Galila El Kadi

التحضر العشوائي

Alain Bonnamy

The great medieval necropolis of Cairo, comprising two main areas that together stretch twelve kilometers from north to south, constitutes a major feature of the city's urban landscape. With monumental and smaller-scale mausolea dating from all eras since early medieval times, and boasting some of the finest examples of Mamluk architecture not just in the city but in the region, the necropolis is an unparalleled--and until now largely undocumented--architectural treasure trove. In Architecture for the Dead, architect Galila El Kadi and photographer Alain Bonnamy have produced a comprehensive and visually stunning survey of all areas of the necropolis. Through detailed and painstaking research and remarkable photography, in text, maps, plans, and pictures, they describe and illustrate the astonishing variety of architectural styles in the necropolis: from Mamluk to neo-Mamluk via baroque and neo-pharaonic, from the grandest stone buildings with their decorative domes and minarets to the humblest--but elaborately decorated--wooden structures. The book also documents the modern settlement of the necropolis by families creating a space for the living in and among the tombs and architecture for the dead.

Architecture for the Dead : Cairo's Medieval Necropolis

Mercedes Volait

This scholarly guide about the tangible and intangible heritage of the 19th and 20th centuries district of Downtown Cairo presents a detailed survey of the plans and typologies of a great number of apartment buildings and links the flats with the memories and stories of their inhabitants, mapping the changes in the use of the space during time, and so giving precious hints to understand the changes in the Cairo society.The books contains around 45 building-sheets with technical and historical descriptions, organised in a chronological order so to give a panorama of the development of Downtown´s architecture. Short texts in-between will give insider glimpses on specific aspects, such us historical backgrounds, technical innovations, narratives of private spaces. The buildings will be connected through three thematic maps to navigate and discover Downtown: the Dolce vita tour includes cinemas, bars, cafes, the houses of the stars; the romantic trail shows buildings with elaborated stairs, interesting balconies, fascinating details; the puristic architecture trail contains buildings with clear lines.With contributions of: Mercedes Volait, Galila El Kadi, Vittoria Capresi, Barbara Pampe, Ralph Bodenstein, Lucie Ryzova, Mohamed Elshahed, Omar Nagati.

Galila El Kadi

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