Public seminar: Tailored integrated solutions for Khalifa’s Ground Water Problem

As part of Athar Lina Ground Water Project, the seminar focuses on integrated solutions to the problem of ground water on the urban level, including methods for dewatering, treatment and reusing water in line with the social and economic specificity of the district of al-Khalifa in Historic Cairo.

Seminar discussants:
Brook Muller is Professor of Architecture, Core Faculty member in Environmental Studies, and Director of theGraduate Certificate Program in Ecological Design at the University of Oregon. Brook’s research addresses ecologically responsive, systems oriented design, with an emphasis on synergies between sustainable architectures and climate adaptive urban landscapes. From 1993-1996, Brook worked with Behnisch Architects in Stuttgart, Germany, serving as co-project leader on the IBN Institute for Nature Research, a European Union pilot project for human and environmentally friendly building. In 2009, Brook was awarded the Campus Compact Award for Civic Engagement in Sustainability. Brook is the author of Ecology and the Architectural Imagination (Routledge 2014). He also served as Interim Dean of University of Oregon’s School of Architecture and Allied Arts from 2014-2016.

Joshua F. Cerra is an Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies at Cornell University Department of Landscape Architecture in Ithaca, New York. Prior to joining Cornell, Cerra practiced as a designer and an ecologist on projects in the Pacific Northwest and China. His academic and professional work addresses relationships between urban ecosystems, communities and site development processes, and their implications for urban ecological design and climate adaptation. He was the recipient of the Cornell CALS Young Faculty Teaching Excellence Award in 2014 and the CELA Excellence in Design Studio Teaching Junior Level Award in 2015.

May al-Ibrashy is founder and chair of the Built Environment Collectiveand director of Megawra, She is cordinator of Athar Lina, a participatory initiative integrating conservation and community development based in Historic Cairo. In addition to her practical work as an architect with close to 25 years of experience in architectural conservation and documentation, she is adjunct lecturer of architecture at the American University in Cairo. She holds a BSc in architecture from Ain Shams University and a PhD and MA in art, architecture and archaeology from the School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of London.

Mohammed Essawy is an engineer consultant, and holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Alexandria University and an MA and PhD in Civil Engineering from Cairo University. With extensive experience in the restoration of archaeological and historical facilities, and business development, modernization, construction studies of the various facilities, a study of tenders and feasibility of projects. He also has experience in residential construction, administrative and commercial projects. He participated in a wide range of specialized expertise in the field of scientific seminars as a participant and lecturer with organizations such as UNICEF and the Goethe Institute, and worked on many of the research on soil and foundations.

Kareem Ibrahim is a consultant in urban development and co-founder of “Takween Integrated Community Development.” He has worked on a range of issues, including sustainable architecture, participatory planning, affordable housing, public infrastructure, and urban revitalization across Egypt with a number of local and international organizations. He is one of the founders of “Tadamun” initiative. He is an architect and planner engineer graduated from Cairo University in 1995. In 1997 he worked on the United Nations Development Programme project for the rehabilitation of historic Cairo. He also worked at the Aga Khan Cultural Services – Egypt between 1997 and 2010 in the position of the built environment coordinator for the revitalization project Darb al-Ahmar district, which is one of the most ambitious programs in Cairo urban revitalization.

Mohammad Reda Haggag is a Professor at the Faculty of Urban and Regional Planning, Cairo University, environmental planning and infrastructure department. His experience was obtained in Egypt, Canada, USA, and Saudi Arabia as well as familiarity of other countries of the third world. He worked extensively with local communities, NGOs, as well as with policy and decision makers. He also was one of the leaders of the work on the Information Map of Egypt and the Integrated Rural Development Program, the reform and restructuring of the Egyptian water and sanitation sector, and the development of the National Environmental Plan. He has worked with the water resources agencies and is very familiar with its technical, research, social, and economic aspects and impacts.

Ashraf Abdel Hamid Khadr teacher environmental planning and infrastructure in the Faculty of Urban and Regional Planning – Cairo University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering – Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University and a Master of Civil Engineering – Public works – Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University and a PhD in Engineering from the Military University, Munich, Germany. He has worked as an expert in water, sanitation and disposal of solid waste in many projects such as the planning of industrial area at Northern Kom Oshim- Fayoum Governorate and planning investment zone of al-Wahat al-Bahariyya Road, Giza Governorate and other projects. He is a consultant in the project of environmental sanitation in Upper Egypt in cooperation with Save the Children, UNICEF and USAID.

Ahmed Ebeid is a research scientist at the Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation in Aswan, focusing on z in developing countries.

This seminar will be held in the framework of the conservation school concerned with salt and ground water damage on historic buildings in historic districts by the Athar Lina Initiative – Megawra Built Environment and funded by the American Research Center in Egypt, with additional funding from the American Embassy under the supervision of the Ministry of Antiquities.

In partnership with the Universities of Oregon and Cornell and in collaboration with Cairo Governorate, TU Delft and Takween for Integrated Community Development.

The school explores the following themes:
1. Principles and theories of conservation, methodologies of inspection of historic sites, conditional survey and damage documentation
2. Groundwater, subsurface water and salt damage – damage observation, analysis and diagnosis.
3. Groundwater and salts problems treatment, which includes:
a. on the material conservation level: treatment of architectural and decorative elements.
b. on the architectural level: ventilation and insulation and desalting.
c. on the urban level: dewatering and infrastructure repair.
d. integrated solutions for water extraction, treatment and reuse

*Athar Lina Groundwater Research Project organised by Athar Lina Initiative (Megawra-Built Environment Collective) in partnership with the Ministry of Antiquities and in collaboration with Cairo Governorate, the University of Oregon, the University of Cornell and Takween. Funded by the American Research Centre in Egypt with additional funding from the US Embassy, Cairo.

*The seminar will be in Arabic.
*Location: Megawra al-Khalifa (Khalifa community center)
A Google map showing the directions to Megawra al-Khalifa: http://goo.gl/lvAu0C