Modern Sciences and Arts University
Faculty of Arts and Design
P19 | RESEARCH CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT
by Mohamed Rafik Sadek
This site was chosen due to the deteriorated state of the surrounding urban fabric and the need for a sustainable approach for its people and heritage. For this reason the project is proposed as a new research facility in the heart of the area to provide a setting for research and development in the urban fields to upgrade slums and squatting settlements, as well as strategies for new settlements in other areas. This facility can provide two scenarios of usage; as a major governmental organisation, or as rental office spaces for NGO’s that work in the field of urban development to coordinate their effort in the most efficient way for this country. A part of the plan is tested using a range of software to determine the effectiveness of materials. A model is built using software to simulate the environmental data of Cairo on the building and the energy, cooling and heating requirements. As a historical reference, the open spaces will have the same gradient in space context as the ones that were demolished over the years of conflict in this site, as the open spaces are located in the same open spaces that were used by the city dwellers more than a thousand years ago. This is achieved through a map produced by UCL that uses the oldest mosque in Cairo as a reference point. As Cairo has suffered enough from loss of identity and heritage, this building tries to redefine the present with strings from our undeniable glorious past.
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Mohamed Rafik Sadek. Architect-Engineer from Alexandria, Egypt. He graduated in 2012 from the Modern Sciences and Arts (MSA) University in Egypt. He worked for 6 months in CLUSTER (Cairo Lab for Urban Sciences, training, and environmental research) specializing in urban research and architecture projects. Currently, he is undergoing his MSc in Project Management at the University of Greenwich in London, UK with a scholarship for academic excellence. His thesis discusses the reliability of the private sector in providing social housing projects for new desert communities in the Greater Cairo Region. Upon return to Egypt he will take on the role of an assistant lecturer at the MSA University.
Faculty of Arts and Design
P19 | RESEARCH CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT
by Mohamed Rafik Sadek
This site was chosen due to the deteriorated state of the surrounding urban fabric and the need for a sustainable approach for its people and heritage. For this reason the project is proposed as a new research facility in the heart of the area to provide a setting for research and development in the urban fields to upgrade slums and squatting settlements, as well as strategies for new settlements in other areas. This facility can provide two scenarios of usage; as a major governmental organisation, or as rental office spaces for NGO’s that work in the field of urban development to coordinate their effort in the most efficient way for this country. A part of the plan is tested using a range of software to determine the effectiveness of materials. A model is built using software to simulate the environmental data of Cairo on the building and the energy, cooling and heating requirements. As a historical reference, the open spaces will have the same gradient in space context as the ones that were demolished over the years of conflict in this site, as the open spaces are located in the same open spaces that were used by the city dwellers more than a thousand years ago. This is achieved through a map produced by UCL that uses the oldest mosque in Cairo as a reference point. As Cairo has suffered enough from loss of identity and heritage, this building tries to redefine the present with strings from our undeniable glorious past.
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