصين و عن اعجابه بالشعب الصيني في نظامهم و طرقة معيشتهم و نصح الحاضرين بالاقتداء بالصينيين في النوم المبكر و الاستيقاظ المبكر. و بالرغم من اندهاشي لمل اسمعه، الا ان الحاضريين جميعا يهزون رؤوسهم للتعبير عن ادراكهم اهمية ما يقوله سيادة المحافظ. تحدث ايضا عن التوكتوك و عن مشاكله، و انهي كلامه بدعابة خفيفة: " حد عنده توكتوك هنا؟" الجميع يضحكون.<br /><br />افتتح مجال الاسئلة، فسأله احد الحاضرين عن رغيف العيش – قلت يا مسهل- ، فطمأنه السيد المحافظ و طمأننا جميعا ان نصيب الفرد في الاسماعيلية هو اربعة ارغفة في اليوم و 420 لتر مياه في اليوم. يا حلاوة. هنا فتحت ابواب القاعة ليدخل رجلان يحملان كاميرا، يبدو عليهم انهم من التليفزيون. اعتدل السيد المحافظ في كرسيه و غير تعبير وجهه من المستيقظ للتو الي وجه الفارس الجليل المحب للمصريين بادئ كلامه بشكل سينيمائي مذكرني بأداء نظيم شعراوي في فيلم النوم في العسل قائلا : "الخير كير و الحمد لله".<br /><br />قام الرجل الذي يتحدث بالفصحه ليسأل هو الأخر، ففجأني بأنه بدأ كلامه بالاشاده بالمانجه الاسمعلاوي..! فطرأت التساؤلات الي ذهني: هل سمع افكاري؟ ام هل راودته نفس الفكره للسخرية من عبث الجلسة؟ هل يتكلم بجدية؟ لم اعرف الاجابة الا انه اكمل كلامه عن وش الاسماعيلية الحلو في ماتش غانا و اضاف انه اهلاوي. انهي الرجل التحدث عن المانجه و كرة القدم و بدأ في السؤال: " ماذا عن العشوائيات يا سيادة المحافظ و ما هي نظرة الدولة للعشوائيات؟" توقف قلبي من الفرحه، اخيرا، و علمت انه كان يسخر من الجلسة مثلي تماما و التفت سريعا لاستمع الي رأي السيد المحافظ الذي انتظره من اول اليوم. رجع السيد المحافظ الي الوراء و اخذ وضعا مسرحيا مجيبه: " موضوع العشوائيات ده موضوع – و بصوت عالي- شااائك"... " و اي حد يقول ان العشوائيات كتيرة في مصر يقوم بنفسة و يعمل حاجة... و يوريني بقي هيعرف يعمل ايه..." و بنبرة اعلي: " اليقول كده ده يبقي رجل (منقوص)" فبدأت في التساؤل... ما معني (رجل منقوص)؟ اهي بمعني ( راجل ناقص)؟<br />اهي رجل يعاني من عقدة نقص؟<br /><br />تأكدت حينها انه لا يعلم اي شئ، و انهم صحوه من النوم و قالولوا قوم يا محافظ عندك جلسه و نسوا ان يقولوا له ما هو موضوع الجلسه. تأكد كلامي حين اختتم السيد المحافظ الجلسه بالاشادة بدوره في اعلاء مدينة الاسماعيلية و انجازاته الكبيرة، و لكنه اضاف محمسا قائلا: " قد يظن البعض من كلامي انني اشبه الاسماعيلية بالمدينة ال... اسمها ايه ديه.... المدينة الكاملة..." فعلق احد الحاضريين: "الفاضلة يا سيادة المحافظ" فقال: " اه... المدينة الفاضلة... لأ... لسه قدمنا شغل كتير". تصقيف.<br /><br />قام السيد المحافظ، فقام الجميع و مضي في حال سبيله.<br /><br /></span></div><div align="right"><span style="font-size:130%;">ذهبنا جميعا الي رحلة ميدانية لزيارة احدي المناطق العشوائية و التي تقع بجوار مساكن شعبية. استوقفني مشهد المساكن الشعبية للانها تقع بجانب خمسة عمارات فاخرة من نفس الشكل، محاطه بسور لفصل هذه العمارات الفاخرة عن المسان الشعبية و بالتالي لفصلها عن العشوائيات... و لكن هذه العمارات الفاخرة بها شئ غريب، فهي نفس ابعاد مباني المساكن من حيث الارتفاع و الطول و العرض، فجائت في ذهني فكرة تمنيت الا تكون صحيحة، حتي اكد لي احد مهندسين التخطيط العمراني ان فكرتي صحيحة و هي ان هذه المباني السكنية الفاخرة كانت في الاصل مساكن شعبية صممت لتأوي الفقراء و الغلابة من سكان الاسماعيلية و لكن باعتها المحافظة لمقاول بسعر ثلاثة مليون جنية للعمارة... و اضاف المهندس ان الشقة بالشئ الفيلاني... </span></div><div align="right"><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLPDxw023x77XpQtVNvxBRKvhfXAB4oPrVYzCH3Ak0QyR-8Vk09zSKZc3uIypS3ofBSa62i7v78JPTjLzbMa_XbYntrncb5t8i4bJxlVZYPNUI69oAA3OCXuYrljHCf4mptK9DyglP0HGP/s1600-h/2g.jpg"><span style="font-size:130%;"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401329586951378386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLPDxw023x77XpQtVNvxBRKvhfXAB4oPrVYzCH3Ak0QyR-8Vk09zSKZc3uIypS3ofBSa62i7v78JPTjLzbMa_XbYntrncb5t8i4bJxlVZYPNUI69oAA3OCXuYrljHCf4mptK9DyglP0HGP/s400/2g.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br />ارتاح قلبي بما قاله السيد المحافظ علي ان الخير كثير و الحمد لله، و علي ان ليس من حقنا أن نقول ان المناطق العشوائية في زيادة مستمرة و ان لا يوجد سبب للتحدث عن العشوائيات اصلا كما بدأ كلامه بل من الواجب تحويل المساكن الشعبية الي اسكان فاخر يأوي الطبقة العليا في مجتمعنا . أشكرك سيادة المحافظ... فلقد بدأت في التفكير بتغيير مسار عملي و حياتي كناشط اجتماعي يساعد في مواجهة الفقر في مصر، الي تاجر مانجه عويسي فص اسمعلاوي من أم 35 جنيه الكيلو. </span></div>Ahmed Zaazaahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10235116621419172494noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191597779034627411.post-51545369581170715192009-11-01T14:51:00.000-08:002009-11-03T03:26:56.259-08:00El Tahrir Square: A Multi Layered History Urban Space<div align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqiUTptaK7QfPtb1swyNu0SmbBHjEfrJJixurIWl_Qd-nRxItvFRdGnWnMlTUdi6a7ww-a4m6oFv8FpWgE948siQB5DYC0rsFdcUH353KKDIgM3Yi0r1EZA5bNR8HCiH4Zs2rp2CSljIT/s1600-h/tahrir+now+and+before.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 468px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 160px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399272656133675490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqiUTptaK7QfPtb1swyNu0SmbBHjEfrJJixurIWl_Qd-nRxItvFRdGnWnMlTUdi6a7ww-a4m6oFv8FpWgE948siQB5DYC0rsFdcUH353KKDIgM3Yi0r1EZA5bNR8HCiH4Zs2rp2CSljIT/s400/tahrir+now+and+before.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div align="left">The story of downtown Cairo's transformation is complex. From the origins of the modern city district to its ongoing transformations, downtown has reflected the city's social cultural and economic shifts. These transformations came in many forms including the general urban expansion of highways through the center, the use and reuse of early twentieth century buildings, the moving in and out of institutions such as Hilton hotel, the American university and the Egyptian museum and finally the redefinition of the public space in the general Cairene context. In this paper I have listed and analyzed these moments to transition and their effect on the urban landscape of el Tahrir square and its cultural, social and historical significance in the making of a nostalgically driven architectural image today.<br /><br /><br />Along through the history of Cairo, squares and urban open spaces played a very important role in gathering the inhabitants for events, ceremonies and protests. "The Tahrir Square" is one of the most important squares in Cairo that played that role very well till today, and as el Ahram weekly once wrote about el Tahrir Square: <em>"Tahrir Square is not only the hub of Cairo, it is home to some of the city's most important buildings and a constant headline-maker in the local press. Whatever happens in Tahrir immediately becomes a national concern."</em> And as Samir Raafat said in the Cairo times <em>"Midan al-Tahrir cannot sit still. Whether reflecting the city's moods or the leadership's political agenda, the nation's most important plaza has gone from faux Champs de Mars to Stalinesque esplanade. Whenever a new regime feels the nation's capital needs a new look, the Midan has been the place to start</em>."