@phdthesis{Elrasoul, author = {Elrasoul, Riham}, title = {Designing Urban National Memory}, doi = {10.25643/bauhaus-universitaet.4048}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:wim2-20191212-40489}, school = {Bauhaus-Universit{\"a}t Weimar}, abstract = {The study of memory, architecture, and urban space has been the interest ‎of ‎researchers ‎from the diverse fields around the world due to, the significance of dealing ‎with ‎memories ‎especially after the tragedy of the Second World War. Nations in Europe has chosen ‎not to ‎neglect ‎their past, moreover, overcoming it by strengthening the national identity. An ‎approach was clear in ‎the literature, art, further in the way of rebuilding their cities; that mainly ‎has reflected on the ‎value of urban spaces and their role in narrating the country's national ‎memory. Thanks to this ‎approach, which has supported the post-war European nations to invite ‎to an act of ‎ forgiveness rather than to forget. ‎ On the contrary, memory, in relation to architecture is a form of knowledge has been ‎neglected in Egypt, especially during the previous decades after the declaration of independence ‎from the colonial power, and since 1952 revolution. Recently, a rising debate about Egypt ‎national history and the need to renationalize the Egyptian historical consciousness has rapidly ‎grown up, due to the political transformation has occurred because of the 25th uprising, 2011, ‎which unveiled the power of public spaces in constituting the nation thoughts, especially Tahrir ‎square.‎ At the same time, this has unveiled the results of neglecting the past instead of overcoming it; unveiled a present carries the danger of conflict and repeating previous mistakes. Researchers, historians, politicians, governmental organization, have ‎worked in the purpose of revisiting the historical information, and have tried to document the ‎current transformation of the 25th uprising. There was a public demand for redesigning Tahrir square to reflect the ‎memory of the uprising as a symbol of the power of the public. However, after eight years, those ‎memories have faded as if the 25th uprising has never happened. ‎ Those circumstances are very relevant to the gap between urban design and the art of ‎memory-work, in the scientific field. Few studies in Egypt conducted the concept of memory in ‎relation to urban spaces, however, the matter requires more attention, to associate the need for renationalizing Egypt ‎memory, with viewing urban space as a mean of narrating the country's national memory and ‎reflecting the citizens' current thoughts, as a try of nearing the distances between ‎competing ‎narratives. Therefore, the research aims at developing a methodological framework that should ‎contribute to renationalizing memory through urban space. Further, benefiting from the German experience by investigating lessons to learn. That is based on the hypothesis that, although there is no fixed formula for all countries to renationalize the historical ‎consciousness of memory through urban spaces, lessons to be learned from Germany experience ‎could be a driving dimension when designing Egyptian urban spaces with a concept of memory ‎as an essential factor. To guide the validity of the study's hypothesis, a set of research questions are thus ‎formulated: Starting from why memory is an essential factor when designing urban spaces? ‎Regarding Egypt national memory, how it was constituted through history and how to read its ‎representation on urban spaces? Also, the study quests the means of nationalizing memory ‎through urban spaces? And What are the learned lessons from the German experience?‎ The study tries to answer those questions. Via an inductive ‎analytical ‎methodology ‎which ‎moves from the gap of knowledge and from a particular situation ‎in Egypt, to study the German ‎experience in renationalizing the concept of memory through urban spaces.‎ ‎ Within the scope of the study, exploring Egypt prevailing narratives and the inherited ‎concepts which influenced the national memory is essential. Moreover, the research develops ‎analytical political psychosocial model that could help reading memories in urban spaces, ‎memory's actors, and memory influences. To validate this model, case studies are analysed in ‎light of the concluded aspects. Consequently, the expected result is to infer broad general ‎learned ‎lessons for the Egyptian case. ‎ Research findings and conclusions answer the research questions, interpret literature ‎review, recommend some guide points to three target groups: first, practice field; to encourage ‎designers to value the national and collective memories when designing urban spaces. Second, to ‎ask policymakers to take the public participation into consideration, when taking decisions related to urban ‎development. Third, the thesis recommends future researches of urban memory that connect ‎theoretical information with the practice field. ‎ Finally, enhancing the memory-work in relation to the national narrative, conveying a meaningful message, when ‎designing urban spaces could encourage citizens to learn, to interact, and to dissolve boundaries ‎between the competing narratives in post-conflict societies.