Undergraduate Architecture Portfolio

ANSWERING QUESTIONS THROUGH DESIGN MAHMOUD EL KADY UNDERGRADUATE ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO

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Threshold Spaces Dissertation

02

The Awlad Allam Theatre Company Thesis Project

03

Museum of Material Architecture Structural Design

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Architecture Department Extension Environmental Design

05

Cat Shelter Design-Build

06

Discovering Egyptian Architecture Research & Representation

07

Almaza Residential Compound Master Plan Design & Massing

08

AUC Educational Hospital Contextual Design

This portfolio is a collection of the design and research work that had the biggest impact on my architectural trajectory. Each project is underpinned by a question that propelled my theoretical investigations and design thinking.

These questions are beyond design prompts, but represent the personal impetus for my design expeditions. My goal of reforming Cairo led me to pursue architecture, and I aim to continue answering questions concerned with historic preservation through thoughtful and responsible design.

My Questions

How did Egyptian modernist architecture respond to socio-political changes?

04-05

Can architecture relieve people from existentialism?

06-25

What should a museum of wood construction look and feel like?

26-29

Can stone be the new concrete?

30-33

What does wood want to be?

34-35

What is appropriate contemporary Egyptian architecture?

36-49

How can a high FAR be achieved without compromising user experience?

40-43

What does the future hold for the AUC campus?

44-49

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01 Threshold Spaces Egyptian Modernist Architecture in Transition (1940-1960) Dissertation Research Question: How did Egyptian modernist architecture reflect socio-political changes?

Date: Fall 2020 Word Count: 7,462

Unlike any other period, modernist residential buildings, especially those designed for affluent users, achieved a certain level of monumentality and allure. Through a case study of three of Syaed Karim’s work, this research aims to explain why and how Egyptian modernism created the allure of the “grand entrance” in apartment buildings and explores how the idea of the modernist monument was appropriated for residential typologies. The article also aims to explain how modernist architecture responded to and reflected the changing sociopolitical climate from 1940 till 1960.

This research reaffirms monumentality as a dynamic social construct, and the results reveal the importance of modernist legacy in Cairo’s collective experience.

Housing Model 10, Nasr City, 1959

Zamalek Tower, Zamalek, 1953

Al Goheni Building,Heliopolis 1948

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02 The Awlad Allam Theatre Company Senior Thesis Design Question: Can architecture relieve people from existentialism?

Site: Izbit Awlad Allam, Dokki, Cairo Date: Fall 2020 & Spring 2021

The Awlad Allam Theatre Company feels like a small city, an extension of life in the Awlad Allam community. Inspired by Naguib Mahfouz’s existentialist philosophies, the focus of the building is the collaboration and dialogue that occurs in the creative process of theatre. The aim of the Theatre Company is to remedy the existential dread the community faces due to the urban injustices they endure.

The thesis of this project is to provide a creative outlet to the Izbit Awlad Allam residents through a theatre company that harnesses the collaborative powers of theatre using polyvalency.

The concept approach for creating polyvalent architecture is the allocation of gaps of uncertainty that are placed where activity overlaps are anticipated. Gaps of uncertainty are spatial gaps that are (re)occupied by the users. This approach is directly borrowed from Cedric Price and Joan Littlewoods’ 1962 proposal for a cultural centre dubbed the Fun Palace.

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Immediate Context

El Nahda St. Relationship to the Community

11 Site plan & connection to context

Izbit Awlad Allam “Formal” Dokki

12 Ground Floor experiences & ground floor form generation

I

II

III

IV

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14 Space matrix: mapping activity overlaps to place gaps of uncertainty

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16 Section AA

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18 Tracking gaps of uncertainty

19 Level 08 +32 m

Level 16 +62.9 m

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21 Architectonics of anticipation: creating a fixed framework for gaps of uncertainty

22 Architectonics of anticipation: occupying gaps of uncertainty

23 0.

1.

2.

3.

0. All GOU beams include beam brackets 1. Built up beams are installed 2. Spacer beams and wood decking are installed for a flush finish 3. Wood walls are installed per design and the space is opened for use

Table Read X Rehearsal Room Possible Scenarios

1. The troupe is working on a dance theatre piece and need more rehearsal space. They expand the room to accommodate the communal dance scene.

2. The visiting troupe needs its separate rehearsal room because the Alwad Allam Troupe is busy preparing for Shakespeare Month. A small room is set up as far as possible from the original room.

