The Urban Green II workshop gathers architecture students to design small-scale urban interventions in the informal settlement of Ard al-Liwa. The workshop took place in ALFABRIKA Creative Lab and Makerspace in Ard al-Liwa. The concept designs aim to address the problematic relationship between private premises, shops and building entrances, on the one hand, and the streets and public realm, on the other, thus focusing on thresholds and interstitial spaces in such a densely populated urban fabric. The prototypes produced during the workshop will be reviewed by community members, tested on-site, and implemented through local craft workshops.
This project is supported by The Dutch Embassy, in partnership with Everything Earth and Cascoland, 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 and bringing together architects, designers and art students along with craftspeople and artisans, through a direct exchange of formal training and practical and grounded knowledge.