AUC I Urban Design & Landscape Architecture I Spring '19 I Al Maza

URBAN DESIGN AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ARCH 4532 STUDENT WORK SPRING 2019

The American University in Cairo Department of Architecture ARCH 4532 : Urban Design and Landscape Architecture Š AUC Architecture 2019

UR BA N DE S I GN SPRING 2019

TABLE OF CONTENT

TABLE OF CONTENT

INTR ODUC TION

NAMA A G ROUP

A U C

PUZZLE 01

PUZZLE 02

PUZZLE 03

APPR OACH 01

APPR OACH 02

APPR OACH 03

APPR OACH 04

APPR OACH 05

APPR OACH 06

APPR OACH 07

APPR OACH 08

REFLEC TION

BEHIND THE SCENE

THE TEAM

FINAL JURY

BICYCLE

TOUR

5

INTR ODUC TION The project, a 7.5 feddans unique land plot, lies along Thawrat street, a strategically important spine that runs all the way through Heliopolis, Nasr City, heading to New Cairo, Sherouk City and the New Capital City. The land was originally the house for Olympic group household equipment factory, but long time ago the factory stopped operating since the area changed into a dense population district. This change has driven the owners to demolish the factory in order to make use of this very premium located piece of land. After demolition, it will now be assigned to be a mixed-use development land permit. This gives a unique opportunity for land development and establishing a unique project in an area that doesn’t have much competition in this form.

Studying the market direction and surrounding competition, there is great potential and demand for a luxurious development in this original dense area. Studies show that there is great demand to luxurious residential apartments as well as luxury small hotel components. The vision for the project is to develop a fully integrated luxurious project that stands out in the area and meets a real need of luxurious living components within this dense area.

TABLE OF CONTENT

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NAMAA GROUP SPONSORED STUDIO Established in 1998 as a spin-off of Olympic Group to operate as their real estate and land bank arm, Namaa is specialized in real estate investment and related value-added services.

For almost two decades, Namaa has played a pioneering role in Egypt in the corporate real estate industry; developing world-class properties of high-quality standards for a wide range of sectors and providing stateof-the-art innovative solutions that address the needs of the entire business community.

Currently, Namaa has extended its expertise and developed its competencies to expand beyond serving the business communities and provide high standard residential and commercial properties that introduce new trends in service providing to the Egyptian market. Namaa is now merging its subsidiaries under the same brand that provides the various real estate properties: administrative, residential, and commercial; ensuring that all the projects reflect its integrated development perspective with the highest standards of hospitality and leisure.

NAMAA GROUP

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PUZZLE 01 What are the characteristics of a lively street? Best practices of a spine?

What is the Egyptian Urban Experience? In the first assignment of the course, the students are required to capture the present condition of urban vitality using a camera as seen in four moments of the city’s growth.

Focusing on the districts of Historic Khedivial Cairo, Heliopolis, Nasr City and New Cairo in metropolitan Cairo, capture what is the experience of a small-scale, medium-scale, and large-scale street (S,M,L)? Generate a matrix of SML as the city grew historically passing laterally across these four city-centers. How has the urban design of streets changed?

How does the street-scale affect and shape people’s interaction with the street-elevation and the built environment? What is the quality of urban life in these ‘once-upon-a-time’ city centers? What are the Egyptian characteristics of enclosure, and how have they influenced the everyday life of the street in these 4-city districts?

What are the learning lessons of the Egyptian experience of streets over 100 years of growth? How did the expansion of the city inform the urban experience of streets?

BICYCLE TOUR

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PUZZLE 02 What is Development? How to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs)? What is a network interdependent society on the meso-scale, macro-scale, and micro-scale? How can we preserve the history of place, people, and economic activities? What are the patterns of growth and urbanization in time? How can we design for sustainable and inclusive communities? How can our cities become human-centered and developed for empowerment on the economic, social and cultural levels? How can we reclaim back public life and the right to the city? How can we develop new architectural typologies that promote mixed-use development through social and economic interaction? How can we incorporate the 21 st century ethos of co-living spaces, co-working, co-habitation, co- development?