3. The troupe is working on a Joan Littlewood adaptation. Each show will include elements from daily news. The director demands direct access between the table read room and the rehearsal room because to practice daily changes.

24 Architectonics of anticipation: a formative example of the occupation of gaps of uncertainty

25 One framework, infinite possibilities

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03 Museum of Material Architecture Structural Design Design Question: What should a museum of wood construction look and feel like?

Location: City of the Dead, Cairo Date: Fall 2019

My design journey led me to a museological principle that harnesses the power of the human imagination to tell the story of wood.

The designed experience is a set of expeditions that ask questions through content and architectural experiences.

Given the studio’s requirements, I was expected to convey my ideas through my drawings.

Instead of treating plans and sections as a means to an end, drawings were used as design tools throughout the design process. Light, height, scale, texture, skeletons and skins are all architectural elements that I pulled on to design my experiences.

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28 Ground Floor Plan

Section AA

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Wall Section

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04 Architecture Department Extension Environmental Design Design Question: Can stone be the new concrete?

Location: AUC New Cairo, Cairo Date: Spring 2019

My design concept drew on Hassan Fathy’s ethos of “questioning the contemporary,” leading me to an exploration of stone construction as a viable solution to the big carbon footprint of concrete. This is manifested in the use of steel-reinforced stone columns, stone flat vaults, and tongue and groove interlocking blocks that can be dismantled and recycled at the end of the building’s life.

The design responds to the contextual demands of campus and aims to integrate itself with the School of Sciences and Engineering.

31 Ground Floor Plan

32 Form Generation

Structural Studies

33

ons Section AA

North Elevation

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05 Cat Shelter Design-Build Design Question: What does wood want to be?

Location: AUC New Cairo, Cairo Date: Fall 2019 Team of 7

Chidori is a special Japanese joinery technique that is based on interlocking parts independent of nails and glue. Besides its potential as a puzzle, the chidori joint allowed my team and I to think of the playful potential of wood construction.

Given the limited time, ease of assemblage and dismantling were priorities. Using the chidori joint allowed for a fast manufacturing and construction process in virtue of its modular nature. The cat shelter is made up of three frames that are braced using chidori cubes.

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06 Discovering Egyptian Architecture Research & Representation Design Question: What is appropriate contemporary architecture?

Date: Fall 2018 Team of 7

Tasked with discovering the essence of appropriate Egyptian architecture, my team and I investigated how big impact was achieved through the small-scale projects analyzed. Our results were represented through a network layout that highlighted the intersections between 13 architects and the concepts they employed.

After filtering the content, we reached the conclusion that appropriate contemporary Egyptian architecture is: Context-Driven, People Centric, and Socially, Economically, and Environmentally Responsible. We concluded that appropriate contemporary Egyptian architecture should be aimed at Building Better Lives for People.

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07 Almaza Residential Compound Master Plan Design & Massing Design Question: How can a high FAR be achieved without compromising user experience?

Location: Heliopolis, Cairo Date: Spring 2019 Team of 4 Our site explorations and analysis led us to the imperative of manipulating space-time for this design. By deconstructing urban patterns and plans and reflecting on our field work observations, we began to see the design requirements through the lens of space-time.

Despite the high FAR required, the design attempts to include urban spaces at different speeds (walking, jogging, and cycling).

The megaform structure brings together the buildings under the same roof, giving protection from the noise and pollution of the surrounding roads. The play with daylighting and the different speeds of experiencing the space allow for the manipulation of space-time.

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Section BB

42 Master Plan

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08 AUC Educational Hospital Contextual Design Design Question: What does the future hold for the AUC New Cairo campus?

Location: AUC New Cairo, Cairo Date: Spring 2020 Team of 2

Through a detailed comparative analysis between AUC New Cairo and El Moez St., my group and I came to the conclusion that AUC emulates the urban and architectural semiotics of Old Cairo.

Taking emulation as the design starting point, my partner and I designed a 220 bed educational hospital for AUC’s future medical school. We proposed that the future medical school should be open and accessible to all, taking the Qalawun bimaristan policy as precedent.

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Form Generation 1. 8.4 by 8.4 grid laid out 2. Inpatient units designed 3. Circulation cores placed based on egress requirements 4. Remaining zones added and entrances are created 5. Hospital corridor placed 6. Social spaces created 1.

2.

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6.

47 Vertical circulation and circulation area percentages per floor

28%

28%

Visitors

Doctors & Staff 29% Emergency

24%

48

Southeast Elevation

Section AA

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