Egyptian Everyday Urbanism: An Urban DIY Exposé – at Venice Biennale 2018

Project Location:     Cairo, Egypt
Competition:            Egyptian Pavilion, Venice Bienniale 2018
Project Team:           Afaf Badran, Lara Waked, Hana Al-Barazi, Osama Marouf, Ali Mosleh Hammad, Menna Badran, AL-shima’a Yusef
Project Status:          Short listed

Our proposal for the Venice Biennale 2018 Egyptian Pavilion is an Egyptian Do It Yourself Urban Exposé.
With the set theme ‘Freespace’, we chose to focus on people making and using space freely on everyday basis in the streets of Cairo. We highlighted not only free space-hacking, but positively, the wonderful energy produced by the ordinary people who want to live and make a living. We brought to light another unique aspect which is the urban sound scape. The proposal aimed at bringing to light the typical Egyptian/Cairo street ambiance with all its vibrance, something that is definitely missed by those who think tourism is about seeing buildings and uninhabited beautiful open spaces or by merely visiting artifact museums.