Cities' Identity Through Architecture and Arts (original) (raw)
Related papers
Architecture and Urbanism… A Smart Outlook
Book of Abstracts , 2019
Contemporary cities are characterised by the concentration of economic activities and intense human interactions. They continuously develop and transform, while impacting the Earth and reflecting the cultural choices adopted by successive generations. The International Conference “Architecture & Urbanism… A Smart Outlook” is hosted by the Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, engaging renowned international keynote speakers from the fields of architecture and urban planning. As a prime location for solar and wind resources, Egypt would become a hub for hosting and exchanging innovative initiatives. The conference aims at addressing the challenges of unstoppable urbanization that gravely affect the world’s ecosystems. To become efficiently sustainable and regenerative, buildings and cities need to adopt smart solutions, which are instrumented, interconnected and intelligent. The conference discusses innovations of the built environment while depicting how such practices could transform future buildings and urban areas into places of higher value and quality. This book of abstracts consists of six tracks, namely: Smart Solutions; Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency; Regenerative Design; Inception and Evolution; Education; and People and Environment.
Architecture Re-Introduced: New Projects in Societies in Change, 2004
Salama, A. M. (2004). Contemporary Architecture in Egypt: Reflections on Architecture and Urbanism of the Nineties. In J. Abed (ed.), Architecture Re-Introduced: New Projects in Societies in Change. The Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Geneva, Switzerland. PP. 80-101. ________________ At the end of the 20th century, and as we approach the beginning of the third millennium, a moment of reflection and contemplation is really needed. In the past decade there have been radical changes in architectural practices in Egypt. It has become common to observe that major shifts are occurring in the realms of architecture and urbanization. These shifts are dramatically changing the public face of Egyptian architecture. On the one hand, there have been changes that will definitely alter the role architects and planners can play. These are due to the emanation of new architectural services, complex building types and activities, and bilateral and multinational projects. It is evident that the profession in Egypt is being diffused into several new activities and roles. There emerge specialists in architectural programming, cost analysis/control, office and construction management, landscape architecture, client relations, research, real estate development and architectural marketing. On the other hand, we have witnessed more involvement of local architects and urban planners, together with international agencies, government, NGOs, and the private sector in urban development, historic preservation, and sustainable urban conservation projects. A wide range of innovative designs representing disparate trends can also be observed. Among these trends, movements toward green design and a more culturally and environmentally responsive architecture are implicitly and slowly dawning. Despite these honest attempts to tame architectural and urban development processes and the capacity of Egyptian architects to manage individual buildings, the overall built environment is increasingly mismanaged, and the process of architectural education has been slow to respond to these shifts. This chapter investigates the current status of architecture and urbanism in Egypt. It bases its argument on a survey of the recent developments in the field, linking these developments to socioeconomic contexts and the architectural trends in the nineties, and examining the role of different actors in these processes. The chapter relies heavily on presenting examples of projects that exemplify various architectural and design positions. Results of interviews with renowned Egyptian architects, and conclusions drawn from questioning architectural advertising in major newspapers are discussed and associated with the overall argument. The chapter ends with a conceptual vision for the future of architectural profession and the blinkered new paradigm. (This book is based on Regional Seminar organized by the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) held in the Department of Architecture and Design at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in November 1999).
Conference Proceedings of IASTE'12 - The International Conference of 'Myth of Tradition' - The International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments, hosted by University of Oregon, Portland, Oregon, USA, October 4-7, 2012
Throughout History, Mankind produced an enormous legacy of human believes and myths. Man learned how to record this legacy which had been known as the “Science of Mythology”. It concerns with collecting and studying the Ancient World Mythologies. This science was settled at the beginning of the 19th century. Generations recognized it through various shapes, i.e. orally as stories or physically as scripts on temple walls or epigraphically inside tombs or even as monuments and fossils. This paper assumes that the contemporary architecture influenced by this science. It focuses on the architects who chose mythical sources to be guidelines leading them to create a new phase of architecture. As a detailed case-study, the paper experiences the impact of Mayan Mythology on architecture of the American architect Eric Owen Moss, who shows his interest in this civilization, its mythology and its architecture. In order to break his codes, a number of Moss’s projects in Culver City will be interpreted to recognize which mythical sources he has already used. To explain the main contents, the paper uses an organized methodology in four steps as follows: Step 1: Vision on an Ancient Age - Recognizing meaning of the Ancient World Age and its components, producing a scientific definition of Mythology, and identifying its relation to architecture. Step 2: Landing on the Mayan Civilization - Presenting excerpts from the Mayan Mythology and classifying its important buildings. Step 3: What is the architectural metaphor? – Explanations of Chris Abel. Step 4: Breaking Codes of Smart Architect – Making a mental journey into the cultural background of Owen Moss to know his own motives for inspiration, interpreting his architectural language influenced by Mayan Mythology, holding an analytical comparison between his projects to know every chosen inspiration source and finally reaching set of conclusions.
In the recent decades, many approaches, trends, and visions had been introduced and applied for promoting and revitalizing cultural identity in the historic cities. The debates of interventions, policies, and implementation plans, are the essential community challenges. Most of strategies focused on local spines and main streets as the most priorities urban level for revitalizing action plans. Streetscape is an immediate vista of the city that people grasp and create the general image and identity of the city. A creative community vision can continuously evolve and embrace new ideas while balancing the inherent conflicting nature of past, present, and future community values and culture. Through this vision the paper adopts the streetscape redesign as an urban aspect to reinforce and embrace the cultural identity and urban character of the historic cities. The paper aims at analyzing the urban design principles for preserving and enhancing the local identity, uniqueness, and cultura...
Framing the Ancients: A Global Study in Archaeological and Historic Site Interpretation
Although rarely addressed in modern scholarship, over the last several decades, design implemented at archaeological and historic sites has become the organizing agent to present ancient cultures to the international public. Using topologies such as site museums, reconstructions, interpretive installation art, and comprehensive site planning, physical construction is now used to metaphorically guide visitors through the chronology and visual culture of a specific place while physically guiding them through the material remains. This dissertation examines the concepts of space, culture, and design and their junction as part of the overarching concept of “heritage interpretation.” Through a series of individual site studies, this document discusses how different types of intervention can affect visitor understanding, experience, and the interpretation of history and ancient cultures by the greater public. As a comprehensive study, the research examines what methods have been used and are currently being used to facilitate public engagement with ancient remains through design, specifically placing physical interpretations within an immersive theoretical and historical context. By utilizing a multi- disciplinary approach, the dissertation examines how the concepts of ancient art, cultural heritage, and modern construction interact at some of the most famous world historical sites, and how archaeological interpretation can affect a broader understanding of time, place, and culture.
Sustainable potentials and Limitations of Using Media Façades in Egypt
ARChive, 2019
Media Façade is expressed in many cities by providing new attractive city images. The term „Media Façade‟ is a façade that is functionally and aesthetically specific and thus it represents the integration of architecture, technology. This integration is applied to represent new form of modern art and communication (Haeusler et al., 2012). Implementing new technology such as " Media Façade "following the purpose of fashion trend or adding new stylistic feature without being well studied will cause a massive impact on architecture. This technology " Media Façade " started to be used in Egypt in various buildings with different functions. This paper will firstly illustrate what is Media Façade then state the social, cultural and environmental impacts of these techniques by analyzing local examples using SWOT analysis.