HISTORIC CAIRO WORLD HERITAGE PROPERTY GUIDELINES TO THE SURVEY OF BUILDINGS AND OPEN SPACES DECEMBER 2013 Guidelines prepared by Urban Regeneration for Historic Cairo Project Team: Franca MIGLIOLI, Project Manager, UNESCO-WHC Daniele PINI, Scientific Coordinator, UNESCO consultant Local team of consultants: - Federica FELISATTI, Architect, UNESCO consultant - Ahmed MANSOUR, Architect, UNESCO consultant - Ingy WAKED, Architect, UNESCO consultant - Mariam el KORACHY, Architect, UNESCO consultant - Ahmed ABOUZEID, Architect, UNESCO consultant External consultant for the GIS design and training: - Luca LANZONI, Architect, UNESCO consultant Project assistants: - Agne BARTKUTE, UNESCO-WHC - Radwa el WAKIL, UNESCO Cairo For this guidelines: - Amr KHAIRY, Translator and editor of the Arabic version - Eleonor CHAPMAN, Editor of the English version Images: © UNESCO, URHC Team (unless otherwise indicated) Graphic design: URHC Team The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this report, and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organisation. The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout the report do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION p.04 1. BUILDINGS SURVEY FORM p.07 1.1 Building general information 1.2 Building layout 1.3 Building functions 1.4 Structure of the building 1.5 Architectural value and integrity 1.6 Overall architectural value 2.STREETS AND OPEN SPACES SURVEY FORM p.106 2.1 Street/Open Space general information 2.2 Use and users 2.3 Material 2.4 Street/Open space general quality 3.PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION p.146 3.1 General tips 3.2 How to take pictures for the GIS on site 3.3 How to organize the photo bank ANNEXES p.158 Annex1 List of Quisms and Shyakhas Annex2 GIS Field Survey Form_Buildings Annex3 GIS Field Survey Form_Streets and Open Spaces INTRODUCTION This manual is a technical tool meant to support the survey activities aimed at col- lecting information directly from the field, for the characterisation and manage- ment of the Historic Cairo World Heritage Property. In this particular case, the set of information will be used to support the development of a conservation plan. A conservation plan and a management plan are documents required by the Op- erational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. An integrated model and a methodology for the preservation and the manage- ment of Historic Cairo World Heritage Property are proposed within the UNESCO Urban Regeneration for Historic Cairo (URHC) project. 1 A Geographic Information System (GIS) structure has been designed as the pro- posed reference system. In this GIS, two geometrical layers, or feature classes, have been created, identifying two urban components for the site: buildings and open spaces. Each layer is subdivided into smaller urban objects, such as single buildings or portions of open spaces. This approach allows a good level of char- acterisation of the urban fabric, and would help in establishing the degrees of prescription for possible interventions. Two different survey forms have been drafted for the two layers, investigating the key elements that influence the heritage values and preservation of each of the urban objects. The survey is implemented by means of a visual analysis, carried out from the street and some higher observation points, normally without entering the build- ings or interviewing the residents. It consists of two main types of data: - record of the relevant physical and functional features; - evaluation of the state of conservation, architectural quality and other rel- evant aspects, which implies a judgement based on pre-established crite- ria. The surveyors need a common outlook and shared criteria in the recognition and assessment of the heritage features in order to perform the survey correctly. A dedicated training programme is necessary to increase the surveyors’ technical skills and overall cultural awareness of urban heritage. The different phases of the survey and the construction of the GIS are: - updating the existing cartography for the purposes of the survey; - identifying the objects to be surveyed (buildings, open spaces); - collecting the required information with the two survey forms; - photographic documentation; - data entry in the office. 1. More information available on the World Heritage website : http://whc.unesco.org/en/historic- cairo-project ; and on the project website : http://www.urhcproject.org/ where a full report of the activities is downloadable in pdf format, in both English and Arabic. 