Science City International Competition Involved in the Concept Generation Phase as a local designer Location: 6th of October City, Cairo, Egypt Involved parties: BLOC Consultants, Hans “ETH Zurich”, Omar Elmelegy “MSA University”
Surrounding land use
Residential Development
Power Plant
MSA University
Science City Site
• Remarks considering the site
• •
Contrast In Architectural Style Acts as a barrier in terms of site outlook
MSA University Picture no.4 Residential Development
?
Picture no.2
•
Undetermined piece of land
Level difference (Contour) Main Entrance to the Site •
Unwelcoming Entrance as it passes through several barriers on the way in
Power Plant Picture no.3
Picture no.5
Picture no.1
•
Zero Access From Wahat road (picture no.6)
Main Remarks considering the site visit on the 17th of May
Main Entrance to the Site Picture no.1 Current Entrance Suggested entrance
Site Accessibility • The accessibility to the site is devastating as the visitor has to pass by a number of potential barriers (internal secondary roads, residential areas and a hidden/twisted entrance) to finally have access to the site.
• Wahat Rd. provides a simple yet an effective solution to this problem
Working In an interdisciplinary team from different backgrounds brought up an additional layer of rethinking Cairo
How can we define the Identity of Cairo today? What is the logic behind todays Cairo? What's the vision of the newly elected president of Egypt? What's the vision of the newly elected president of Egypt?
First I had to explain the current situation in Cairo
“Cairo is a mega city, over 15 million in population. Yet Cairo exceeds other developing cities in one aspect: Informal Urban Development. The percentage of informal Cairo to greater Cairo is almost 65%(Sims, 2010). Revolutions often produces conditions of clarity; however the Egyptian revolution of January 2011 produced conditions of complexity in the sociopolitical conditions as well as the urban landscape of Cairo. Youth are taking control of their needs in how the city needs to be evolved (ECDC,2015). The revolution was clearly an urban revolution par excellence.” The question is what is the role of architecture and sustainability in the context of representing democracy and how does that reflect on architectural spaces? How will “Science City” mark the identity of 6th of October city? Within this shifting context, new urban measures should be considered when planning for the future of Egypt.
17/20 on the mostly populated megacitie s list.
Coming before other cities like New York and London yet Cairo seems more compact.
Urban Area: 15.6 million people Population density: 8,900 people per square kilometer
What's the Logic Behind the existing identity of Egypt? Community Necessities and priorities affect the City’s Formulation and Function. Early Civilization - PreIndusrialization: the pivot points were mainly agriculture and climate utilization.
5.5% Built up area
However, Priorities shift throughout time; Egypt was pretentious by several conflicting systems that catalyzed the Urban mutation leading to todays Cairo.
Cairo was always a platform of experimentation and researching Constantly evolving
Ancient Egypt
Coptic
Islamic
British
Turkish
PostIndustri alizatio n
21st century
The boundaries were set then Let the people Experiment
Informal Modularity
ARCHITECTURE OF A CIVILIZATION: IDENTITY AND THE COLLECTIVE MEMORY
ماذا أبقاك هنا يا طين األرض السوداء ماذا أبقاك فلم تهرب إلى أرصفة البحر أبقانى جرح فى األعماق محفور فى صلبى ينزف عشبًا لألغنام وصغا ًرا لألرحام .
ARCHITECTURE OF A CIVILIZATION: IDENTITY AND THE COLLECTIVE MEMORY Urbanism Architecture Identity Power
Egyptian architecture has constantly been in the state of metamorphosis, following several architectural models through the course of history starting from the Ancient Egyptian civilization to Coptic, Islamic grounds and finally today‟s survival architecture. Nevertheless, the main points of concern shifted from each period to the Architectural Form takes place as a result of the culture and beliefs. The Identity of cities is closely connected with the collective and cultural memory of the city inhabitants.
„this is a great place‟ - „this is a great Space‟ : While a space may have physical dimensions, it is intensity that gives place its potency and its primacy
This simple Collage represents the Identity of Cairo. Cairo isn't about the informal agglomerations nor the spatial qualities of these areas. Cairo has a chaotic morphology that leads back to a social logic according to hierarchy in the power chain and their needs. This Quality represents a great potential in todays Cairo.
Local Labors
Scientific Researchers
Sustainable Construction
Collaborate Experiment Take part in science city
Engineering Companies
University Students
What are the “Needs” of the 21st century? A project that responds to the needs of this century
Scientific Innovation Climate Change Mitigation and adaptation Creating Job opp. and Local investments Industrial Advancement Agricultural advancement Community participation Universal allocation and national identity
Application According to the Project Program TOR Requirements
Identity of Cairo
Modularity
Incremental Structure
State Of Flux/Chaotic
Experimental Patches
Local Power and community partic.
Compact
Phasing
Research and scientific Exciting
Everchanging
Encouraging Agricultural Innovation
Local NGO’s
Industrial Innovation
Sustainable Construction
Creating Job opportun ities
Climate adaptation
Engineering Innovation
Encouraging students and researchers to innovate
Contributing to the surrounding context
Scientific Innovation
Resource Utilization/ sustainable
Accumulated Densification
Modular Gadgets
Slabs
Dynamic Science park
Conceptual Section
Flexibility
Modularity
Science City will give equal opportunities to all individuals and sectors to take part in this great happening. With its modular gadget structure, building technologies can be replaced upgraded when necessarily representing the ever evolving nature of science city. Accordingly, different community members (students, researchers, companies) can take part in this upgrade.
Phase 1 Completed
Phase 2 The structure is built Which could be used by other community Layers (Ex:event planners)
Science park is a dynamic layer that moves within the structure of the buildings