Book Review:
Cairo Since 1900, an Architectural Guide by Mohamed Elshahed
by Barbie Kim
“Modernism in Egypt has not been granted national heritage status, as if history stopped at the threshold of the twentieth century.”
Independent curator and author Mohamed Elshahed’s Cairo Since 1900: An Architectural Guide creates a textual and visual exploration of the modern heritage of Cairo through a contemporary lens. The book is the first comprehensive survey of Cairo’s modern constructions which includes 226 buildings in 17 geographical areas built from 1900 to the present. The book allows the reader to look at architectural construction from the perspective of socio-political history, conservation, photography, and urban planning. Moreover, the publication is a window looking into the significance of how twentieth-century socio-political history affects present-day society. Cairo Since 1900 investigates the architectural materiality that highlights the relevancy and interdisciplinarity of art's historical approach to our day-to-day life.
The Book is available here
Follow the author and his online platform Cairobserver on Instagram: @elmo.shahed @cairobserver