ProgramsDESIGN COMPETITION: TOWARDS SAFER COMMUTINGYear: 2020 Location: Ard al-Liwa Scope: Program CLUSTER’s ALFABRIKA launched its first design competition in response to the COVID-19 outbreak and the consequent changes and restrictions impacting our social practice and perception of public space. This was a call for creative design solutions to address health and safety concerns in the…
ProgramsWatch Video DESIGN, CRAFT, BRAND: SOCIAL FURNITURE WORKSHOPYear: 2019 Location: Ard al-Liwa Scope: Workshops This workshop, the fourth under the ‘CLUSTER MAKES’ initiative (a series organized by CLUSTER-ALFABRIKA) has a two-fold goal. It aims to map out small crafts and furniture manufacturing workshops to understand the broader landscape of creative industries in Ard al-Liwa and…
ProgramsWatch Video DESIGN, CRAFT, BRAND: FAYOUM WORKSHOPYear: 2019 Location: Fayoum Scope: Workshops As part of the “Design, Craft, Brand” project, CLUSTER and Peacock for Art organized the “Design, Craft, Brand: Fayoum palm reed workshop” in collaboration with local partner FAODA. The project is supported by the Developing Inclusive and Creative Economies, DICE program. The workshop…
ProgramsWatch Video SCAVENGING JUNK, MAKING FURNITURE: UPCYCLING WORKSHOPYear: 2019 Location: Alfabrkia, Ard al-Liwa Scope: Workshops The objective of the first up-cycling workshop, “Scavenging Junk, Making Furniture,” was to engage artisans, introduce new applications of production, and experiment with functional designs while using waste materials in practical pieces of furniture. This second workshop in “cluster makes”…
DesignMUGAMMA REVISITEDYear: 2019 Location: Downtown, Cairo Client: Mada Masr Scope: Design The government administrations housed in the infamous Mugamma building at Tahrir Square are most likely set to be replaced by a luxurious hotel, while the square itself is being renovated. Amid the digitizing of many government services and the relocation of core government functions…
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…
DesignBIKE LANES IN DOWNTOWN CAIROYear: 2019 Location: Downtown, Cairo Client: UN-Habitat Scope: Research and Design Greater Cairo, a megacity of approximately 18 million, faces daunting traffic jams and severely polluted air. Responding to the city’s transport challenges, the Cairo governorate (an administrative region, similar to a state or province), in partnership with the United Nations…
PublicationsGROUNDED URBAN PRACTICES IN CAIRO AND AMSTERDAM ROTTERDAMYear: 2019 This study contains an in-depth investigation of the work of GUPs in both countries, based on an extensive research and several meet-ups with the selected GUPs in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Cairo. The research focused on 1) the roots and reasons behind their emergence; 2) their structure…
PublicationsCREATIVE INITIATIVES: ECONOMIC IMPACT ON DOWNTOWN CAIROYear: 2018 This Creative Initiatives Toolkit offers stakeholders and researchers alike a guide to measuring the economic impact of the independent arts and culture sector as a segment of the creative sector on a district, in this study, downtown Cairo. Through an economic impact assessment of the arts on…