<br /></div><br /><div align="left"> </div><div align="left">Ismailiya square (el Tahrir square now) was and still is the center of central Cairo. From it the first bridge crossed the Nile and the palace housing the British headquarter stood. Samir Raafat has referred to is as a "faux champ de mars." a forced analogy to continue the "tradition" of linking Ismail's Cairo with Paris in anyway possible. In fact the square was not a faux of anything; it was a very real Ismailiyya square. The square acted as a southern gateway to downtown and a pivotal point in the transition westward across the Kasr el Nil bridge to Cairo's future development and expansions. The abundance of things named Ismail in and around the square made it an easy target for change that would announce the arrival of a new era.<br /><br /></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>El Tahrir early establishment and planning</strong></span><br /></div><br /><br /><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><strong>I. Islamic Era</strong><br /></div><br /><br /><div align="left">Once, the highly developed square was a patch of silt, part of the Nile's bed. In the 16th and 17th centuries the Nile shrank eastwards, uncovering land which was to become the Qasr Al-Aini area, Munira, Garden City, and Tahrir Square. In those days, however, the area was known as Al-Louq. The first developments on the new land were far from glamorous. At the beginning of the last century, the Cairo tanneries were moved from Hawsh Al-Sharqawi (south of Midan Bab Al-Khalq) to the Louq area because of their bad smell. In 1865, they were moved to an area near Fustat, where they have remained ever since. (Center of the centers, el Ahram weekly, sept 1999 issue 445). Fig 1.1<br /><br />Until the time of Al-Nasser Mohamed Ibn Qalawun, who developed the area into a garden reputed to have included all sorts of fruits and flowers, many of which were brought in from the Levant. Meanwhile, a certain Emir Tussun became an important political figure, prompting the sultan to give him a part of this garden. Tussun established a stable there, on the banks of the Nile. The stables won the place its name: Zaribat Tussun. After thriving for a time under Al-Nasser, the area became a quagmire of swamps and lakes interspersed with gardens.<br /><br /></div><br /><div align="left"><strong>II. Khedive Era</strong><br /></div><br /><br /><div align="left">The next saviour of the site was Ali Mubarak under Ismail Pasha (1863-1879). Ismail was the patron of a comprehensive project to develop the city of Cairo and Mubarak was his right-hand man in the task. The latter earmarked an area of 359 feddans for major development and rehabilitation -- an area originally known as the Ismailia quarter, today the downtown area. (Where the Streets Have No Name, Egypt today magazine, april 2005)<br /></div><br /><div align="left"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmAYlVSMQq4-P5jleHAFaNg_ahGW8W0nzJ4YfcM-BTz2n1obQvFUdmDQ4BiuZD4ytJIuc6ilVRR1iD7m6bEdbihQureqneh2WtxARlwunIg84n6tqlWOdt-KD21B0oB-KXp887mPe6K8Y1/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 296px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399831532649265714" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmAYlVSMQq4-P5jleHAFaNg_ahGW8W0nzJ4YfcM-BTz2n1obQvFUdmDQ4BiuZD4ytJIuc6ilVRR1iD7m6bEdbihQureqneh2WtxARlwunIg84n6tqlWOdt-KD21B0oB-KXp887mPe6K8Y1/s400/1.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">The khedive wanted to make Cairo a piece of Paris. These photos shows the relation between el Tahrir square in Cairo and Charles de Gaulle etoil square in Paris</span><br /><br />Streets were planned in straight lines at right angles in most cases and squares were made. (fig 1.2). On both sides of the streets were pedestrian walkways, and the middle of the street was for cars and animals. So it was inhabited by princes and great people. It became -- and remains -- the navel of the city and is the site of the most important services whether they be government, companies, banks or commercial stores. Although Ismail is always credited with the creation of Midan Al-Ismailia, Said Pasha before him oversaw developments that fed into the creation of the square. In fact, the first landmark in the history of what is known today as Tahrir began with the Qasr Al-Nil Barracks (which stood where the Nile Hilton stands today) set up in the reign of Khedive Said (1854-1863). The barracks also served as the Ministry of War and drew people's attention to the area west of Cairo, setting the pattern for developments that were introduced by Ismail Pasha later on. The British took over the barracks when they took over Egypt, and the red buildings were to become a hated symbol of occupation. Eventually Egypt was to rid itself of the British and in the place of the barracks; the Arab League and the Nile Hilton hotel were built. (Streets and Midans by el Sayed Mohammed)<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>The Modern Transformation</strong><br /><br /><br /><div align="left"><em>"once the rather exclusive domain of the colonial foreigners and franc phonic Egyptian elite, this zone has obviously undergone a dramatic transformation since the revolution of 1952"</em> Janet abo Lughod<br />And in the novel by Alaa el Aswany "The Yacoubian Building" it is centered on a building which stands as a symbol of beautiful times, a piece of urban iconography, whose cultural contect has shifted to the in bearable present. It sees the present as having lost something which was alive in the past, making the past more attractive.<br />The modern transformations of el Tahrir square viewed two major turning points; the Nasser's era and the notion of modernity, and the Sadat era and the notion of infitah:<br /></div><br /><br /><div align="left"><br /><strong>I. The First Turning Point (Nasser 1952)</strong></div><br /><div align="left"><br />Nasser's first set of alterations for Cairo included the remaining of downtown streets and squares, this included Ismail square where the barracks and the museum were located. The new square would be called Midan el Tahrir (liberation square) and Kasr el Nil barracks building was torn down in 1952 to figuratively liberate the square of its occupation (el Musawwar magazine 1947). The building could have remained and been reused as was the fate of many downtown buildings, however the choice to remove the building was a necessary symbolic act (Maria Golia, city of sand, 2004). And Ismail once quickly built his modern city, Nasser quickly constructed concrete blocks his new ministries, national enterprise and civil servants. The fact of these buildings would soon showcase an alliance with the east, the USSR whose notorious soviet modernist architecture was spread as far as its economics arm reached. The Ussr's willingness to fund Nasser's large scale project as the Aswan high dam would mark the new beginning for the facades of Cairo. Prior to this alliance downtown was already blessed with soviet inspired block, The Mogamma. (Facades of modernity, Mohamed el Shahed, 2005)<br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div align="left"><strong>The Mogamma</strong><br /></div><br /><br /><div align="left"><br />The notorious fifteen-story Mogamma was part of a plan to redevelop Ismailiyya sq under king Farouk. Although the building is associated in the Egyptian collective memory as a vestige of Nasser era bureaucracy. It was actually opened in 1951 immediately before the revolution. The building was described by its architect Kamal Ismail to be a "simplified form of the Islamic style" and was designed to house "a large number of bureaucratic functions… under one roof, including many carried out ministries of interior and education, as well as the new Cairo municipality itself." (Fatma Farrag, <a href="http://www.weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/764/feature.htm">www.weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/764/feature.htm</a>).