Building Style
• The island was originally planned as a part of the general plan for the city of Cairo. Haussmann, who was commissioned by Khedive Ismail, developed the plan, and with the help of foreign architects who came to Egypt with him, the European architectural styles prevailing in that period in their countries were brought to Egypt. Moreover, the young Egyptian architects were influenced by these styles, which led to the emergence of new styles that include local features.
• At the beginning of the twentieth century, the term “Neo” appeared, added to the names of the architectural styles that were used to design the buildings of Zamalek. The term refers to the renewal of the old classical architectural styles, resulting in the revivalist styles, which were defined by a contemporary feel relative with the period in which they appeared.
• Such as Neo-renaissance: the Italian Renaissance is a movement that began in Italy in the early 15th century as a break in the continuous European gothic architecture, reverted to classical architectural forms, with gothic methods of construction. Examples of neo-renaissance architecture in Zamalek date back to the 1890s until the 1920s. Some of these buildings display the influence of neo-baroque architecture, while a larger number were inspired by Italian palatial architecture.
• Neo-baroque: was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe structures and architectural sculptures, which display important aspects of the Baroque style, but do not belong to the original Baroque period.
• Neo-classical: Foreign architects introduced the neo-classical style in architecture in Zamalek, as early as the 1910s, through to the 1940s. A number of neo-classical buildings in the Zamalek display an Art Deco influence, some have Art Nouveau designs, while others used innovative neo-classical architecture with borrowed pharaonic elements.
• Art Deco: Although the crowning achievements of Art Deco architecture did not occur in Europe but in the United States, European Art Deco is more common in Egypt. The 1910s through to the 1930s witnessed a diversity of Art Deco architecture in Zamalek, as architects, foreigners, or Egyptians, who were trained at Paris's École des Beaux Arts used Art Deco expressions in their designs.
• Neo-islamic: Twentieth-century Islamic architecture in Zamalek was mostly prevalent in buildings of public use (an institute, a ministry, a train station, a hospital, a cinema, and others). Islamic architecture also influenced the Mediterranean architecture in Egypt.
• Mediterranean: An oriental influence has prevailed in the Mediterranean architecture of Zamalek. Since the turn of the century, the use of Islamic features has been extensive in a large number of buildings.
• Eclectic: Eclecticism is a 19th and 20th-century architectural style in which a single piece of work incorporates a mixture of elements from previous historical styles to create something new and original.
• Modern: The modern style has appeared since the 1940s to the present, and it is the most common building style worldwide. Modernist buildings are generally simple in design and lack any applied ornaments. After 1960 modernism began to play more freely with shapes and structures producing a wider variety of designs including cylindrical buildings, sloping roofs, and unusual shapes.
• Pre-modern: The Pre-modern style appeared from 1930 to 1955, it represented the early stages of the modern style. Buildings in this genre frequently have streamlined shapes or façade designs, and are very often broken into district masses or wings with courtyards or open corners. Common features include limestone or brick facades, stone framing around entrances, smooth stone columns, rounded buildings, or window edges. Windows are frequently arranged in strong horizontal bands or are punched into the façade at regular intervals.
• Neo-gothic: The Noe-gothic style appeared from 1905 to 1930. It is a revival of Gothic architecture, the dominant style of medieval architecture in Western Europe. Building shapes and details have a strong vertical emphasis, with sharply pointed arches and finals. The Neo-gothic draws inspiration from the religious and secular buildings of the Middle Ages.
• Obvious Western influences were incorporated in the buildings designed in the Islamic style, which were designed by the Orientalists.
• The revivalist styles occuring side by side have weaved the distinct architectural and urban fabric of Zamalek Island.
• In order to complete this colourful architectural picture and make it more beautiful, mosaics were used in the architecture of many buildings in the Zamalek district, to form a unique architectural mixture that creatively merges Western and Eastern styles.