IN-PERSON London Heritages. Section A

Abstract

The private-public hierarchy is an important factor in understanding the dimensions of the urban fabric of Cairo during the Ottoman period. This factor dictated the location of buildings within the urban fabric. Furthermore, it dictated the different architecture elements of a building, such as facades, entrances, windows as well as landmark elements, such minarets and domes and domes for religious buildings. The Mahmoud Muharram Mosque is an interesting case study. The location of the mosque within the urban fabric as well as in comparison to two other buildings constructed and/or used by the same Mahmoud Muharram manifest the conscious choice of location of buildings based on their place on the private-public scale. On the architectural level the different elements of Mahmoud Muharram Mosque, such as the main and side façades and entrances, the windows and the minaret manifest the observance of the place of each element on the private-public scale. This paper is a part of a wider study of identifying the tangible and intangible attributes that contribute to the understanding, appreciation conservation and management of Historic Cairo, a World Heritage Site.