<br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div align="left"><strong>The Nile Hilton</strong><br /></div><br /><br /><div align="left"><br />Nasser opened the zone of Tahrir square for modern hotels to develop along the east bank of the Nile. The proximity to the museum and the famed downtown made the southern tip of the district a prime location for tourist accommodations. The Semiramis, le meridian, Sheraton and Hilton quickly took advantage of the opportunity to establish new business in the center of the world's oldest tourist destination and birth place of western civilization. The Hilton on Tahrir square was Nasser's attempt at attracting foreign currency, tourism and advertising an interest in capitalism. The hotel opened in February 1959 and "the modern form of the structure was the materialization of the modern social practices that it housed. The building rendered public certain aspects of Nasser's new Egypt. It monumentalized Egypt's ambition to acquire international political status through modernization" (Wharton. Cited in "facades of modernity by Mohamed el Shahed, 2005). The architecture of the hotel and its white façade is a twelve-story high blank billboard on Tahrir showcasing Nasser's vision for the city.<br /></div><br /><br /><div align="left">The Nile Hilton was a new façade associated with a new era' however, what was behind the façade was a familiar institution: a social space for the rich and powerful in Cairo akin to the old shepherd's hotel. The functional façade of the hotel with its equally sized room balconies and the exposed stairs, three on each side of the slab. Zigzagging up its side appears to be a new departure from the classical architecture of the museum next door or even the recently opened Mogamma. Although the building was a private enterprise accessible to a few, its symbolism on the site of the old barracks and its modern contemporary image was seen by all Egyptians who flood the square. The building thus as a double-edged tool for Nasser, signifying a degree of openness to the west marking a new beginning to locals with a clear architectural symbol, finally wradicating to ghost of British occupation on the site.<br /><br /></div><br /><div align="left"><strong>The Results of the First Turning Point</strong><br /></div></div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left">After the revolution was fully effected, the cosmopolitan ethnically non Egyptians population of downtown along 4000 wealthy Egyptian families began their exodus from the city. Nasser would officially rid the city of its outsiders residents and confiscate their property in the name of revolution. In the immediate months after the revolution, the once prestigious but now abandoned downtown flates, buildings and shops were quickly taken over by the government companies, revolutionary military personnel anf their families, a significant transformation in the socio-cultural make up of the district. (Beattie, cited in "facades of modernity by Mohamed el Shahed, 2005 Besides the shifting demographic of the area and the transformation of downtown roofs into squatter settelemnts for the poor, the core of downtown will be replaced by taller apartment blocks. The southern end of downtown around the ismailiyya suare is where dramatic Nasser era change will take place in this part of the city. (Facades of modernity, Mohamed el Shahed, 2005)<br /></div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left">Another vision by Andre Raymond in his book Cairo which is not too far from Mohamed el Shahed's vision, where he stated that "The view of downtown as a distinctly different district from its surrounding has been dissolved and blurred as it deteriorated and its surroundings modernized in up-dated style. Most importantly, the previously European associated customs and behaviors have been so absorbed into the popular psyche of the Egyptian middle class which inhabits the city in all directions around downtown. Downtown no longer was the stage of certain behaviors or codes of dress, for better or worst, it has lost any signs of alienation and it has been fully integrated. Greater Cairo has lost its center, and in the coming decades as the city expands into the desert in government planned cities such as Nasr city, Cairo will be multi-center fragmented city with zones catering to three economically divided social groups: lower strata, intermediate strata of Cairo's social space. By the second half of the twentieth century downtown's density was slightly declining sa residents left it and it increasingly was becoming lower class. Cairo new modern, luxury quarters in the 1960s were diffused in Zamalek or Dokky while the primary streets of downtown falling into disrepair are more active then ever before with ordinary goods replacing luxury items in stores" (Andre Raymond. Cairo, Harvard university press 2000).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMnae2Sp22R0dlIp3Y7PBlyD2ck5PI6jI1FPXE6rf1WAdTVJpabqO_laZbRAXo38Buo2RxhA0aRTxYf-Bk9ameAketQAUws1KXt0rbJzteS96OiWih59MhxFqw2aAo6LUghIeqreWutpqP/s1600-h/14349014.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 399px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399833667193450018" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMnae2Sp22R0dlIp3Y7PBlyD2ck5PI6jI1FPXE6rf1WAdTVJpabqO_laZbRAXo38Buo2RxhA0aRTxYf-Bk9ameAketQAUws1KXt0rbJzteS96OiWih59MhxFqw2aAo6LUghIeqreWutpqP/s400/14349014.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><strong>I. The Second Turning Point (Sadat 1970</strong>) </div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left">In the 1970s with Sadat's Infitah policy, downtown buildings witnessed their worst deterioration. By the mid-1970s development has ceased to exist in downtown for over thirty years with major catastrophic events such as Black Saturday and the migration of residents by 1956, the central district grew increasingly popular with bargain shoppers and professionals establishing more businesses in the upper floors of downtown buildings transforming the area into a fully commercial zone that is swarming with activity during the day and abandoned by night. Except for the occasional news about razing of belle époque buildings to be replaced by multi-level garage structures or high-rise office blocks, the area was for the greater part of the 70s, 80s and 90s forgotten by the general public. The recent revival of interest in the old central so-called-European district of downtown is due to a new phase of Cairene identity-making, the search for a counter balance to the present fragmented city with its multiple manifestations serving diverse social and economic segments of the population that do not share a city center.