Architecture(2)--Cairo

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MENA: Map, with major cities

Man fears time, Time fears the pyramids Tourist show, 1974

Cairo: Historical Development

Source: Cairo, Max Rodenbeck

Fustat ~ 750

Umayyad capital, separate from Memphis and Heliopolis.

Several tributary rivers, lakes and ponds will be filled in over time. Archeologists estimate that the Nile has shifted 400 meters to the west (note dotted line).
Source: Raymond (2000) Cairo p. 8

Mosque of Ibn Tulun ~900

(The fountain dome in the center dates from the thirteenth century).

Ibn Tulun was a military leader, born in Anatolia.

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Ibn Tulun Courtyard

Mihrab of Ibn Tulun Mosque, ~1194 ad

Minaret of Ibn Tulun Mosque Recalling style of Samarra near Baghdad; farthest west appearance of this influence.

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Fatimid Cairo, ~980

Walled city-Al Qahira-was built for the ruling class, with ordinary people still in Fustat. Several mosques, including Al-Azhar. Major library in the Great Palace. City designed in a grid; paralleling the Khalij canal, with major street Qasaba.
Source: Raymond (2000) Cairo p. 32

Al-Azhar Mosque. Begun 970.

Worlds first University

Main facade of the mosque from Northwest with the three Mamluk minarets of Aqbugha, Qaytbay, and the double-headed minaret of al-Ghuri from (L to R).

al-Salih Tala'i` mosque

Built south of the walls of al-Qahira in 1160 by the vizier al-Salih Talai, Initially intended as a memorial for Husayn the son of Ali.

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Cairo under Saladin and the Ayyubids, ~1180

City wall was constructed, linking Fustat and Qahira. Citadel built for protection. Madrasas founded to secure Sunni orthodoxy, while charitable foundations built many public buildings.
Source: Raymond (2000) Cairo p. 81

Citadel of Aleppo

The Citadel of Aleppo: An early Islamic citadel that might have influenced the choice of location and forms of the Citadel of Cairo and the types of palaces and audience halls to be built in it. Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Citadel of Cairo ~1180

(The mosque Is much later)

Built under Salah al-Din as a royal residence and barracks for the troops, and reorganized and enlarged several times in the 13th-14th century. It became the seat of the sultanate and remained the center of government well into the 19th century. Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Madrasa of Sultan alSalih Najm al-Din Ayyub (1243) First madrasa in Cairo to accommodate the four schools of law. Built in the heart of the Fatimid city, it was composed of two separate, self-contained courtyard units, parallel in plan, separated by a passage, and having each two large iwans .

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Archeologist Creswells reconstruction of the faade of the Madrasa of Sultan al-Salih Najm al-Din

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Mamluk Cairo, ~1400

Expansion to west as Nile moves; to the east on the road to Syria. New canal built-Khalij Nasiri.

Source: Raymond (2000) Cairo p. 150

General view of the Mosque of Sultan al-Zahir Baybars. (~1268)

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

The Complex of Sultan Qalawun: (1284-85)

Built on the site of the Western Fatimid Palace opposite the madrasas of al-Salih najm al-Din Ayyub, this complex contains a hospital (bimaristan), a madrasa, and a dome/mausoleum for the founder. The Dome of the mausoleum echoes the octagonal plan of the Dome of the Rock.
Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Interior of the Madrass main Iwan, in a painting around 1840

The Madrasas of Sultan Hasan (1356-61)

The most magnificent of all Cairene structures, this four-iwan, fourmadrasa structure stands across from the Citadel. The mausoleum is right on the qibla axis of the mosque, which represents a signific shift in planning and symbolism. The huge portal is oriented to impress the viewer coming from the Citadel. Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Ottoman Cairo, ~1800

Source: Raymond (2000) Cairo p. 217

Palaces on the Birkat el-Fil, ~1800

The Mosque of Suleiman Pasha alKhadim at the Citadel (1528)

First Ottoman mosque in Egypt, it was built at the Citadel to serve the Janissary Corps. Its architecture has very little to do with Cairene architect It introduced to Cairo the pencil Ottoman minaret and the centraldomed plan. Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Ismails Cairo, ~1870

Haussmannian planning. Note expansion towards the river, using roads designed on a rectangular grid. Opera House to inaugurate Suez Canal. Incorporation of trams, gas co., other utilities
Source: Raymond (2000) Cairo p. 310

The Mosque of Muhammad `Ali, Cairo Citadel: Begun in 1830

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Mosque of al-Rifai (1869)

(r.h.s.)

Designed in a neo-Mamluk style by an Egyptian architect, Hussein Fahmi, opposite mosque of Sultan Hasan (~1360).

More views of the al-Rifai Mosque

New construction materials, And a somewhat ponderous feeling.

