Portfolio - Omar El Mekati by Omar El Mekati

PORTFOLIO

OMAR EL MEKATI

Name

Omar El Mekati

Tel.

+201030536427

omarmekati37@gmail.com

Address

15 Abou El Karamat Street, Giza

Online

www.issuu.com/omarmekati

Education

Work Experience

Languages

2017-2020 Master of Arts Technical University of Munich (TUM) M.A. Architecture

08/2020-Present, Environmental Quality International (EQI), Cairo Al Ula, KSA; Old Town revival design team Luxor, Egypt; New Gourna revival design team

Arabic

Mother Tongue

AutoCAD

German

Proficient

Archicad

English

Proficient

Vectorworks

03/2018-12/2019, AWWSCZ, Munich Student job at Westner Schührer Zöhrer Architekten, worked on various projects and design phases with different responsibilities

French

Intermediate

Rhino

07/2016-08/2016, Dar Alhandassah, Cairo Internship, worked on Masjid Al-Haram extension in Mecca

Oskar von Miller Forum 2017-2019

2015-2016 Erasmus exchange University of Bath, United Kingdom 2013-2017 Bachelor of Arts Technical University of Munich (TUM) B.A. Architecture 2013 German School Deutsche Evangelische Oberschule, Cairo German Abitur

07/2013-08/2013, Idia, Cairo Internship, worked on Darb el Labbana revival initiative

Software

3Ds Max

Scholarships

Adobe Suites Microsoft Office

Cairo

04-09

Munich

10-13

Naples

14-17

Rakwana 18-21

Reactivating Downtown Cairo

‫إعادة تنش يط وسط إلبدل‬

Masterthesis 19 | 20 Individual work Interpretation of the medieval Islamic housing typology and fusing it with affordable housing in the heart of the city Cairo, Egypt TUM, chair for Urban Design and Housing Prof. Bruno Krucker Prof. Stephen Bates

23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Downtown Cairo has been one of the most vibrant districts in the city since its foundation in the late 19th century. But since the 1950’s it has witnessed a steady decline in aesthetics and appeal. The ironic contradiction of the rising land prices and an archaic rent control law has led to disinvestment in the district and its buildings. As a direct result, people have been slowly moving out of the area, turning it into a ghost town. In the past few years however, start-up companies and SMEs have slowly been coming back to the neighborhood, moving into the apartments left behind and turning the district into a creative hub for the entire city. At the same time, young entrepreneurs and job seekers are getting together to save on the cost of living but also to seek space away from their families that would allow them to further explore themselves. Therefore, Downtown Cairo would be an ideal location for an apartment building concept: The project would be familiar to its new residents through the implementation of vernacular building elements such as multiple courtyards and middle rooms in the design. By combining them with facilities that would serve the residents as well as the neighborhood around the building, it would be woven into the social and cultural fabric of the city. Link for the Masterthesis: https://issuu.com/omarmekati/docs/elmekati_omar_masterthesis_presentation_issuu_comp 5

23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3

23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4

23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5

23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6

HUB+ Kunstareal Munich

Semester project WS 18 | 19 Group work Creating workspaces for Artists in the cultural hub of the city and connecting it with an own chosen topic, in our case housing the homeless of Munich Munich, Germany TUM, Chair for Architectural Design & Participation Prof. Francis Kéré 10

The “Arts Quarter” of Munich, right in the heart of the city, has gained a lot of media attention over the past few years. The biannual “Kunstareal Fest” and the countless art installations and sculptures commissioned have both propelled the district in the minds of every city resident. Our brief was to create new workspaces for various artists, along with another freely chosen usage. After a short research period we decided on two major topics we would like to immerse into our project. The first is to divert traffic from the main street crossing right in the middle of our site; The Gabelsbergerstraße separates the parks next to the biggest museum in the city and the adjacent Film School. By re-purposing the street as a pedestrian only, we give the citizen back his right of enjoying the art and culture without the fear of oncoming traffic. Additionally, by placing our building parallel to the street, we create a soft border around the museum quarter, making the area accessible to all passers-by.

23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7

Our second theme was to create temporary housing for Munich’s over 7000 homeless people. By creating a modular, four story building, each unit can be used either as an atelier, or as a temporary dwelling, fully equipped with its own bathroom. The 4m x 8m Module is created using plywood panels, that are mounted on a wood frame, Japanese style, structure. One Atelier and two Apartments build together a cluster. This close relationship helps build trust in the community and hopefully integrates these homeless people into society.

23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9

23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10

23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 1

Inside the Block

Courtyard living in Naples

Semester project WS 17 | 18 Groupwork Designing an apartment building with a courtyard typology in the old quarter of Naples, which mirrors the atmosphere and urban structure of the city in its floor plans Naples, Italy TUM, Chair for Urban Design and Housing Prof. Bruno Krucker Prof. Stephen Bates 14

23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12

One very strong characteristic of the city of Naples, is its cell like structure in its architecture. Narrow passageways that lead to big squares, from which again narrow alley unfold. This intriguing observation was one of the starting points of our project. The building should be pat of the whole, blending in completely, not knowing where city ends, and building starts. Accordingly, three big courtyards penetrate deep into our volume, which are connected through narrow alleys on the ground floor. Three possible entrances allow for maximum permeability with the city. The floor material does not change, allowing it to guide the pedestrian through the building threshold and into the courts. To allow for maximum flow of people, a restaurant, architecture studio and a workshop have been placed on the ground floor. This theme of courtyards and narrow streets is also carried into the apartments themselves. A series of big rooms are always connected using short but narrow thresholds or corridors. The exterior façades are plastered in the traditional Neapolitan yellow, while the interior courtyards are decorated with reflective light-blue tiles, allowing sunlight to reach deep into the building. 15

23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13

23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14

23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15

Design.Build Sri Lanka

Shanti Children’s Home, Rakwana GSEducationalVersion

North

TUM DesignBuild 16/17

Bachelorthesis WS 16 | 17, SS 17 Group work Designing, planning and building an orphanage for 20 Tamil children in the highlands of Sri Lanka Rakwana, Sri Lanka

Site Plan 1:1000 | 01

Santhi Children Home, Rakwana

TUM, Design.Build, Chair for Architectural Design and Timber Construction Prof. Hermann Kaufmann

23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16

In the winter term 2016 / 17 the project of the real studio was to design an orphanage for abandoned or abused children of Tamil tea pickers. The orphanage will be run by the Buddhist monks of the “Sri Bodhiraja Foundation”. The site is situated on the backside of Sri Lanka´s rainforest reserve Sinharaja Forest in the South of the island at an altitude of 700 meters above sea level. The main questions that arouse from the project brief are: How do such children actually like to live within the Buddhist and Hindu culture? How could such a place for children ranging from 5 to 18 years actually work? How can this place adapt to the needs and possibly grow? How can a building structure be developed by using sustainable materials and interpretations of vernacular building techniques? Blog for the project: www.design-build-rakwana-2017.tumblr.com 19

23 22 21 20 19 18 17

23 22 21 20 19 1

formwork

Ringbeam As assumend during the planning the construction of the ringbeam was the most difficult and time consuming part. The big openings were supported with wooden beams that are connected to on-site fabricated concrete brackets and punctually supported by columns of coconut trunks. Threaded rods were put into the ringbeam to have a connection for the rafters and to react to certain inaccuracies.

21 Section A-A

23 22 21 20 19