<br /><br /></div><div align="left"><br /><br /></div><div align="left"><strong>The Results of the Second Turning Point</strong><br /></div><div align="left"><br /><br /></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">Downtown Cairo is contested space, between the rich and the poor, government agencies and private interests, pedestrians and motor traffic, streets vendors and shopkeepers and most importantly between promoters of visual rehabilitation and promoters of tactile rehabilitation. Downtown is thus in the middle of multi faceted conflict between competing interests all of whom aim at optimizing their advantages. The larger trend of commercial and economic decentralization that Cairo is witnessing has shifted the primary node of commercial activity to scattered points in the city. Downtown is also loosing its role as a cultural node for the city with the moving of the Egyptian museum. the American university in Cairo also left its urban campus in the contested space of downtown Cairo for a garden campus on the periphery. The American university expansion is another missed opportunity that could have transformed downtown Cairo into vibrant, expansive urban injecting money and resources into the center.<br />Downtown thus transformed from an urban space conveying aesthetic beauty to merely a domain for circulation. (Krampen, 1979. cited in "facades of modernity by Mohamed el Shahed, 2005) the belle époque facades of downtown were embellished with multi-story signs and billboards the respond to the scale of the speedway.<br /><br /></div><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRyLgLOzsboNO5qGq5_2wLykWYAPhhv49g89OtKDJmQSVWUM06c8qnHVEiqngY20DoUtpOf__BYEzlCRQ8q8F3n4UZ5ObbLNZtpN7Sl_Ndc34xL9P9jZZ7MsRfsUJW2BXM_tbqO3WoPzMq/s1600-h/n729685034_1152202_2065.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 321px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399833026044450002" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRyLgLOzsboNO5qGq5_2wLykWYAPhhv49g89OtKDJmQSVWUM06c8qnHVEiqngY20DoUtpOf__BYEzlCRQ8q8F3n4UZ5ObbLNZtpN7Sl_Ndc34xL9P9jZZ7MsRfsUJW2BXM_tbqO3WoPzMq/s400/n729685034_1152202_2065.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>El Tahrir physical urban development</strong></span><br /></p><div align="left">El Tahrir square as previously stated Witnessed several historical changes, it also witnessed a lot of urban changes, especially in the garden next to it. After the Egyptian Museum was built by August Mariette, the streets weren't paved and the ground was just made of dust. Then after it was paved, a Granite base was placed in the middle of the circular square and it was suppose to hold a statue for Ismail Pasha, where it was going to act as a major landmark in the center of Cairo. Another landmark was built in the late 60s which is a huge circular pedestrian bridge around the square, where it changed the perception to the urban space; this bridge was removed in the late 70s<br /><br />The square itself was designed to be a huge round about, where the garden next to it was a recreational area where lots of people used it very well around the fountain and modern structures. What was so unique about this garden is that the urban space is not enclosed well, but in this huge space the garden gave the chance to let the user perceive all the surrounding buildings very well. And also environmentally it used to balance with the smoke coming from the traffic around it. A change of use occurred in the garden in the mid 80s where it turned into a huge parking lot for the tourists buses in front of the museum. Now days the government is working on changing this place to an underground parking and revive the garden again over the parking to revitalize this space one more time.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>El Tahrir Life and People</strong></span><br /></div><div align="left"><br /><strong>I. The Relation between the Naming "Leberation" and the Behavior<br /></strong></div><div align="left"><br /><br /></div><div align="left"><strong></div></strong><div align="left"><br /><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3KAfyIbbjm0GbMVvL9ROrgx6bnj50rbtcROpD8x91e1Cz76JB6BQ44nxgBpNgNZooYV9jBoPfJbj_GOn4bMoFCwCHQus3TLLimaH8pIsHG7P-HTaM6UobZ3mt-eCzYGPEZRHbtLIFXBF/s1600-h/dsc06084_preview.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399834258022601490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3KAfyIbbjm0GbMVvL9ROrgx6bnj50rbtcROpD8x91e1Cz76JB6BQ44nxgBpNgNZooYV9jBoPfJbj_GOn4bMoFCwCHQus3TLLimaH8pIsHG7P-HTaM6UobZ3mt-eCzYGPEZRHbtLIFXBF/s400/dsc06084_preview.jpg" /></a><br /><div align="left">El Tahrir square is known till now as the political square in Cairo, still demonstrations are held there, but the problem is that there is no place for demonstrations so its always a huge traffic jam especially that el Tahrir is one of the main traffic round about in Cairo and affects on other areas when it is crowded. But does the name still affect? And is it really where people go there to practice their liberty?<br /><br /></div><br /><div align="left"><strong>II. Billboards on over the Buildings<br /></strong></div><br /><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlzQQFa2pAxUr6GdAt5bBGTbQutrmJuymlgiX48eEm-nR74EWr_jx3FXVBMd4K9g-8G1XvmKkegvqrAVjhIdL7lqOoRXLX4tuy8Iq04eJPE2qscEYE4ZzDxRaQMBSRyY0vBT35mGOPJTfm/s1600-h/midan_tahrir.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399834836864909362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlzQQFa2pAxUr6GdAt5bBGTbQutrmJuymlgiX48eEm-nR74EWr_jx3FXVBMd4K9g-8G1XvmKkegvqrAVjhIdL7lqOoRXLX4tuy8Iq04eJPE2qscEYE4ZzDxRaQMBSRyY0vBT35mGOPJTfm/s400/midan_tahrir.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div align="left">Billboards above the buildings surrounding the square, where it's the most expensive spot in Cairo. But the problem here is that these advertisements became more dominant then the buildings where the buildings are one of the most obvious features around the square because of their unique Architecture. So do el Tahrir's Users perceive the building or the billboard?<br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div align="left"><strong>III. El Tahrir as a Cosmopolitan square<br /></strong></div><br /><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipkYyHEzF-DKF0LSi3e9qXdMUl_ijCN_I0nuXNAP0XaDXWdx0YOqVS8ECDRMW8g8qbEyVjeo6sEwnlKEiK33KEC7TBHpg_DVwnkT9tlDtejsefV7ZRbWF9ZdCxrxrOeNumvytloRFXb_lJ/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 102px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399836419489841746" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipkYyHEzF-DKF0LSi3e9qXdMUl_ijCN_I0nuXNAP0XaDXWdx0YOqVS8ECDRMW8g8qbEyVjeo6sEwnlKEiK33KEC7TBHpg_DVwnkT9tlDtejsefV7ZRbWF9ZdCxrxrOeNumvytloRFXb_lJ/s400/2.