How can we develop communities aesthetically but also responsibly in response to the environment, climate change and the need for a circular economy paradigm?

Puzzle two of the semester’s project aims at tracing the growth of twocore centers that were designed as paradigm shifts of development in Cairo.

BICYCLE TOUR

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PUZZLE 03 The vision for the project is to develop a fully integrated luxurious project that stands out in the area and meets a real need of luxurious living components within this dense area.

The project should be a mixed-use development of high-end luxury residential service departments as well as a 5-star hotel with 100 -120 keys.

The project should have inside it all the basic services needed for the residential and hotel components to operate efficiently, example: clubhouse, minimarket, wellness center, entertainment facilities ... etc.

The land plot is almost flat. No topography change is available throughout the area.

Setbacks: refer to the district regulations for the exact setbacks.

All parking plots to be underground, no parking on surface is allowed.

The number of parking floors shall depend on the required capacity for the achieved BUA. Entry to the project should be from the back or side street. Only hotel drop off is allowed from Thawra street.

BICYCLE TOUR

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APPR OACH 01

OF LIFE “SNIPPETS THROUGH LUXURY OF

CHOICE

MAHMOUD EL-KADY RANA KHALED SHAHENDA IRAQI ZEINA ABDEL DAYEM

“

Designing a compound to be a connector of diverse user groups in the city through an iconic character that redefines the trajectory of the future without compromising the past. The project poses what does it feel to be living at the edge of the urban sprawl and at the corner of Heliopolis urban life. In such doing, the project tackles this question through capturing the permeability of the city through snippets of spatial qualities. The site acts as a transitional zone from the oldest parts of Cairo to the newest. This shows time to be the dominant factor of growth. The theme of capturing the snippets of life allows a striking yet rhythmic navigation through space. The architectural character is materially developed by providing a provocative metaphorical envelope that is large and segmented, however acts as a shading shelter through mega structure to embrace the community underneath.

APPROACH 01: SNIPPETS OF LIFE THROUGH LUXURY OF CHOICE

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PUZZLE 1

SMALL STREET

MEDIUM STREET

LARGE STREET

DOWNTOWN

APPROACH 01: SNIPPETS OF LIFE THROUGH LUXURY OF CHOICE

HELIOPOLIS

NASR CITY

NEW CAIRO

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PUZZLE 2

APPROACH 01: SNIPPETS OF LIFE THROUGH LUXURY OF CHOICE

MANIPULATING SPACE-TIME FABRIC

ANALYSIS

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ANALYSIS APPROACH 01: SNIPPETS OF LIFE THROUGH LUXURY OF CHOICE

ANALYSIS

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PUZZLE 3

SNIPPETS OF LIFE THROUGH LUXURY OF CHOICE

APPROACH 01: SNIPPETS OF LIFE THROUGH LUXURY OF CHOICE

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APPROACH 01: SNIPPETS OF LIFE THROUGH LUXURY OF CHOICE

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APPROACH 01: SNIPPETS OF LIFE THROUGH LUXURY OF CHOICE

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APPROACH 01: SNIPPETS OF LIFE THROUGH LUXURY OF CHOICE

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APPR OACH 02

“BEAUTY IN THE

WITHSUBLIME

NOURAN SOLIMAN

SALMA EL-SHAFEY SHROUK MOHAMED ZEINA HAZIM

“

“Beauty within the Sublime” is a proposal that develops two main concepts: 1) The nocturnal city where minds reconstruct the city many times over forging new maps and narratives in response to its restlessness, transformation of night versus day. The built environment is transported at night, which is a loose third place between the natural world and stark configuration of daytime city. 2) The forest: a porous, incomplete spatial confinement with free flowing and organic experience. These two concepts are used to develop the masterplan’s main approach of “SUBLIMITY”. Finally, the sublime in urban design is to experience an awe of something larger than ourselves. We can feel small in comparison to a larger affect of place. But we also recover a sense of self-worth with the realization that our minds are even able to conceive something so large and powerful.