The Qa`a of Muhib al-Din (1350)

A rare example of a merchant dwelling off the central artery (the old Fatimid avenue) in al-Qahira.
Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

The Sabil Kuttab of Sultan Qaytbay at al-Saliba (1479)

Sabil-Kuttab: A charitable structure composed of a sabil (drinking fountain) on the ground floor, and a kuttab (Qur'anic school for boys) on top, which was usually a room open on all sides.

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

The Wikala of Sultan Qaytbay at Bab al-Nasr (1481)

Dar al-Wikala: Used primarily in Egypt, the house of procuration or agency, where trading takes place. It functioned as the urban inn, the guarded storehouse, and the trading installation for wholesale, retail, and export. Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

The Madrasa and Khanqah of Sultan al-Ghuri (1503-5)

The Wikala of Sultan al-Ghuri (1504)

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Suheimi House (1648 and 1796)

Perhaps the largest and best preserved house in Ottoman Cairo, this abode of another head of the Merchants' Guild is also in the commercial center of the city. Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Muhammad Ali Mosque: The ablution fountain in the center of the courtyard and the clock tower of Napoleon III in the background.

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Musafirkhana Palace (17791888)

Guest House of Mohamma Ali

Sabil-Kuttab of Tusun Pasha (1820)

Cairo, 1933

Source: Raymond (2000) Cairo p. 323

Cairo, 1991

Source: Raymond (2000) Cairo, p. 340

Foreign and Egyptian Architects; late 19th century

The Gazira Palace, Zamalek Island (1864)

Built by the Khedive Isma`il and designed by the Austrian architect Julius Franz Bey

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Portico for Gazira Palace

Designed by Karl von Dibitsch

The Sabil-Kuttab at Bab al-Hadid ~1870

An overwrought little complex built ca. 1870 by the Italian architect Ciro Pantanelli.

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Awqaf Ministry Building (1898-1929)

Architect: Mahmud Fahmi

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Dar alKutub 1904

Built by the Italian architect Alfonso Manescalo in a pure and well-studied neo-Mamluk style. Became the Islamic Museum of the City
Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Central Railway Station, 1893

A neo-classical facade articulated in a Mamluk style done by the British architect Edwin Patsy, with the newly discovered statue of Ramses II in front.
Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Bank Misr

A composition informed by several Mediterranean types, yet heavily "Islamicized" by different motifs from Andalusian (Moorish) to Mamluk, designed by the French architect Antoine Lasciac.

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Muslim Youth Association Center, 1935

Egyptian Engineers Society, 1930

Another neo-Mamluk building, built by Mustafa Fahmi, chief architect for the royal palaces.

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Mausoleum of Saad Zaghul (1928)

The mausoleum of the leader of the 1919 revolution against the British, this is the high point of neo-Pharaonic style, designed by Mustafa Fahmi

Heliopolis Buildings, ~1909

Built between 1908 and 1910 by the French architect Ernest Jaspar as the commercial and civic center of the new garden-city planned and executed by the Belgian industrialist Baron Empain in this suburb of Cairo for a new, select working class. Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Prince Husseins Palace, near Cairo

From Hassan,

Part of the palace of Mohamad Ali in the Citadel, Cairo

Said Pashas Palace

Photos from book about Cairo, Paris along the Nile by Myntti (1999). Pictures are intended to illustrate existence (and attractiveness?) of French influences, while also suggesting that these were incorporated in wealthier sections of the city.

Modern Cairo 1

Source: Myntti (1999) Paris along the Nile, p

Modern Cairo 2

Source: Myntti (1999) Paris along the Nile, p. 50

Modern Cairo 3

Source: Myntti (1999) Paris along the Nile, p37

Modern Cairo 5

Source: Myntti (1999) Paris along the Nile, p. 45

Modern Cairo 4

Source: Myntti (1999) Paris along the Nile, p. 40

Modern Cairo 6

Source: Myntti (1999) Paris along the Nile, p. 44

New campus of the American University of Cairo, in eastern suburb

US$300 million

AUC Buildings

Administration

Entrance

Business Ad.

Samara Style Stucco of Arcades of Ibn-Tulun Mosque

Another map of Fatimid Cairo

Emphasizing planned nature of city, with streets in a grid, palaces and royal buildings strategically placed.

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Courtyard of Al-Azhar mosque

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

Cairo in the Mamluk Period, ~1300

Source: Raymond (2000) Cairo p. 119

The Mosque of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad at the Citadel: (1318 and 1335)

The main mosque at the Citadel, hypostyle structure

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www

The Madrasa of Amir Sarghatmish (1356)

Probably the prototype for the royal mosque of Sultan Hasan, this mausoleum -madrasa complex was built next to the mosque of Ibn Tulun.

Source: Nassar Rabat course, http://web.mit.edu/4.615/www