The second period lasted from 1805 until around 1940. During this time, Egypt turned its face to modernism under Muhammad Ali (1805–48) and later as a British protectorate (1882–1954). To the west of the old town, new housing and business developments were created based on French models and occupied largely by Europeans. Towards the end of the 19th century, roughly 600,000 Egyptians and 30,000 Europeans lived in Cairo.
The third period, which began in the 1940s, witnessed an impoverishment of the population. The wealthier sections of society moved into the new suburbs, while the historic centre of the city became a haven for the rural population that came in search of work. The urban infrastructure was inadequate for this influx of people. By 1980, more than 30 per cent of the Egyptian population lived in Cairo.
When Egypt gained independence in the 1950s, the building style in the city changed radically. Classical influences were replaced by the International Style, and a programme of “socialist housing construction” was planned. In some districts of the city centre, there were as many as 150,000 inhabitants per km2, and 60 per cent of the housing in these areas was declared dilapidated.
Cairo is one of the fastest growing metropolises in the world. In 1960, it had some 4 million inhabitants. Today, it has an estimated population of 18–19 million. Confounding all predictions to the contrary, however, the city is still in good health – despite its constant circulatory disorders. In recent times, the government has also been making an effort to save the medieval town from further decay.
Old Cairo, the city of a thousand minarets, covers an area of 3.87 km2. According to a survey carried out by the Comitée de Conservation de l’Art Arab at the beginning of the 20th century, there were roughly 450 building monuments within this area. The list has not been systematically updated since that time, so that many important structures built in the 19th century are not included. The historic city was placed on the UNESCO’s world cultural heritage list in 1979. On taking office in 1981, President Mubarak described the infrastructure of his capital as a “scrap heap” and made large sums available for its improvement. An underground railway line was built from Heliopolis to Helwan to relieve congestion on the roads, and flyovers were cut through the city centre. In all these developments, however, the old town has scarcely played a role, and the decay of the building fabric has advanced dramatically.
International aid to save the historic city centre enabled a Polish-Egyptian team of experts to begin a rehabilitation project in the northern cemetery in 1972. Since 1973, the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) has also been collaborating in rehabilitation work in the old town. A neighbourhood has been selected where the magnificent Fatimite palaces once stood and where a series of historical buildings are to be restored. The purpose of refurbishing an entire narrow street was to draw the inhabitants into the scheme, to communicate a sense of responsibility for the historic building fabric and to stimulate personal initiatives. To date, the DAI has rehabilitated 12 buildings. The work is dependent on donations, which have come, for example, from the twin city, Stuttgart, and from the cultural support funds of the German Foreign Ministry.
An initial concept for the rehabilitation of the entire historic centre of Cairo was drawn up in 1997 in the context of the United Nations’ Development Programme. This report forms the basis for a scheme inaugurated by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture in 2000, in which more than 80 individual buildings are to be refurbished. At the same time, plans are being drawn up for the rehabilitation of whole neighbourhoods. Unfortunately, the implementation of schemes of this kind usually founders on the complex patterns of ownership.
Other major problems are the constantly rising groundwater level and the air pollution in the city. In large areas of Cairo, the groundwater is only a few centimetres below floor level. The pollutants in the water, which escape from a ruinous sewage system and ultimately find their way into the ground, cause heavy damage to the foundations and walls of many buildings. This process of destruction is accelerated by the air pollution in the city.
Since there is unlikely to be any major improvement in the environmental situation in the next 10 to 20 years, the German Archaeological Institute has sought ways of tackling the problem of rising damp in individual buildings. One such object is a well house erected in 1744 by Abd ar-Rahman Kathuda al-Qazdagli (ills. 5–9). Buildings of this type had been constructed since the 14th century to supply the population with water. They consist of an underground cistern that was filled with water carried from the Nile. The actual well room is situated at street level above the cistern, from which the population drew water through brass gratings over large openings in the floor. In most cases, these structures have an open school room on the first floor where orphans were taught the Koran. The present example has an elaborately ornamented facade on three sides (ill. 5) articulated with columns and round arches. The well room was completely lined with faience tiles (ill. 6). Between 1895 and 1902, the Comiteé de Conservation de l’Art Arab carried out the first restoration work, in which missing and broken tiles were replaced with stocks from the museum. At the beginning of our own refurbishment scheme, we suggested a new use for the building, namely the installation of a traditional Islamic tea house on the upper floor in the former Koran school room (ill. 9). The Ministry of Religion rejected the plans because, according to Egyptian law, buildings with a religious background may not be used for commercial purposes. This law thus prevents the reuse of more than half the historic buildings in Cairo (excluding the mosques), which is a further reason why they are condemned to decay.
Between 1980 and 1984, the German Archaeological Institute had conducted a comprehensive restoration of this building financed by the city of Hamburg. The faience work, which had broken away from the lower areas of the walls as a result of efflorescence, was almost completely lost. It was renewed with tiles made in Turkey. The new tiles were fixed with a synthetic resin adhesive to a layer of lime mortar on the brick walls. After only a few years, the rising damp in the walls led to a crystallization of salts and a pressure on the tiles that forced them from the wall, thereby destroying the majolica. In 1994, a decision was made to remove the remaining tiles from the 1984 restoration and to attempt a new rehabilitation. Since it was not possible to damp-proof the walls, the tiles could not be relaid in mortar. The principle underlying curtain-wall construction was applied instead. After partially removing the salts from the walls with cellulose compresses, a stainless-steel frame was erected on which water-resistant coated gypsum panels were fixed with a 5 cm spacing to the original brickwork. The new tiles, made in Cairo and based on historical models, were adhesive fixed to the panels. Since the bed of mortar in the original wall construction was up to 15 cm thick, it was possible to finish the new areas of tiling flush with the original finishings to the upper part of the wall. An open joint was left at the abutment between the two to allow for ventilation of the rear cavity.
Today, roughly 10 years after completion of the work, the curtain-wall principle has proved effective. No new damage has occurred. Measures of this kind are aimed at the con- servation of only individual objects or constructional elements, of course. It is high time that the Egyptian government or international institutions addressed the problem of the high groundwater level. As a first step, the ruinous sewage system needs to be renewed and possibly relaid at a greater depth.
Another handicap to conservation measures is the lack of experienced craftsmen. The author plans to establish a training centre in Cairo where local building workers can learn the techniques required for the preservation of historic structures. This would also be a means of creating employment. This pilot project is seen as an information point for the population, where landlords, property owners and architects can enquire about refurbishment and the means of financing building work. The accommodation exists, and the idea has met with a warm response, but funds are still lacking.
