Nineteenth-Century Cairene Houses and Palaces

As Egypt opened up to Western influence in the nineteenth century, new architectural styles became popular. The main importers and propagators of European styles in Cairene domestic architecture were the family of Muhammad 'Ali, keen to cultivate a fashionable modern image. They viewed photographs of the latest in European Neo-classical buildings and selected the palaces of their dreams. Architects and artists came from Europe to create a variety of glorious palaces, mansions, and villas in Cairo, many in what was then the new desert development of 'Abbasiya. This study, which received the 1994 Frank G. Wisner Award of the American University in Cairo, first explores the introduction and popular adoption of these outside influences in domestic architecture. The author then examines as an example of the architecture of the first half of the century the palace of 'Abbas Hilmi I, and from the second half of the century surveys the villas and urban development of 'Abbasiya.

Year

1998

Language

English

Publisher

American University in Cairo Press

Editions

1

Pages

104

ISBN

9789774243783

Data source: Wikidata