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ifa-Galerie Berlin Linienstr. 139 / 140 10115 Berlin Tel 030 / 22679616, Fax 22679618 fischer@ifa.de Di - So 14 - 19 Uhr www.ifa.de www.deutsche-kultur-international.de aktuelle Ausstellung / current exhibition vorausgegangene Ausstellung / previous exhibition 10.11. 2006 - 14.01. 2007 URBANreVIEWS Cairo Building and Planning for Tomorrow Projects Randa Shaath Al-Azhar Park and Darb Al-Ahmar Manshiet Nasser Maspiro New Cairo City The Grand Museum of Egypt   The Al Azhar Park   Horns blaring, engines roaring and five times a day the muezzin's call from the minaret ­ this is the sound setting on the streets of the mega-city Cairo. Approximately 17 million people live in the Egyptian capital, and despite the urbanistic and infrastructural difficulties which it is facing, the city clearly shows innovation potential: The ifa gallery Stuttgart presents five projects by urban planners and architects, ambitious solutions via revitalisation and new housing programmes. Design models, plans and animations are complemented by the artistic work of Randa Shaath. Exclusively for the ifa exhibition, the photographer documented the life on the Cairene streets and reveals a megalopolis whose cultural richness goes far beyond touristy clichés. The exhibition shows developments in the city centre as well as in the periphery, architectural solitaires as well as participatory projects: Today the Al-Azhar-Park, a 30 hectare-large "green lung" with its palm alleys and watercourses has replaced a huge detritus in the inner city. The Aga Khan Foundation also undertook the restoration of the adjacent 12th-century-city wall and the Darb Al-Ahmar quarter. Whilst the villas and servants apartments of New Cairo City form an exclusive "gated community" which implements the dream of living on the countryside, the planners of the Manshiet Nasser district work on the constructive occupation of land. 600,000 people live in the informal settlement, which has been built without construction plan on non purchased state-owned ground. Together with the inhabitants, the German Society for Technical Co-operation (GTZ) plans a functioning settlement with water supply, infrastructure, communal establishments, recreational areas and sport facilities. The blueprints for the Maspiro quarter exemplify the diverse types of city planning: Students from Cairo and Stuttgart propose two different designs for the development of the riverbank. One plans the erection of a modern skyline, the other aims at enforcing the connection between Maspiro and the historic city on the other side of the Nile by inserting arterial roads in the quarter and leaving the bank traffic-free. The new Museum, which will be housing the Egyptian collection, will dispose of 92,000 square meters of exhibition area, depots and workshops, and expects to be receiving 15,000 visitors per day. The Dublin-based architecture bureau Heneghan.Peng.Architects was awarded with the first prize in the international competition. The relocation of the Museum from downtown to Giza means a structural shift for both the new site near the pyramids and the old city centre around the traffic junction Midan Tahrir. Architects and urban planners have to come to terms with the complex historical configuration of the city, its constant growth of population and the technical and economical progress in order to conciliate Cairo's cultural heritage with the challenges of the 21st century. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue of 130 pages. It includes texts from Mohamed Salheen, Catherine David/Nuria Enguita and contains numerous pictures. The publication costs 12 Euros. Symposium 26. / 27. Oktober 2006 Kairo ­ Urbane Strategien zwischen Weltkulturerbe und Global City