APPROACH 02: BEAUTY WITHIN THE SUBLIME

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HELIOPOLIS

DOWNTOWN

PUZZLE 1

SUBLIME VS. BEAUTY

LARGE STREET

MEDIUM STREET

SMALL STREET

LARGE STREET

MEDIUM STREET

SMALL STREET

APPROACH 02: BEAUTY WITHIN THE SUBLIME

NASR CITY NEW CAIRO

LARGE STREET

MEDIUM STREET

SMALL STREET

LARGE STREET

MEDIUM STREET

SMALL STREET

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PUZZLE 2

APPROACH 02: BEAUTY WITHIN THE SUBLIME

CAIRO: DESIGN FOR INCLUSION

ANALYSIS

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ANALYSIS APPROACH 02: BEAUTY WITHIN THE SUBLIME

ANALYSIS

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PUZZLE 3

APPROACH 02: BEAUTY WITHIN THE SUBLIME

BEAUTY WITHIN THE SUBLIME

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APPROACH 02: BEAUTY WITHIN THE SUBLIME

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APPROACH 02: BEAUTY WITHIN THE SUBLIME

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APPROACH 02: BEAUTY WITHIN THE SUBLIME

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APPR OACH 03

KORBA “ SKY COMPOUND LINA AYMAN

OMAR ADEL OMAR EL-SISI

“

Offering a new life in the skies for Korba residents as we created an elevated bike track to be enjoyed. The aim for the project is to increase human and social interaction within the community. This will be achieved by creating flying terraces and bridges that create direct connections between the community and their residential blocks. The terraces will circulate throughout the community which will create an interesting user experience through the courtyards and between to each other. Each courtyard will have a distinct activity or function that will serve the community and hopefully overall connect the people together.

APPROACH 03: SKY KORBA COMPOUND

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PUZZLE 1

SMALL STREET

MEDIUM STREET

LARGE STREET

DOWNTOWN

APPROACH 03: SKY KORBA COMPOUND

HELIOPOLIS

NASR CITY

NEW CAIRO

51

PUZZLE 2

APPROACH 03: SKY KORBA COMPOUND

FREEDOM AND QUALITY OF LIFE

ANALYSIS

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PUZZLE 3

APPROACH 03: SKY KORBA COMPOUND

SKY KORBA COMPOUND: A NEW LIFE IN THE SKIES

URBAN ANALYSIS

URBAN VISION

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MASTER PLAN

ELEVATIONS

APPROACH 03: SKY KORBA COMPOUND

3D SHOTS

ENVIRONMENTAL APPROACHES

BICYCLE LANES

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APPROACH 03: SKY KORBA COMPOUND

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APPR OACH 04

“AB

PLACE IN E T W E E N

FARAH NOUR

MAY EL-GHAWAS NADINE NAZMI YARA IBRAHIM

“

With the constant urbanization and expansion to the outskirts of Cairo, people sought refuge from the noise and chaos of the city to the newly promised sanctuaries of luxury. However, with time, people found the desert cities’ silence as deafening and its isolation as alienating. Rethinking the urban configuration, social stratification, and loss of community, people started to long for vibrance, interconnectivity and liveliness of the city. “A Place in between” is a proposal that uses sound urbanism to create a serene built environment. The proposal develops cognitive tools to generate a soothing environment that breaks into the silence of alienation by offering a place in between the congested bustling city and the fragmented new city. With the site geographically located at the edge of Heliopolis and beginning of New Cairo, a place at the heart of the city is being reclaimed at a pivotal continuum between the edge of an era and beginning of another one. The desire for connection and liveliness offers an unprecedented sound experience that creates a balance. A sanctuary at the heart of life reclaiming our deepest desires of serenity and connectivity.

