Situated in downtown Cairo, Egypt, The American University of Cairo (AUC) has been well received by the Egyptian intelligentsia for almost 80 years. The institution today holds an established, reputed and respectable status among the local communities. However, the campus has witnessed a significant increase in popularity over the last 30 years that has led to University officials finally recognising this ever-increasing local demand and agreeing to establish a new campus for the AUC that would be 20 times bigger than the aforementioned original on a virgin site in New Cairo’s desert environment.
Competition
The project details were finally made public by the announcement of an international design competition. Initially, the office of Boston Design Collaborative in partnership with Carol R. Johnson Associates was selected through the international jury process, for their master plan proposal for the new campus.
Later, Sasaki Associates together with Abdel Halim Ibrahim, an Egyptian architect and recipient of the prestigious Aga Khan Award, 1992, were commissioned as the principal architects for the design of all the academic buildings. Their responsibilities also included the coordination of the architects and landscape designers appointed for the design of associated buildings and landscape design within the campus.
Masterplan
From the beginning, it was clear that the master planning of the campus had to address the impact of the project on local residential communities. Initially, the designer’s proposed a hi-tech image for the campus complete with large empowering buildings, glittering metal claddings and shimmering glass panels that would dominate the desertscape and thus signify a powerful institute offering its superior knowledge to the local communities. However, this was simply not Abdel Halim’s design approach and instead, the planning process lead to the essential revival of the University’s tradition of interacting with neighbouring communities – almost creating some kind of a brand identity for the famed institute.
Sprawled over an extensive spread of land, the design proposal consists of a Performing & Visual Arts Theatre, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Sciences and Engineering, School of Business, Economics and Communication, an administration block, a library, the University auditorium, an athletics centre and housing units for students.
The centre of culture
The area leading up to the main entry into the campus is conceived by the architects, as an interactive public park-square. Unusually, the Performing & Visual Arts Theatres (PVA) is located immediately adjacent to the entrance porch, overlooking the park. The main auditorium is positioned between two octagonal projections into the landscape. The first projection is an experimental stage for solo performances, called the Black Box Theatre and the second will display objects d’art. The entrance of the main auditorium is adorned with shrubbery and hoardings to keep the audiences posted on the theatre’s calendar of events.
A curved wall punctured with openings sets up a ‘peep-hole’ scenario for the passer-by and provides partial privacy to the PVA while acknowledging its integration into the campus as an academic institution. This privacy gradually increases leading into the inner courtyards and classrooms, located to the rear of the theatre structure. The University’s book store is positioned immediately adjacent to the PVA, and beside this will be a coffee shop for visitors.
The information centre registration booth, also assuming one octagonal shape, is positioned on the opposite side of the square while the park-square is designed to offer a space that can effectively host book fairs and other open-air exhibitions. To further enrich this culturally charged environment the architects have also introduced an amphitheatre setting in the middle of the square, thus converting the square into a social hub within the University’s campus master plan. In the future, the park-square will also be the location for a museum dedicated to the first Arab architect, in modern history, who advocated the need for sustainable standards in architecture, Hassan Fathy.
To ensure that a great number of people enjoy these activities from all over the city, a new station for the Cairo Underground Metro is to be constructed adjacent to the park-square. Additionally, a new car park will be built offering shaded parking spaces for 400 vehicles.
Environmental awareness
The park-square will be covered by a palm grove bearing 360 trees, making the park-square easily identifiable from a distance. Moreover, around the perimeter of the campus site, a lineage of trees on various terraced planes has been planted that provides shading to parking areas and simply creates a protective belt to help shield the campus from undesirable and harsh desert winds. Thus, landscaping is used effectively throughout and around the campus for aesthetic and functional reasons as well as helping to create naturally sustainable solutions. READ COMPLETE ARTICLE
Text & Images: Dr Khaled Asfour |
