Issue No. 603
Heritage
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12 - 18 September 2002 Issue No. 603 Heritage |
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Mediterranean pearls
The European Commission is encouraging the documentation of 19th and early 20th-century architecture. Nevine El-Aref looks into its significance
Architecture of 19th and early 20th- century in the cities surrounding the Mediterranean exhibits a multiplicity of styles and shows the influence of local and regional trends and tastes -- Roman-Byzantine, Baroque, Ottoman and European. Throughout the centuries, however, urban development and human intervention has led to a deterioration in the splendour of many of these old buildings. Some have fallen into oblivion -- demolished, restyled beyond recognition or transformed into museums, hotels or presidential palaces.
In an attempt to preserve what is left, the Euro-Mediterranean Information Society (EUMEDIS), the European Commission's largest project in its development of a global information network, has launched a documentation project called Patrimoine Partager (sharing heritage) to create focal points for the people of the Mediterranean.
The project is the second phase of the Euromed Heritage programme, launched in 1998 to preserve and develop Euro-Mediterranean cultural heritage. Patrimoine Partager, a French coordinated project by Laboratoire Urbama, Université François-Rabelais de Tour, aims at providing a detailed inventory and guidebook of the buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries. These are spread over all the cities of the Mediterranean and often display a markedly French influence.
The National Centre for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage (CULTNAT) is on Egypt's executive board in the project, a highly significant one for Egypt. "It is extremely important to protect what is left of Egypt's 19th-century architecture," CULTNAT director Fathi Saleh said. He pointed to the taste of the family of Mohamed Ali who constructed a large number of palaces and public buildings in the style then so popular in Europe. The Khedives hoped to give themselves a modern and fashionable image by bringing in European architects. New and efficient means of transport to Europe and India also had a cultural impact on Egypt.
"Every one of these buildings of historical importance has been subject to neglect," Saleh said. "Many were completely destroyed in the face of modern development -- a practice that unfortunately continues. Having them recorded and recognised internationally would be an important step towards their preservation."
CULTNAT's project manager for architectural heritage Malak Wahba said Egypt's task would be to identify buildings suitable for conservation, outline their condition, history and use and detail changes made to the original structure. Current legal safeguards on the preservation of architectural heritage would also be listed and given to EUMEDIS.
The three-year project will be divided into two phases. The first 18 months will be spent gathering analyses, assessing the key elements of any past rehabilitation of buildings and the surrounding areas executed by the national oganisation involved, and physical planning. The second will include an evaluation of detailed past restoration such as decorative elements and will evaluate the current condition of converted buildings. "Recommendations of what we need for proper rehabilitation and what should be developed to bring us to the same level as other countries will be suggested," Wahba said.
Surveys will be made of the area surrounding each building to assess present or planned hazards and infringements, whether urban, agricultural or infrastructural.
Some of the restored buildings already considered for the project are Al-Gawhara Palace in the Citadel, Abdin Palace and the house of the famous political leader and founder of the Wafd Party Saad Zaghloul, all now open to the public, as well as all the buildings in Qasr Al-Nil Street. The Al-Borsa pedestrian precinct and the Egyptian Stock Market are other examples of the recent effort at preservation, as are Ras Al-Tin Palace and the Palace of Princess Fatma, both in Alexandria, the former now a cultural palace and the latter the Jewellery Museum. Among the buildings which have sadly been demolished are the home of Umm Kulthoum in Zamalek and a number of exquisite villas and residential houses in Abbasiya, conceived as an élite quarter by Abbas Helmi I in the 19th century but now an inner city quarter.
"This means the European Union will undertake to carry out feasibility studies. They will assess the condition of each building and detail what has deteriorated or been demolished, and provide the expertise to protect or restore these monuments," Wahba said. The target is not only to preserve the buildings which still stand but also to raise public awareness of conservation problems. "Once the documentation is complete, the results will be published in book form and distributed to other participants in the project, as well as anybody interested in preserving the heritage," Wahba added.
The EU will finance the documentation of selected examples of turn-of-the-20th-century architecture round the Mediterranean to the value of 30 million euros. In Egypt, the project will look at greater Cairo and Alexandria. After that it will be up to individual countries to finance their own conservation and determine, depending on its character and location, to what purpose each monument will be put. Areas looked at so far are Heliopolis, Zamalek, Garden City, Giza, Maadi, central Cairo, Abbasiya and Alexandria.
Egyptian project members are Ain Shams University, the Information and Decision Support Centre, CULTNAT, the General Organisation for Physical Planning and the High Institute of Hotels of Alexandria.
This is not the only project to preserve Mediterranean heritage. An Italian-coordinated project, Strabon, is running simultaneously, also supported by the EU. Strabon aims to control the boundaries of archaeological sites under a similar strategy to Patrimoine Partager, surveying all sites from prehistoric to pre-modern times and suggesting recommendations.
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