ZAMALEK / The new approach
Creative concept :
At the beginning of the project, we tried to understand what is Zamalek from the people who live in it or visit the city.
Egyptian and foreign visitors think of Zamalek as a fresh Artistic area with beautiful sights. You can go there to relax, empty your mind and enjoy a delicious meal .
Egyptian and foreign visitors think of Zamalek as a fresh Artistic area with beautiful sights. You can go there to relax, empty your mind and enjoy a delicious meal .
People saw Zamalek brand as an experience, and feelings more than just some restaurants and shops. Most of the people have their memories and experiences in its streets.
Description :
Zamalek, along with Maadi, Mohandessin, Heliopolis, and Garden City, is one of the affluent residential districts in Greater Cairo. There are many apartments with sporadic maintenance because the landlords rarely make improvements; there are rent control programs that allow several Zamalek complexes to house low income and middle income Egyptians.
The quiet, leafy streets and 19th-century apartment blocks and villas make this one of the most attractive parts of the city and a favored residential location for many of Cairo's European expatriates due to the fact that many foreign embassies are located in Zamalek. It is also the district of many fine restaurants, bars and cafes, including traditional open-air was and European cappuccino bars. The Gezira Island area is culturally active: with art galleries and museums, including the Museum of Islamic Ceramics; and two of Cairo’s major music and performing arts venues – the spacious Egyptian Opera House complex, and the El Sawy Culture Wheel . Several Zamalek buildings have an Art Deco style.
History :
Under Khedive Ismail the Island was called "Jardin des Plantes" (Garden of Plants), because of its great collection of exotic plants shipped from all over the world. French landscape designer De la Chevalerie designed the island's landscape plan, gardens, and plant nurseries. On the east shore a kiosk was built for attending the island and supervising its development. Although the area is known as "Gezira Island", this is an unknown nomenclature for those living in Cairo and adjacent areas, most Egyptians know the area simply as "Zamalek".
The kiosk was replaced in 1869 with the Gezirah Palace, a U-shaped summer mansion, which was designed by Julius Franz Pasha and decorated by Karl Von Diebitsch. The palace was built and first used for guests attending the 1869 opening of the Suez Canal. Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria and Eugénie, Empress of the French were some of the noble guests of the palace. Today the Gezira Palace is the central part of the Cairo Marriott Hotel, with its rooftop having an open-air theatre facing the Nile.
Other palaces were also built in Zamalek, including Prince of the Sa'id Toussoun's palace, which is now a branch of the Council of Ministers, and Prince Amr Ibrahim Palace (1924), which is now the Museum of Islamic Ceramics. In 1882 the Gezira Sporting Club was built in the southern region of the island. Later a water garden known as the "Grotto Garden", with a rare collection of African fish, was built by British Captain Stanley Flower in Zamalek. Several notable Egyptian figures lived in Zamalek including the Diva of the East Um Kulthum and the famous movie star Salah Zulfikar.
