The Adaptive Reuse of Bait Al-Qadi Workshop Preparatory Document
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The International Summer School THE ADAPTIVE REUSE OF BAIT AL-QADI WORKSHOP PREPARATORY DOCUMENT www.cairoheritageschool.com Copyright © 2016 by Rawasem All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, mail the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the physical address below. RAWASEM WORKSHOP 7 El Nahda St., from El Tayaran St., Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt [email protected] www.cairoheritageschool.com 2 PARTNERS Cairo Heritage School is a collaboration that aims to research Rawasem is an architectural Workshop composed of a mixture of and apply sustainable interventions which address the preservation young and daring yet wise and intelligent thinkers working as a team of our cultural heritage and the urban development of historic to explore new technologies, physical models, simulation softwares neighbourhoods. and materials. rawasemworkshop.com www.cairoheritageschool.com The Governorate of Cairo (Municipality of Cairo) is the executive The Ministry of State for Antiquities, and its sub-organization the chamber of the Egyptian State government. It is entitled to facilitate department of Historic Cairo are entitled to protect and promote the urban management and development of the city. cultural heritage of Egypt, both independently and in cooperation with national and international organizations. The Danish Egyptian Dialogue Institute is an intergovernmental body. MEGAWRA is an architectural hub and a platform for holistic debate on the DEDI’s core mandate as a centre of excellence is to promote political field of architecture and urbanism with a focus on it as art, theory, praxis and cultural understanding between Europe and the Arab World. and cultural heritage and its role in promoting sustainability and social responsibility in the built environment. Laboratorio di Restauro dei Beni Architettonici e Culturali The activities of the laboratory focuses on the field of conservation, The Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport is reuse and valorisation of cultural heritage. It operates a regional university operated by the Arab League. It’s architectural as a centre for innovation and technology transfer, by supporting program is the only accredited Program from the Royal Institute of training activities and the research in the same fields. British Architects (RIBA) in Egypt and Africa. Mimar is a leading professional design practice providing The International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP) consultancy services in the core disciplines of Urban Design & is a global association of experienced professional planners. It was Landscape, Architectural Design, Interior Design, Civil Engineering, founded in 1965 in a bid to bring together recognised and highly- Electro – mechanical as well as Project Supervision. qualified planners in an international network. A local Non-governmental organization, registered with the Number: The Heritage and Traditional Arts Association aims to protect and 6173 for the year 2005. It aims to support those who are unable to preserve the heritage with all its kinds in allover Egypt and in the Arab support themselves in the community of el Gammaleya, besides its world and caring of raising Citizens’ awareness of the importance and educational, cultural and religious activities. the value of heritage. KTN Egypt is a platform for exchanging knowledge between Established in 1975 in Egypt, Sasco stationery group is engaged in architects, urbanists and planners all over the world. KTN is a mediator paper converting and plastic stationery products and it is the exclusive which facilitates the cooperation between different partners in order to licensee of Reynolds France. Sasco is an internationally acclaimed face future challenges with knowledge and science. Manufacturer & Exporter of High Quality stationery. 3 CONTENTS 1. The adaptive reuse of architectural heritage in Cairo: An introduction ................................. 06 2. Objectives of the workshop ................................. 08 3. Case study project ................................. 10 Brief historical background Architectural description Additional resources 4. Workshop Methodology ................................. 14 An overview Team formation Workshop venue Local youth involvement Schedule and detailed program Stages and deliverables Assessment criteria 5. Lecturers and Jury panel ................................. 20 6. Contacts ................................. 22 4 preface This document aims to act as a handout for the participants during the workshop week. It is designed to easily assist them in their group work to get down to the task, get acquainted to the context and the case project, follow up the workshop schedule, and get introduced to the assessment criteria of the final Jury. It contains the main given data of the case-study building, its context and the methodology adopted in the workshop. Participants are requested to read it carefully prior to the start of the workshop, and then keep it as a reference to their team work during the workshop period. CHS expresses its gratitude: Representatives of the administration of Historic Cairo: | Mohammed Abdel Azziz Assistant of the Minster of Antiquities | Sherif Fawzy Supervisor of the development and heritage reuse unit Representatives of the architectural department, Faculty of Engineering, in the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport: | Dr. Sherif el Fiki Head of Department | Dr. Shaimaa Ashour Head of Cultural Committee Representative of the administration of Cairo Heritage Preservation in Cairo governor’s office: | Dr. Riham Arram General Manager This workshop is an enormous collaboration of efforts. Some of its contributors did not receive any sort of compensation; thus, this small dedication is -the least CHS can do- to thank them and show some appreciation. Thanks to Dr. Mai el Ibrashy, Dr. Alaa el Habashi, and all lecturers. Nonetheless, thanks to A. Borham, A. Amer, Menna Hendawy, Heba Fekry, & M. Abou Samra for their support at many stages in the workshop preparation and planning. Thanks to Mrs Heba from Abnaa el Gamaleya NGO for her support. Professional thanks go to Claire Panetta, our workshop observer and reviewer. And finally, thanks to our friends and family who believed in us. 5 The Adaptive Reuse of 1 Architectural Heritage in Cairo: An Introduction Historic Cairo is a jewel of architectural and Many heritage buildings in Historic Cairo are urban design and is listed in the UNESCO’s World already adapted for reuse, and are used on daily Heritage list. Cairo contains possibly the finest basis. For example, Wakalat al-Sultan Qansuh and best surviving collection of more than 600 al-Ghuri is used by the Ministry of culture as a monuments -dating from the 7th to 20th century- platform for traditional music and dance festivals as well as its preserved urban fabric. These (figure 1), while Sabil-Kuttab Qayetbay, originally monuments still survive today within the giant a water dispensary and a small school on top fabric of the modern metropolis. Cairo’s historic floor, is currently run by the Ministry of Culture districts are not just archaeological ruins or tourist and contains a book library (figure 2), library for attraction spots; they still contribute and integrate children and a studio for the Arab institution for as part of the overall city system. film and TV. However, these reuse projects are still architecturally limited with minor interventions Sorrowfully, sixty or more years ago, Cairo’s and/or extensions, are not economically viable, and historic quarters have started facing deterioration are directly assigned to governmentally-managed symptoms. The long government neglect resulted functions without considering broader community in squatter settlements, diluted infrastructure and issues, instead, just touristic and cultural functions informal industries. This situation together with are encouraged. poor public awareness toward the value of heritage contributed to severe deterioration conditions for years. To overcome these problems, the preservation, restoration and protection of historic Cairo’s monuments was dedicated a huge financial resources from the local government and international organizations. But problems facing heritage buildings in Cairo extend far beyond saving, or even restoring bricks and mortar for tourists. Fig 1: Tanora Show in Wekalet el Ghoury It means understanding the city as a dynamic process, a structure in permanent and continuous change. Conservation also includes improving and upgrading life of people in historic areas as a whole, and heritage buildings specifically. Therefore, the conservation of the historic urban centre of Cairo should be also planned as integrative revitalization and environmental upgrading projects. With conservation in mind, projects for reusing Cairo’s heritage buildings are strongly advocated as a reverse process for heritage obsolescence. Adaptive reuse of heritage buildings does not only step up the maintenance of the structure and delay its decay, but it also helps the functioning building to get involved in the living context it lies within, unlike