The Sustainability of Egyptian Modern Architecture

Abstract

HVAC proliferation has had a lasting effect on architecture, forcing buildings to comply with the infrastructural and newly acquired physiological requirements. Daniel A. Barber argues that air conditioning successfully hijacked modernist internationalism and turned it into an essential tool for extracting and concentrating wealth. In the sustainability discourse, modernist architecture is often blamed for practices and design-logics that are not ecologically conscious. On the other hand, despite ongoing efforts by academics and practitioners to deconstruct current notions of sustainability, sustainability is yet to integrate the rich contributions of modernism. The paper investigates how Egyptian pre-HVAC modern architecture addressed contemporary sustainability concerns through a structured thematic analysis of Egyptian Modernist Sayed Karim's (1911-2005) work. Different features are extracted and mapped in the analysis of four cases to study how the architect balanced between the ecological, social/cultural, aesthetic, and functional motives. Some elements, such as zoning and shared or common spaces, strike a balance between these dimensions and instigate a rethinking of what Egyptian modernists can offer to the sustainable design field. The analysis presented opens a new venue for how today's sustainable architecture movement can benefit from Global South modernism, taking passive ventilation strategies as precedent.