Category: writings
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Architect’s Eye
In architecture, we get used to giving great attention to details. On the one hand, the more we think of details, the more we elaborate well-studied designs that improve users’ experience. On the other hand, details make our lives as architects unbearable. Last Friday I was having a walk by the waterfront promenade of Alexandria […]
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A Journey to Djibouti
“Ya Bashmohandes Gohar Did you sleep well last night?” He asked“Hmm, yeah I believe I did” I answered“Well, well, well…probably, it was your last night of good sleep in Djibouti”He answered me back, with a smile while getting into his Nissan Pathfinder!!! Before starting the design process of any new commissioned project, architects need to […]
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Physiognomy in Architecture
I have been always convinced that objects in general look like living beings. As a kid one of my favorite practices was to imagine that each car has a face, sometimes happy and laughing and some other times sad or even angry. I grew up, studied architecture and started to apply this practice on buildings. […]
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Al-Sadat, the hero of peace This painting is located atop of a building’s entrance in Caid Gohar street. It depicts a portrait of the former Egyptian president Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat, behind him we can see the pyramids, and a dove the peace symbol. The decayed and partly hidden Arabic text under the portrait reads: Al-Sadat, […]
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Community associations The first association started operating in Egypt in 1821 under the name: The Greek association in Alexandria. Through history, society associations passed by several phases, changes and amendments. Due to domestic and/or foreign immigration, associations that serve specific communities used to be founded in big cities, where there are several communities and groups […]
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Atlas de l’Égypte contemporaine Alexandrie : un patrimoine bâti en péril. I am very happy to write about Alexandria and to contribute to the Atlas of contemporary Egypt published in 2020 by CNRS Édition, Paris (the French national center for scientific research) supported by CEDEJ – Egypte in Cairo. Abstract EN, Editor: Marion HASCOET Subject: […]
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Consuming the city Every person has basic needs for life, as the American psychologist Abraham Mazlow said in 1943. He arranged these needs in a hierarchical order, according to importance. Among these needs is the need for a sense of belonging, which can be expressed in different ways, depending on the nature and type of […]
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Chemisier Leon Few weeks ago I passed by this fast food shop, the one you see in the photo. Somehow I felt sad and guilty. Not because I was nostalgic nor because of the change and the bad alterations to the building’s façade. But rather because, I made a promise that I never fulfilled. In […]
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The Invisible 4 Meters “The inferno of the living is not something that will be; if there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live every day, that we form by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for many: accept the inferno […]
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Benzion بنزايون And the Department Stores in Egypt Before the notion of shopping malls and megastores, “Department Stores” were first introduced to Egypt by Ali Pasha Mubarak the Egyptian reformist and public works and education minister. In his writings, probably Alam al-din book, he spoke about the Parisian department stores. Au Bon Marché is the […]
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El Bawab, البواب I used to pass by this abandoned building in Rouchdy, Abou Quer avenue every day on the way to my office. The building had around 6 meters setback from the property edge or the wrought iron fence, and less setbacks from the two sides of the neighbors. It was simple and has […]
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The rebirth of Odeon In 1928 Oscar Deutsch the British businessman opened his first cinema under the name Picture House. Two years later when he was planning to open his second Picture House, he couldn’t use the same name and was obligated to find a new name for his future cinema chain. In 1930 the […]
Mohamed Gohar 