Preserving architectural heritage in historical cities; Study of the architectural heritage with the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century in Alexandria, Egypt.

Abstract

This presentation for my paper to the12th International Conference on Structural Repairs and Maintenance of Heritage Architecture (STREMAH 2011) in Italy, which talk about Alexandria with its urban and architectural heritage which has been influenced by resident foreigners descended from various nationals who spread all over the city by the end of the nineteenth century. That gave Alexandria a unique pattern of architecture that included a blend of several classical European patterns, with their diversity and richness. These unique patterns have lasted until the first years of the twentieth century.
Alexandria has been altered with the political, economical and social conversion during the second half of the 20th century. Alteration has occurred due to other causes as well. To mention, the migration of the foreign nationals from the city, while reversing rural migration toward the city, along with a high-density growing population. This led to seriously different and controversial cultural and intellectual points of view. The second half of the 20th century has witnessed a process of destruction to this distinctive architecture heritage. This happened for the reason of an overwhelming spread of concrete buildings and towers that lacked the aesthetic architectural sense.
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the value and the potentials of this architectural heritage. Also, to underline the successive individual attempts that have been taken into practice for preserving this heritage in Alexandria. In addition, this paper will attempt to reach appropriate guidelines to guarantee that preservation processes will compromise only by reserving the rights of private properties within an unbiased attitude towards the owners of such heritage. This will occurs through searching into other countries’ previous experience and efforts in preservation processes for such valuable buildings.