Facades of modernity : image, performance, and transformation in the Egyptian metropolis

Shifting political, social and cultural landscapes in contemporary Cairo with the triumph of Neolibralism are defining the city's modem heritage. In order to create a narrative of transformation of architectural production and its entanglement in different social, cultural and political contexts within the city's history, I will focus on the epicenter of the modem city, wust-el-balad, Downtown. It has recently been appropriated through a dual process of asserting the city's modem heritage. The first part of this process utilizes popular media such as period-based soap operas, photography exhibitions, literature and film. The second part of the process is through preservation of Cairo's modem buildings and the drafting of legislation to protect them. Architectural style, ornamentation of frontages (facades), is central to this process of shaping 'modem' Cairo. The criteria for inclusion into this heritage as practiced by the various committees and authorities explicitly place facades and aesthetics at the top of their selection process. Thus the process of heritization is inscribing a certain image of modernity in Cairo by selective inclusion of certain architectural styles. This thesis traces the constantly shifting image of modernity throughout downtown's history from its origin in the nineteenth century to its present state in the twenty-first century.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Elshahed, Mohamed (Mohamed Kamal)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Nasser Rabbat.

• Architecture.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39305

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/39305