APPROACH 04: A PLACE IN BETWEEN

61

HELIOPOLIS

DOWNTOWN

PUZZLE 1

A SEARCH FOR FRESH AIR

LARGE STREET

MEDIUM STREET

SMALL STREET

LARGE STREET

MEDIUM STREET

SMALL STREET

APPROACH 04: A PLACE IN BETWEEN

NASR CITY NEW CAIRO

LARGE STREET

MEDIUM STREET

SMALL STREET

LARGE STREET

MEDIUM STREET

SMALL STREET

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PUZZLE 2

APPROACH 04: A PLACE IN BETWEEN

LIVELY URBAN COMMUNITIES

ANALYSIS

65

ANALYSIS APPROACH 04: A PLACE IN BETWEEN

ANALYSIS

67

PUZZLE 3

APPROACH 04: A PLACE IN BETWEEN

A PLACE IN BETWEEN

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APPROACH 04: A PLACE IN BETWEEN

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APPROACH 04: A PLACE IN BETWEEN

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APPROACH 04: A PLACE IN BETWEEN

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APPR OACH 05

“D

Y - N E C T

AMINA ASHOUR

HANA AL-MANADILY NOUR EISSA NOURAN KOTRY

“

“Dy-nect” creates a city that merges between the sense of place in Korba and today’s compounds. It tries to achieve this challenge through vitality, connectivity and connection between public and private. DY-NECT optimizes visual scenarios by making use of linking and connecting focal points with the existing neighborhood around the site. This “un-gating” approach of exterior-interior kinesthetic relationship led to creating the main experience, which will be within the connections and resulting spaces, which lead to dynamic connections on multiple layers. Creating an underground level to be the connection between public and private. The ground level being the connection at one level through interlocking nodes that unites DY-NECT’s community with the working class outside, called “the Ideal spine”, in reference to the industrual complex on the site before demolishment, in which the neighboring community used to work there before the decision to commercialize the site and turning it into a compound. Henceforth, the proposal aims to redress the relationship between people and the future development by creating spaces of mediation to blur stigmas, mitigate tension and connect communities. Finally, street in the sky acts as a connection and an exclusive experience within itself that relates the two main interactive spaces.

APPROACH 05: DY-NECT

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PUZZLE 1

SMALL STREET

MEDIUM STREET

LARGE STREET

DOWNTOWN

APPROACH 05: DY-NECT

HELIOPOLIS

NASR CITY

NEW CAIRO

79

PUZZLE 2

APPROACH 05: DY-NECT

LEARNING FROM THE PAST TO BUILD THE FUTURE

ANALYSIS

81

ANALYSIS APPROACH 05: DY-NECT

ANALYSIS

83

PUZZLE 3

APPROACH 05: DY-NECT

DY-NECT

85

APPROACH 05: DY-NECT

87

APPROACH 05: DY-NECT

89

APPROACH 05: DY-NECT

91

APPR OACH 06

“T R A N S C E N D AHMED SELIM

ESRAA ASHRAF OMNIA ABDEL-HAY SALMA AL-MASRY

“

“To go beyond the range or limits” – As the name implies this project promises a new definition of home, a place that provides its users with a unique experience physically and intellectually. The multilayered spatiality allows integration rather than fragmentation both on horizontal levels across the paths or vertically beyond which there is no definite limit for the innovation and integrity. The idea was to enhance the emergence of sub-communities through open-clusters, while still creating a single unit for an integrated community. The dynamic lines and paths allows for lingering and enjoying space. With its very critical location at the edge of Almaza and the beginning of New Cairo, the “transcend” proposal will take the liveliness of Al Thawra right into the project with interconnected levels of heart, body, and mind. Allowing people to be involved with all their senses by the movement of buildings and paths, a new place is generated where they experience the possibility for dynamic engagement, energetic movement, and a sense of belonging.

APPROACH 06: TRANSCEND

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PUZZLE 1

SMALL STREET

MEDIUM STREET

LARGE STREET

DOWNTOWN

APPROACH 06: TRANSCEND

HELIOPOLIS

NASR CITY

NEW CAIRO

95

PUZZLE 2

APPROACH 06: TRANSCEND

REVIVING CONTINUITY IN URBAN DESIGN

ANALYSIS

97

ANALYSIS APPROACH 06: TRANSCEND

ANALYSIS

99

PUZZLE 3

APPROACH 06: TRANSCEND

TRANSCEND

101

APPROACH 06: TRANSCEND

103

APPROACH 06: TRANSCEND

105

APPROACH 06: TRANSCEND

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APPR OACH 07

“THE

HOLISITIC

MARAM NAZMY

NADA ADAWY RANA GEITH SHEHAB EL-SHAZLY

“

The HOLISTIC design proposal triggers the heart, mind, and body by creating a comprehensive experience through enacting and complimenting the solid and void of buildings with open spaces.