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div align="left">A very important feature which is the vitality of the space as in el Tahrir square contains a lot of functions and uses. This vitality results different users, where el Tahrir square contains all levels of people from every where and different cultures, where that's because of the Mogamma that serves Egyptians coming from other cities to finish their governmental papers. The museum and the Nile Hilton affects as well the vitality where the tourists and foreign people appear, and in a result of that lots of bazaars are opened to serve them. The American University where the neo liberalism community as stated in Diane Singerman "Cairo Cosmopolitan" where it's a mixed between Egyptians and foreign attitudes.<br />So will it still have these users after the moving of the Mogamma the museum and the university?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>Conclusion</strong></span><br /></div><div align="left">While doing a research in el Darb el Ahmar, we were able to sit with people and have a long chat and interviews, while in the Tahrir square, it was so hard because everyone is running and trying to catch something, but luckily one of the passers (Mr. Mahmud Hafez, a lawyer) gave me a minute to ask him "what do you think about el Tahrir Square now days and old ones??" and he answered: " it's beginning to be a pass by space, nobody's doing anything in the square itself, everybody is coming from Abd el Moneim square going to el Kasr el Einy street or from Zamalek to downtown… they are all passing by el Tahrir square… but it's not really because they want to come here… it doesn't belong to anyone…"<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>References:</strong></span><br /></div><br /><div align="left">- - The case of Cairo, Egypt by David Sim Contribution by Marion Sejoume and Monika El Shorbagi<br />- - Center of the centers, el Ahram weekly, sept. 1999 issue 445<br />- - Streets and Midans by el Sayed Mohammed<br />- - Where the Streets Have No Name, Egypt today magazine, april 2005<br />- - The expanding Metropolis Copying with the Urban Growth of Cairo, Agha Khan conference<br />- - Cairo Cosmopolitan by Diane Singer man<br />- - Facades of modernity, Mohamed el Shahed, 2005<br />- - City of the Sand by Maria Golia 2004<br />- - Cairo by Andre Raymond 2000<br />- - 1001 years of city victorious by Janet abo Lughd 1971<br />- - Fatma Farrag, www.weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/764/feature.htm </div>Ahmed Zaazaahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10235116621419172494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191597779034627411.post-21959876589750049382009-10-31T02:59:00.000-07:002009-11-03T04:14:05.475-08:00Cairo's Qahwa: The Active Contributor to the City's Texture.<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span style="color:#cc6600;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXDwER_nCqtwIZxBpqw1ZbHMMTT-MiUpIG7taE48GK51qyCK_SkEkM_97sOhTZwFCgdsUl9ulYQV_ewCVXlJKU8LEiFM5r3fuSi4Qu4wSHj6GRiMGr-n12B4FCcCeLlGwoPJ9K9kxh001R/s1600-h/a.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 241px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398714098032445826" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXDwER_nCqtwIZxBpqw1ZbHMMTT-MiUpIG7taE48GK51qyCK_SkEkM_97sOhTZwFCgdsUl9ulYQV_ewCVXlJKU8LEiFM5r3fuSi4Qu4wSHj6GRiMGr-n12B4FCcCeLlGwoPJ9K9kxh001R/s400/a.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvc1XwAZjdQ2j4Gii98MOUTYF1Vl2wLdluxmAsUVlbaP571PrgpAuiJB3kmn04OdBUjODBHhVvemk614UMauE3FYOrvq7DC2b4qCKWd6JPTzWeouB0eOWyiORGm2yTHMSoyTAbAUf6156-/s1600-h/latte_macchiato.jpg"></a><span style="color:#333333;"></span><br /><br /><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">Greater Cairo is studded with the monuments of its 5,000 years of history ranging from the Pharaonic in Sakkara, Giza and Heliopolis, to the Christian and Islamic heritage in Fustat and Islamic Cairo to the remains of Ottoman rule in the Citadel. With the exception of the mosques, most of these are no longer functioning and are under the management of the Ministry of Culture and require a few LE to enter. But there are still vestiges of an era in Cairo’s past that are still functioning like traditions, ethics and behaviors, where these aspects were reflected on physical spaces. One of these spaces is the coffee house or "el qahwa". Such place is present in all cultures and through all ages, yet they take different forms. As a spatial representation of communities, the café space changes constantly in the tune with their own journey through time. The changes also follows communities as they move around, settling away from home which they attempt to recreate among the new surrounding.<br /></span></div><br /><br /><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;"></span></div><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">There is little doubt that the old-school street café, or qahwa, holds immense appeal. Once you grow accustomed to a qahwa, it becomes yours. At once inside and outside, Cairo's best qahwas are straightforward, unpretentious and yet full of history. Alone or accompanied, your presence is diluted into the street, and however rested you are, still you remain an active contributor to the city's texture. As the cup of coffee is the last item in the Qahwa's importance menu… where more prominent is the long list of their offering are social and intellectual interactions, retreat and sanctuary, entertainment and field of political discussions…<br /></span></div><br /><br /><div align="left"><strong><span style="font-size:180%;color:#333333;">The origin of the word Qahwa<br /></span></strong></div><br /><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">The journey started in the 15th centaury, where The beverage known as qahwa — a term </span><br /></div><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">formerly applied to wine — and ultimately, to Europeans, as "The Wine of Islam." It became popular among the Sufis to boil up the grounds and drink the brew to help them stay awake during their night dhikr. (Roasting the beans was a later improvement developed by the Persians. By way of pilgrims, traders, students and travelers, coffee spread throughout the Islamic world. Al-Azhar became an early center of coffee-drinking, and a certain amount of ceremony began to surround it. One 16th century writer describes dervish meetings in Cairo:<br />"<em>They drank coffee every Monday and Friday eve, putting it in a large vessel made of red clay. Their leader ladled it out with a small dipper and gave it to them to drink, passing it to the right, while they recited one of their usual formulas, mostly "La illaha il'Allah</em>..."