ResearchCONTEXTUALIZING CREATIVITY, RECOGNIZING INFORMALITY: ON CREATIVE INDUSTRIES IN EGYPTYear: 2023 Location: Cairo, Egypt Scope: Research Client: British Council While the definition of “creative industries” remains elusive, this study attempts to articulate a local scope of its sub-sectors through historicizing and contextualizing its various categories. Currently organized under different ministries and state authorities, creative industries in…
ResearchGROUNDED URBAN PRACTICES: BERLINYear: 2020 Location: Berlin Client: Creative Industries Fund NL Scope: Research Grounded Urban Practices (GUPs) refer to alternative initiatives engaging cities and public space that have emerged over the past decade in response to economic and political shifts. They engage space as an agent for change, an approach known as spatial activism,…
ResearchLOCALIZING SDGs IN AFRICAN CITIESYear: 2019 Location: Cairo, Egypt and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Scope: Research This action-research project attempts to critique and propose alternative and more grounded approach to localizing SDGs in African cities, focusing on Cairo and Dar es Salaam. In 2015, a series of international standards and guidelines was formulated by national…
ResearchEGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE EXHIBITIONYear: 2019 Location: Egypt Scope: Research This exhibition aims to offer a different perspective to the question of Egyptian heritage in general, and modern architecture and urban heritage in the particular. It raises two critical issues: heritage as a verb, and as a site of contestation. Starting from an understanding of heritage…
ResearchGROUNDED URBAN PRACTICES: CAIRO AND AMSTERDAM/ROTTERDAMYear: 2019 Location: Cairo, Amsterdam/Rotterdam Client: Creative Industries Fund NL Scope: Research Grounded Urban Practices (GUPs) refer to alternative initiatives engaging cities and public space that have emerged over the past decade in response to economic and political shifts. They engage space as an agent for change, an approach known…
ResearchWatch Video FORMAL-INFORMAL INTERFACE: FOUR AFRICAN CITIESYear: 2018 Location: Cairo, Dar es Salaam, Lusaka, Ouagadougu Client: AURI Scope: Research The second phase of the project ‘Formal-Informal Interface’ was developed comparatively between four African cities: Cairo, Dar es Salaam, Lusaka and Ouagadougou, engaging the formal-informal interface with four themes: mobility, water infrastructure, food chain and housing…
ResearchWatch Video FORMAL-INFORMAL INTERFACE: THREE EGYPTIAN CITIESYear: 2017 Location: Downtown, Cairo Client: AURI Scope: Research This study engages in a comparative analysis of three cities in Egypt, as a lens to explore the formal/informal interface at several scales within the context of a centralized Egyptian state. It utilizes both CLUSTER’s prior extensive research and capacity…
ResearchECONOMIC IMPACT OF CREATIVE INITIATIVES IN DOWNTOWNYear: 2017 Location: Downtown, Cairo Client: British Council Scope: Research This study aims to offer stakeholders and researchers alike a guide to measuring the economic impact of the independent arts and culture sector on downtown Cairo. Through an economic impact assessment of the arts on the district, it aims…
ResearchDOWNTOWN ROOFTOPSYear: 2016 Location: Downtown Cairo Scope: Research CLUSTER’s Downtown Rooftops research falls within the context of CLUSTER’s broader research endeavor exploring the network of downtown Cairo’s passageways, back alleys, side streets and in-between spaces as an alternative framework for the development and revitalization of Downtown. It is premised on exploring the semi-public spaces of…
ResearchWatch Video STREET VENDORS INITIATIVEYear: 2014 Location: Downtown Cairo Client: SUNY Foundation Scope: Research Street Vendors Initiative critically engages the issue of street vendors in Downtown, and aims at developing strategies and proposals for pilot areas that would address the needs and aspirations of the multiple users and stakeholders in Downtown streets and public space. …