The juxtaposition of voids with its spatial flow generates an opportunity for social interactions, community growth, and enhancing the overall quality of life. In doing so, the project aims to embrace the historical spatial qualities of Egyptian neighborhood Heliopolis surrounding the site thus creating lively nodes to integrate different levels of experience. The HOLISTIC experience was achieved by 1) activating the heart through passionate moments and elevated experiences, 2) engaging the body through healthy environments and active facilities, and 3) triggering the mind through intelligent knowledge and smart design.

APPROACH 07: THE HOLISTIC

109

PUZZLE 1

SMALL STREET

MEDIUM STREET

LARGE STREET

DOWNTOWN

APPROACH 07: THE HOLISTIC

HELIOPOLIS

NASR CITY

NEW CAIRO

111

PUZZLE 2

APPROACH 07: THE HOLISTIC

REVIVING WALKABILITY

ANALYSIS

113

ANALYSIS APPROACH 07: THE HOLISTIC

ANALYSIS & INTERVENSION

115

PUZZLE 3

APPROACH 07: THE HOLISTIC

THE HOLISTIC

117

APPROACH 07: THE HOLISTIC

119

APPROACH 07: THE HOLISTIC

121

APPROACH 07: THE HOLISTIC

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APPR OACH 08

AS A MOD“ TIME ERATOR OF SPACE AHMED ALY

AMGAD ALEEM MAHINOUR YASSER MARWAN EL-MENSHAWY SALAM HIDAYTALLA

“

The GATE develops a mixed-use development that uses time as a moderator of space. The intent is to harmonize the dialogue between occupants of time, which will be achieved by creating choreographed experiences that inspire the heart, trigger the mind and activate the body. This will be done through architecture, nature, and the people. Where social interactions, perception, urban recreation, and the sensory experience of city life take place. The corridor from the gate towards the edge illustrates stepping down hierarchy from the dominant to the subdominant. While the edge is a zone of interactivity towards the intersection between Fathy Elkhashlan Street and Hussein Kamel Street.

APPROACH 08: TIME AS A MODERATOR OF SPACE

125

PUZZLE 1

SMALL STREET

MEDIUM STREET

LARGE STREET

DOWNTOWN

APPROACH 08: TIME AS A MODERATOR OF SPACE

DAY AND NIGHT HELIOPOLIS

NASR CITY

NEW CAIRO

127

PUZZLE 2

APPROACH 08: TIME AS A MODERATOR OF SPACE

SAME BLOCKS DIFFERENT CODE

ANALYSIS

129

ANALYSIS APPROACH 08: TIME AS A MODERATOR OF SPACE

ANALYSIS

131

PUZZLE 3

APPROACH 08: TIME AS A MODERATOR OF SPACE

TIME AS A MODERATOR OF SPACE

133

APPROACH 08: TIME AS A MODERATOR OF SPACE

135

APPROACH 08: TIME AS A MODERATOR OF SPACE

137

APPROACH 08: TIME AS A MODERATOR OF SPACE

139

FINAL JURY AUC architecture students participated in the sponsored studio “Creating Lively Communities,” where they presented urban design proposals to a jury for a site owned by NAMAA Real Estate. For the studio proposals, the students presented their urban and concept designs for an actual site owned by Namaa, offering an alternative vision and a business model for the site that would connect with the city and the community in a socially sustainable and economically balanced system. “The support of the Developer to allow this opportunity to take place and listen to outsidethe-box solutions reflect the bright side of future collaborations that can reciprocally change how the market operates and produce a city-for-people that is not solely driven by profit but also driven toward sustainable, lively and interconnected communities,” El-Husseiny added.