<br />Ibn abd el Ghaffar<br /></span></div><br /><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">“Qahwa”: was a word in common use before coffee itself was known: it has a long pedigree as one of the epithets of wine. The Arabic root q-h-w/y denotes the idea of making something repugnant, or lessening one’s desire for something. According to one medieval Arab lexicographer, qahwa is “wine, so named because it puts the drinker off his food; that is to say, it removes his appetite [for it].” The application of this term to coffee was a simple step: just as wine removes one’s desire for food, so coffee removes one’s desire for sleep.”<br /></span><br /></div><div align="left"><strong><span style="font-size:180%;color:#333333;">The History of Qahwa </span></strong></div><div align="left"><strong><span style="font-size:180%;color:#333333;"></span></strong><br /> </div><div align="left"><strong><span style="color:#333333;">I: Islamic Era<br /></span></strong></div><br /><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">Throughout the first few centuries of its history in the Islamic world, coffee's popularity </span></div><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">engendered great controversy. Many were suspicious of the effects of caffeine and the gatherings in which it was consumed — they seemed debauched to some and subversive to others. Coffeehouses competed with mosques for attendance, and as unsupervised gathering places for wits and learned men, provided spawning grounds for sedition. The wags of Istanbul jokingly called the coffeehouses mekteb-i 'irfan, "schools of knowledge." Efforts were launched, and persisted for at least a hundred years, to declare coffee an intoxicant forbidden by Islamic law:<br />According to hadith attributed to Muhammad by the three schools that opposed alcohol in any form is: “Every intoxicant is khamr and every intoxicant is forbidden.”<br />The coffee was forbidden and became illegal in all Egypt for four reasons:</span></div><br /><ol><br /><li><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">Coffee was thought in some way physically or chemically so constituted as to make its consumption a violation of Islamic law, either because it was intoxicating or physically harmful.</span></div></li><span style="color:#333333;"><br /><li><div align="left"></span><span style="color:#333333;">Coffee was rejected by the ultrapious simply because it was an innovation, bid’a.</span> </div></li><br /><li><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">The political activities that became an important part of the sociaal life of the coffeehouse grew </span><span style="color:#333333;">increasingly alarming to the governmental elite.</span> </div></li><br /><li><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">The patrons of the coffeehouse indulged in a variety of improper pastimes, ranging from gambling to involvement in irregular and criminally unorthodox sexual situations. </div></li></ol></span><br /><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">And during Ramadan in 1539 CE Cairo's coffeehouses were raided and closed.<br /></span></div><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;"><span style="color:#ffffff;">h</span> </span></div><br /><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">The moralists fought a losing battle, for they were opposed by well-educated coffee-drinkers from the highest ranks of the religious and political hierarchy who did not look fondly upon innovative legal prohibitions. The "tavern without wine" offered a respectable gathering place for men to socialize and entertain away from home. Business was especially brisk during Ramadan, when proprietors made extra efforts to draw crowds with storytellers and puppet shows. In the 16th century the coffee houses were reopened again.<br />According to Lane, the coffeehouses of Cairo were frequented by “the lower orders.” Alexander Russell said that the “vulgar” went to the Aleppo coffeehouses. Dufour, writing about Istanbul, says that all but the “very high” come to the coffeehouse.” D’Ohsson says that among those who flocked to the Istanbul coffeehouses were “beys, nobles, officers, teachers, judges and other people of the law.”<br /></div></span><br /><br /><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">The coffee houses in Cairo were quiet simple, it usually had an arcade façade where people used to sit on wooden or stone benches with their back to the wall. Inside, other benches skirted along two or three sides of the coffee house. The floor was usually covered by rags and palm leaves or fabric. ( M. abo Tera( Hookahs and tobaccos were introduced to the qahwa at this time where A Turkish traveler in Ottoman Cairo wrote, in the late sixteenth century:“<em>coffee-houses of Egypt are filled mostly with dissolute persons and opium-eaters.</em>” Also musicians and belly dancers started to perform in the qahwas for entertainment.<br /></span></div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja0TLpXFewJf9qdOmtn1A8QtAo7DCo3GSTwRHcajKcLInIEg1n90O3HidtlxJmuNTwXRAtPiEFEsJg-MYnlnruzWpATgRCFYpX1bdYznjEk4gq4B9z-rAg5Tlbojk6cG3GPIpgeOuf6YCa/s1600-h/olddcafe.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399840331979820146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja0TLpXFewJf9qdOmtn1A8QtAo7DCo3GSTwRHcajKcLInIEg1n90O3HidtlxJmuNTwXRAtPiEFEsJg-MYnlnruzWpATgRCFYpX1bdYznjEk4gq4B9z-rAg5Tlbojk6cG3GPIpgeOuf6YCa/s400/olddcafe.jpg" /></a><br /><div align="left"><strong><span style="color:#333333;"></span></strong> </div><div align="left"><strong><span style="color:#333333;">II. Khedive era<br /></span></strong><br /></div><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">Muhammad ‘Ali, in Cairo in the nineteenth century, found a better use for coffeehouses: he </span><br /></div><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">allowed them to remain open and sent spies to overhear the plots as they were hatched. “<em>One wishing to hear the latest news—or, more likely, the freshest rumors—needed only to station himself in the coffeehouse for a short time.</em>” Edward Lane. Then Khedive Ismail introduced new cafes in Cairo after that which they had a new setting of French influences, as Groppi and Café Rich, where they served the upper class and the middle and lower classes kept using the traditional Qahwa.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAfZsaK7LH5jYrLJV2Mt0caIhyLIEK9lyX4JP5XfufWqfMXZtQBGFT8C7jelKVHBesBRT26iIThpTFQVKzEjAECF5UngFg54AP8M0iJm4DAAQJsX7zrC_0-YpbXibqKqxTnzwsG60C8EdQ/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 142px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399839800040228514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAfZsaK7LH5jYrLJV2Mt0caIhyLIEK9lyX4JP5XfufWqfMXZtQBGFT8C7jelKVHBesBRT26iIThpTFQVKzEjAECF5UngFg54AP8M0iJm4DAAQJsX7zrC_0-YpbXibqKqxTnzwsG60C8EdQ/s400/1.