4 INTRODUCTION - Guidelines to the survey of buildings and open spaces The information collected through these survey forms and through specific sec- tor studies will be inserted in the Geo-database 2 of the GIS system, including the photographic documentation. The collected information is then organised for its use by the relevant administration to monitor building activities, including deliv- ering building permits. The GIS system can be continuously updated and would support future management and planning processes. This manual is intended to be a sort of dictionary; a tool to be used on-site by surveyors to recognise and assess all the features and architectural elements of the buildings and open spaces under evaluation. It is composed of three parts: A- Survey of buildings. B- Survey of streets and open spaces. C- Photographic documentation. The survey methodology was tested in 2013 on a specific area located between the Citadel and Ibn Tulun mosque and comprising the beginning of Mohammed Ali Street and Sayda Aisha Square. This is one of the study areas identified by an Action Project is characterised by the presence of different types of historic urban fabric, with diverse states of conservation and specific potential for rehabilitation and regeneration. The action project thus represented an excellent sample to test the protection measures proposed by the URHC Project .3 More specifically, within the action project four study areas were analysed through the detailed survey explained in this manual, object by object: Darb el hosr, Darb el lebbena, Hattaba and Arab el yassar. These locations have been chosen as high- ly representative of the most dilapidated residential historic fabric. Figure 1) The study areas analysed through a building-by-building survey (Daniele Pini 2013). 2. A database with a geographic reference for the data. 3. See UNESCO WHC - URHC Project: “Report of Activities July 2010 – June 2012”, Chapter III. 5 The survey test of the mentioned area was carried out through an on-the-job training activity involving technical staff from different institutions4 , with a view to the required future management of the Historic Cairo World Heritage site. The training activity, conducted in the second half of 2013, followed all the steps nec- essary for the completion of the GIS from the update of existing cartography to the field survey, including the GIS use, the data entry and its management. This manual was successfully used as a supportive reference document for the on-field training. Figure 2) On-the-job Train- ing Activity, documenting the historic urban fabric: trainers and trainees in the URHC , UNESCO premises. 4. Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), Cairo Governorate, Ministry of State for Antiquities, National Organization for Urban Harmony (NOUH), Ministry of Endowments. 6 building form CHAPTER1- building form building form In this part of the manual, a detailed explanation of the “Building Form” will be presented in order to facilitate the work of the surveyors and to clarify how to complete each field in the form. building form This form will be used to survey the objects which are identified as buildings in the GIS. Note that, empty plots comprising parcels of lands that are ready to be built upon, and have a reference number in the cadastral map, must be analysed with this form and must not be considered “open spaces”. 1.1 Location 1.2 Listing status 1.3 Ownership 1.4 Consistency with the cadastral map 1.5 Footprint of the building 1.6 Typologies (historical and contemporary) 2. Building layout 2.1 Building periods 2.2 Contemporary roof - elements 2.3 Building Ground Floor layout 2.4 Outdoor architectural proportion 3. Building functions 3.1 Function present on ground floor 3.2 Function present on upper floors 3.3 Overall function 3.4 Usage 4. Structure of the building 4.1 Main structure of ground floor 4.2 Main finishing of ground floor 4.3 Main structure of upper floors 4.4 Main finishing of upper floors (type) 4.5 Main structure of roof 4.6 Main effect of physical decay 4.7 Overall state of conservation 5.1 Presence of disturbance elements to the facade 5.2 Presence of remarkable architectural elements 5.3 Overall integrity 5.4 Relationship with the urban context 9 The building general information section is meant to collect the overall infor- mation concerning the building. The building should be surveyed from the exte- rior in order to record any information legible from its façade. The ID section is composed of three different identification (ID) keys: one Letter for the Quism (ID Quism), one Number for the Shiakha (ID Shiakha), one number for the building (ID Building). (see annex 1-list of Quism and Shiakha). The reference number of the building is attributed by the GIS designers within the GIS system in the office after updating the map (see below section 1.4). Therefore, each single building will be identified by a reference number made up of three key elements: a letter in reference to the Quism to which it belongs, a number in reference to the Shiakha within the Quism and finally the number at- tributed to the single building.