Page 24 - Issue 63

Vol.1 Issue 63 January 2024Vol.1 Issue 63, May 2024 ELITE

Erosion and Neglect: The Slow Demise
of Architectural Splendor

Zeina Elamir- Third level- Economics major

The 166-meter Gezira Tower and Hotel is a From the ornate Neo-Mamluk

sacramental testament and embodiment of confections of the early 1900s ( designed
how Architectural art within Cairo has been by European architects in an attempt to

neglected throughout the last 3 decades. be <contextual=) to the bold experiment
Within this time frame, Egypt has been with international modernism in the
plagued by continuous shifts and transfusions 1950s and 60s under President Nasser,

of power which left many architectural works to the vernacular revival, proceeded by
on the back burner of public debate. the inflated post-modern structures. The

common dogma that is continuously
regurgitated with those styles is not that

of diversity but rather of a frivolous

edifice that constitutes our fickle
cultural identity.

Cairo, as we know it today, can only This shift from classical to

be characterized as a muddled mess, contemporary architecture coupled with
where it is ostensibly apparent that the lack of consistency and convictions
those buildings fail to elicit any pertaining to each president's vision when

24 semblance of cultural identity. it came to Cairo’s architectonic outlook,