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Groppi was a popular café brand in the first half of the 20th century. The first branch opened in 1909 in the newly built downtown; the district planned to resemble European cities. The second branch was designed by Italian architect Guiseppe Mazza and opened in 1924, also in downtown Cairo. Its design is a good example of this genre of colonial cafes; there is a café room, a restaurant, a ballroom and the routenda, a round hall for the taking of tea and dance parties, activities that were solo preserve of the exposed classes. On the other hand was café rich which it started and remained till now the cultural intellectual café. Café Riche has played its part in political history as a place of intrigue and conspiracy. According to the historian Abdel Rahman El Rafei, the leaders of the 1919 Revolution used the café as a meeting place to plan their strategy to oust the British once and for all. It used to has several regular guests as Youssef wahby, Naguib Mahfouz, Amal Donkol, Twfik el Hakim, Mohammed Slamawy and more.. and even all their photos are in there to give the notion of authenticity.<br /></span></div><div><br /><br /></div><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">Mean while in the traditional qahwa and before the appearance of the theaters and cinemas all around Cairo, the traditional qahwa played a very important role in art and music, where the qahwa was the secret word for musicians and singers where it was a way to meet together. As Sayed Darwish met Salama Hegazy for the first time in a traditional qahwa in 1911.<br />The qahwa remained nearly exactly the same as the very old one, just some furniture was changed but the behavior and setting was nearly the same. Simple wooden chairs replaced the benches with the name of the carpenter often engraved on the back, tables were smaller with tall metal legs and metal sheet top that is suitable for drinks, bigger wooden tables for board games. And Radios were introduced to the qahwa.<br /></span></div><div><br /><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6-W6MfWGqpJxWOq6XntPp0mz__1887cA7yMuxTv-vP9oJQN97hdg1yRkYkZ-gse_1brFZMtw2KmFEVmzPTUdF2lggdzgQtWhxrrZcVulKUcGGRYTopIX8Tx9inMdrhj7IhXZ82YVQxSF/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 351px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 245px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399841799986380306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6-W6MfWGqpJxWOq6XntPp0mz__1887cA7yMuxTv-vP9oJQN97hdg1yRkYkZ-gse_1brFZMtw2KmFEVmzPTUdF2lggdzgQtWhxrrZcVulKUcGGRYTopIX8Tx9inMdrhj7IhXZ82YVQxSF/s400/2.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div align="left"><strong><span style="color:#333333;">III. The Modern Era<br /></span></strong></div><br /><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">These two genres of cafes (Groppi and Rich) coexisted side by side until the social mood changed </span></div><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">and became less stable following the political upheavals in the 1950s. after the socialist revolution in 1952, aristocrats were stripped of their titles and land. Places that used to belong to the upper classes, were viewed as a symbol of rotten aristocracy. As a result of this, such cafes and their cultures slipped into obscurity in the 1960s, while the other qahwas kept running without harm. But café rich wasn't harmed as well as its users and regulars considered the café is their home. The middle class gradually lost its popularity in 1970s with the café increasingly perceived as an unclean place for the unemployed, giving way to civilized public spaces of social and sporting clubs.<br /></span></div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jKwAKI50JLn-gfmBk6ECMb0VISTuZKG7554KGF8QO5xFv5V_bnhWdukywOi1Gs-dHKPl-96bYIkZCbQAE2PxX4nU-GUgGz0LQJp_7UvEISu6Y7V_304oLtXJU1FmY8iBxH5m7YYb3R0v/s1600-h/1-890.gif"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 331px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399842156485935442" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jKwAKI50JLn-gfmBk6ECMb0VISTuZKG7554KGF8QO5xFv5V_bnhWdukywOi1Gs-dHKPl-96bYIkZCbQAE2PxX4nU-GUgGz0LQJp_7UvEISu6Y7V_304oLtXJU1FmY8iBxH5m7YYb3R0v/s400/1-890.gif" /></a><br /><br /><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">This continued till the 1990s and despite growing population, new café's barely opened to the extent that the writer Gamal el Gheitany expressed his belief that cafes and their culture were heading towords extinction. But luckily this did not happened where starting from the 1990s the traditional qahwa started to introduce television where the middle class returned back to qahwa to watch football matches. And also in the mid 1990s, a new generation of cafes for the upper class emerged. This new breed of café looks westernized, sounds westernized and even serve western drinks and food.<br /></span></div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMb_FHTEMRMw4FWQ4yOyTFnXlMPCHtqkiGQf4IH3t3WuOJ8z6JE0zyZNb8o_FMVQ90aSF1ICu_u1HOMZdP5dM60JPWP5xOWMnU_EkWCq-jGX48eJ1nWIj03VFG7y-uUZ1tLMLSLty1Cim3/s1600-h/n622675316_4014872_5885.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399842531356239922" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMb_FHTEMRMw4FWQ4yOyTFnXlMPCHtqkiGQf4IH3t3WuOJ8z6JE0zyZNb8o_FMVQ90aSF1ICu_u1HOMZdP5dM60JPWP5xOWMnU_EkWCq-jGX48eJ1nWIj03VFG7y-uUZ1tLMLSLty1Cim3/s400/n622675316_4014872_5885.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div align="left"><strong><span style="color:#333333;">The New Generation of Cafes<br /></span></strong></div><br /><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">These new generation cafes are also detached from the street and public activity hiding away </span></div><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">from them; this is usually achieved by building a wall or plantation fence or being inside a building. It is also thematic with most of the new cafes use the design as a striking attraction for the users, where the designs differ between each café and the other, one is modern cubism, the other is Mediterranean or Latin, and even some designs are reflecting old Cairo and Nubian life. Such themes and designs are interesting as they snatched out of their context and represented as an exotic atmosphere. And as Anouk de Koning said in Cairo Cosmopolitan:<br /></span></div><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">"</span><span style="color:#333333;"><em>These upscale coffee houses changed the urban fabric of affluent neighborhoods; enjoying a café latte or a ceasar salade in one of these coffee shops has become part of the semidaily routine of many young and relatively affluent Cairenes</em>."<br /></div></span><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">The new generation of coffee shops was able to gather girls from their houses and the club, where before they did not have any place else to go after work, as in the traditional qahwa the male is dominant.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUCLLhx3lkgu4ieOJlNJ663YHhWtwTk_bi503PV6F2P1Ej_BmYepFkUz1TuuGDPkhjfxWXuCwUdcZ21WisDLfZjvEM7D_K4ZJC6FTR1lY5Pre2QpJS_TdXgZGTC8nnH6MRkmk-o7XyP2P2/s1600-h/378732752_509e5c3748_o.