Cairo, as most cities in the Global South, is largely produced informally, posing questions about the role of architects and  designers in shaping their cities. The project aims at bringing together architects, designers and art students along with craftspeople and artisans, through a direct exchange of formal training and practical and grounded knowledge. Further, the project aims at promoting small businesses and enhancing the visual and environmental qualities in informal areas through direct dialogues with local stakeholders. The project is supported by The Dutch Embassy, in partnership with Everything Earth, and is part of a larger framework, titled Informality as Creativity, which is a two-year program, aimed at enhancing the built environment in informal areas in the Greater Cairo Region.

The project was organized around a series of modules. First was a research phase of community needs and challenges facing the public-private interface, and concluding with a design brief. The second phase was an ideational workshop including students, artists and community members to produce concepts and scaled models. A third prototyping phase involved a direct collaboration between designers and artisans (carpenters and metalworkers) to develop samples of the various designs through a consultation of neighboring communities, producing a series of urban furniture prototypes and greening interventions to the street block. The project’s pilot phase was finally concluded with an opening event, with the presence of several community leaders, and representatives from the local municipality. The CLUSTER team presented the project through a street tour to explain the prototypes of furniture and landscaping, and a discussion ensued on ways to expand the experience to other streets and potentially scaling it up to Ard al-Liwa at large.