Winning Teams First Prize Team Maram Nazmy Nada Adawy - Rana Geith - Shehab El-Shazly Second Prize Team Ahmed Selim - Esraa Ashraf - Omnia Abdel-Hay Salma AlMasry Third Prize Team Nouran Soliman Salma El-Shafey - Shrouk Mohamed - Zeina Hazim APPROACH 08: TIME AS A MODERATOR OF SPACE

141

APPROACH 01

APPROACH 02

MAHMOUD EL-KADY RANA KHALED SHAHENDA IRAQI ZEINA ABDEL DAYEM

NOURAN SOLIMAN

SALMA EL-SHAFEY SHROUK MOHAMED ZEINA HAZIM

APPROACH 05

APPROACH 06

AMINA ASHOUR

HANA AL-MANADILY NOUR EISSA NOURAN KOTRY

APPROACH 08: TIME AS A MODERATOR OF SPACE

AHMED SELIM ESRAA ASHRAF OMNIA ABDEL-HAY SALMA AL-MASRY

APPROACH 03

APPROACH 04

LINA AYMAN

OMAR ADEL OMAR EL-SISI

FARAH NOUR

MAY EL-GHAWAS NADINE NAZMI YARA IBRAHIM

APPROACH 07

APPROACH 08

MARAM NAZMY NADA ADAWY RANA GEITH SHEHAB EL-SHAZLY

AHMED ALY

AMGAD ALEEM MAHINOUR YASSER MARWAN EL-MENSHAWY SALAM HIDAYTALLA

143

A U C BICYCLE T O U R The AUC cycling tour is a tradition brought forth by the urban design studio as part of understanding the cycling infrastructure in the city.

The session has taken place over the past three semesters and hope it develops as a tradition across our student body around campus. The activity has a positive impact on the students’ health and well-being, as well as integrating it pedagogically.

In the session, students will learn the bike-lane standards and right of way by practicing them themselves.

The activity also demonstrate several scenarios for the design of street intersections to allow for pedestrians, and bike-riders simultaneously at the prescribed and already existing bike lanes of campus. There will be an inner tour around the back route of SSE reaching to the Gardens, then we will explore the campus’s bike lanes that exist in the parking area and plateau in front of the PVA. This session adopts the active-learning pedagogy.

BICYCLE TOUR

145

BICYCLE TOUR

147

R E F L E C T I O N S “It has been a rollercoaster of emotions, but one that has left a unique and everlasting impact on me ... I have enjoyed the fresh perspective it has given me on all the elements of urban design and planning, from a bench in the street to an entire city.”

“ Model Model Model Model Model Model Model Model Mode”

“It is different than all the other courses in the architectural program as it not only teaches us how to design a master plan but also it opens our minds to experience and deal with different situations every studio”

“With all its ups and downs, I am glad for the results that we came out with at the end of the course. The course was without doubts enlightening and beneficial, as it was our first time to encounter an urban design course, and creating a masterplan on our own”

“Where do I start from, it’s really been an urban roller coaster like Dr. Momen said in the very first time he emailed us for the first studio, and ofcourse we still had to prepare a reading. I have always been told that urban studio is the most hectic work load in the entire department, but no one told me about the feelings ... ready to clean up the city’s urban mess ” APPROACH 08: TIME AS A MODERATOR OF SPACE

149

BEHIND THE SCENE

APPROACH 08: TIME AS A MODERATOR OF SPACE

151

THE TEAM INSTRUCTORS DR. MOMEN EL HUSSEINY DR. ASHRAF BOTROS TEACHING ASSISTANTS MARIAM AZMY MOSHIRA AYAD MUHAMMAD EMAD NADA GEMIEI OMAR ASSEM REEM KHALIL SALMA OSMAN

APPROACH 08: TIME AS A MODERATOR OF SPACE

153

TEAM LEAD BY DR. MOMEN EL HUSSEINY

Cover and Template Design: Nada Gemiei Team members: Mariam Azmy, Moshira Ayad, Muhammad Emad,

Omar Assem, Reem Khalil, and Salma Osman BICYCLE TOUR

THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO D E PA RT M E N T O F A RC H I T E C T U R E ARCH 4532 : URBAN DESIGN AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE © AUC ARCHITECTURE 2019 155