‎}, subject = {Erinnerung}, language = {en} } @article{DamirMeyerAziz, author = {Damir, Mirhan and Meyer, Martin and Aziz, Hellen}, title = {Patterns of Detachment: Spatial Transformations of the Phosphate Industry in el-Quseir, Egypt}, series = {Urban Planning}, volume = {2023}, journal = {Urban Planning}, number = {Volume 8, No 1}, publisher = {Cogitatio Press}, address = {Lissabon}, doi = {10.17645/up.v8i1.6053}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:wim2-20230524-63805}, pages = {1 -- 16}, abstract = {The establishment of phosphate mines and processing plants by Italian entrepreneurs in el-Quseir in 1912 revitalized a town that had faced a steady decline after the opening of the Suez Canal and re-linked it to the world economy. To this day, the now defunct industrial site occupies a large section of physical el-Quseir and plays a key role in its identity. In this article, we explore the impact of the company's successive industrialization and deindustrialization based on archival research, interviews, and mapping. By tracing physical changes on-site and in the city of el-Quseir from the founding of its phosphate industry until today, as well as the historical and current interactions of citizens with the industrial facilities, we hope to better understand the "cluster value" of the industrial plant in quotidian life and the effect of the vacuum left behind after the termination of production. As machinery and buildings are slowly eroding in the absence of expressed interest by the former Italian and current Egyptian owners, we aim to discuss the relationship between the citizens and their el-Quseir phosphate plant as a crucial element of its heritage value at the local level.}, subject = {{\"A}gypten}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Damir, author = {Damir, Mirhan}, title = {Recalling the Omitted: Exploring the Spatial Development of the Modern Industrial Legacies in Egypt. The Case of Alexandria.}, doi = {10.25643/bauhaus-universitaet.4619}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:gbv:wim2-20220329-46196}, school = {Bauhaus-Universit{\"a}t Weimar}, pages = {237}, abstract = {The modern industries of the 19th and 20th centuries had multiple effects on the spatial transformation of cities and regions. The past decade has witnessed increasing scholarly and governmental attempts toward conserving modern industrial heritage in the so-called Global North, with the goal, among others, of leveraging this heritage as a driver for urban economic development. In Egypt, the process continues to lag behind; on the one hand, this is due to the perplexing official recognition of the (in)tangible witnesses of modern industries. On the other hand, the official recognition and previous publications focus predominantly on weighing the significance of industrial structures based on their monumental architectural aesthetics. Their historical urban role and spatial attributes as part of urban heritage have yet to be seriously acknowledged. Accordingly, this hinders the integration of the extant industrial sites into the broader debate surrounding urban conservation, leaving them vulnerable to decay and destruction. This dissertation steers away from the singular investigation of selective modern industrial sites to recall their historical spatial development on a city scale. This is effected by investigating a case study - the Egyptian port city of Alexandria. With the limited secondary data available on modern industries in Alexandria, this dissertation relied predominantly on primary sources. The author collected and leveraged both quantitative and qualitative data to recontextualize modern industries in terms of their spatial dynamics, order, and rationale within cities' transformation. By recalling historical spatial development in Alexandria, the contribution of this dissertation lies in highlighting what the author refers to as the Omitted Heritage. This is defined by the modern industries in Egypt that are intentionally, unintentionally, and forgetfully excluded in terms of physical documentation, evaluation, appreciation, and integration within urban development plans. The method used excavated the richness of the established modern industries in Alexandria in terms of their quantity and diversity, which would have otherwise remained largely forgotten. The contextualization of modern industries unveiled spatial periodization, spatial dynamics, and conceptual development. The study draws on important analytical aspects that transcend the sites' boundaries, elevating their significance to the municipal, regional, national, and even global levels. Its recommendations for further research are also divided into those levels.}, subject = {{\"A}gypten}, language = {en} }