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399842801204042130" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUCLLhx3lkgu4ieOJlNJ663YHhWtwTk_bi503PV6F2P1Ej_BmYepFkUz1TuuGDPkhjfxWXuCwUdcZ21WisDLfZjvEM7D_K4ZJC6FTR1lY5Pre2QpJS_TdXgZGTC8nnH6MRkmk-o7XyP2P2/s400/378732752_509e5c3748_o.jpg" /></a><br /><br /></span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-size:180%;color:#333333;"><strong>Egyptian Cafes Abroad<br /></strong></span></div><br /><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">There is a lot of middle eastern cafes abroad, especially London, which has several Egyptian cafes. This Egyptian character of the café is not reflected in its design. Apart from the outdoor areas orientation outwords and the slightly dense interior the café appears quiet English. In fact the café's English patron choosing from the menu during the day are inaware of its night life, simply because there is nothing in the café to reveal it. The café has a modern clean look, a polish waitress in the daytime, a Panini grill and clear window before counter displaying food to choose from elements of an average café at lunch time in London. All of these features remain at night, fitting despite the changed environment. Once again the core of the café lies in the people's behavior within the space with anything else only a marginal trapping (M. Abo Tera) English people spend less then 30 minutes to take a coffee and a muffin, but Egyptian go to the café by 6 pm to spend the whole night there mingling between all tables as they all know each others.<br /><br /></span></div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTLSNPkUjFcRUA6SJj1CvXGT7BtEOFNbSYiVXhHHSY7Bk7E3u_Vsu0gxRzLnMIofPlOaTJNea8mXKypbOOvYhd7pMkRlyY6oj8H-_20wYeb_b_OCM9q7Ys2V804PRFoZxRlQPSajxEKFoV/s1600-h/egyptian_cafe.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 330px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 253px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399843049876166370" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTLSNPkUjFcRUA6SJj1CvXGT7BtEOFNbSYiVXhHHSY7Bk7E3u_Vsu0gxRzLnMIofPlOaTJNea8mXKypbOOvYhd7pMkRlyY6oj8H-_20wYeb_b_OCM9q7Ys2V804PRFoZxRlQPSajxEKFoV/s400/egyptian_cafe.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div align="left"><span style="font-size:180%;color:#333333;"><strong>Intangible Conservation<br /></strong></span></div><br /><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">After giving a story of the qahwa in cairo and how did it start and then the different kinds of it till the new generation that is totally different from any of the previous, Edward Lane asked a question: "“<em>If we grant that the tavern provided the most convenient model for those wishing to introduce coffee to the public at large, why then would people continue to frequent such shops once they became familiar with the methods of preparation</em>?”<br /></span></div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_XbUbktipojvwrKWL_H2TUR1fw5nqCiOUrslb8vIp_zyBXIJjvKY2NBaG2pMbzc3Az9U67pizZxj3HxjFFm8HtuQl-dXdoynETjZjz72aCYe6DdQUVgsmBdVFQbzRkjvLlY63zxVO-Fna/s1600-h/23.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 93px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399844366204144322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_XbUbktipojvwrKWL_H2TUR1fw5nqCiOUrslb8vIp_zyBXIJjvKY2NBaG2pMbzc3Az9U67pizZxj3HxjFFm8HtuQl-dXdoynETjZjz72aCYe6DdQUVgsmBdVFQbzRkjvLlY63zxVO-Fna/s400/23.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">Which that exactly the answer: Socializing, where along through the history of Cairo we conserved socializing through the qahwa, not for the beverage.<br /></span></div></div><div dir="ltr" align="left"><br /><div align="left"><span style="font-size:180%;color:#333333;"><strong>Authenticity<br /></strong></span></div><br /><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">The physical feature and culture of the café is not as it used to be anymore, televisions displaying "</span><span style="color:#333333;">Melody channel", very few cultural cafes, no music played… all that affect the setting of the qahwa, also the new generation cafes and the western modern influences affected the culture itself of the qahwa, where all new qahwas are trying to make the design and menus as western ones.<br /></div></span></div><div dir="ltr" align="left"><span style="color:#333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8V0RyqisvltQZvT2R6hKdLvUpRYXTFcJeRu1Fpm5LykF5fAJz5ChXAIk6OuypSC5zWzD1STFqoAb92gQJHc5hFzlxdsfCmucMrx6bmVCrUYB8HHik9MruE1AMkOZioi9W_t1iExcpg5Ty/s1600-h/4.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 135px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399847987476508690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8V0RyqisvltQZvT2R6hKdLvUpRYXTFcJeRu1Fpm5LykF5fAJz5ChXAIk6OuypSC5zWzD1STFqoAb92gQJHc5hFzlxdsfCmucMrx6bmVCrUYB8HHik9MruE1AMkOZioi9W_t1iExcpg5Ty/s400/4.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"> el Fishawy café in el Hussein </span></span><span style="color:#333333;"><span style="font-size:78%;">el Fishawy café in Sharm el Sheikh</span><br /><br />Also the banners of the café names are getting to be all in English where it wasn't that way before.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg99ornLDaFin5k_HGsX0NkkbU_OxD2_IOgtheqpwX-jVbqLK8aXRKCsuSsYUE916m7VdsgoIv01BslHs3vuaNJsAqZrOGgux1cgtx-aP_hyZwzmdhVWFp1spijKqzqvW3QWziOGgmEq8i5/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 313px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399846197092154786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg99ornLDaFin5k_HGsX0NkkbU_OxD2_IOgtheqpwX-jVbqLK8aXRKCsuSsYUE916m7VdsgoIv01BslHs3vuaNJsAqZrOGgux1cgtx-aP_hyZwzmdhVWFp1spijKqzqvW3QWziOGgmEq8i5/s400/3.jpg" /></a><br /><br /></span><div><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">Also some of the old cafés tried to revive the old cultures as café rich which putting all the regular users photos from writers, artists and intellects. In café rich as well the waiters still wear the same unform they used to wear from the day it was opened. Another feature being revived in fishawy as some people playing music go there to sing for money and some to be a first step to be famous.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong></strong></span></span></div><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>References</strong></span><br /></span><br /></div><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;"></span> </div><div align="left"><span style="color:#333333;">-Diane Singerman, Cairo Cosmopolitan 2005<br />- Edward Lane, Traditions of the Modern Egyptians between 1833 and 1835<br />- Ulla Heise, Coffee and Coffeehouses, 1973<br />- Serene Assir, Al-Ahram Weekly Living Restaurant review Not quite, 30 August - 5 September 2007, issue no.860<br />- Mohammed Abo Tera, the Qhwa: A Culture Apart, Magaz Magazine, May 2008, issue no.1<br />- Coffee the wine of Islam, http://www.superluminal.com/cookbook/essay_coffee.html<br />- دور المقاهي في النهضه الفنية العربية, مدونات المكتوب, مارس 2008<br />- كافيه ريش الثقافي :مقهى يدافع عن ذاكرة أمة-www_aljazeeratalk_net-forum-upload-2152-1190880136_jpg.mht<br />- </span></div></div></div>Ahmed Zaazaahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10235116621419172494noreply@blogger.com2