Shortlisted for the 2021 Peter Mackenzie Smith Book Prize
Five Books Best Art Book of 2020
"A brilliant guide to this modern age and makes for a perfect walking-tour companion, speaking not only of the buildings and their historic significance but also of that era." —Yasmine El Rashidi, The New York Times
"From grand visions that fail with the departure of a president to everyday buildings knocked down before they can be considered for heritage protection, a new book unpicks what Egypt’s capital might have been. . . It’s a rich buffet."—Oliver Wainwright, The Guardian
"The book is an invitation to remember the city through its urban fabric, but also a call to arms to protect its inestimable heritage; those buildings that each echo back to a moment in time, or at least remind us of its passage."—Gilles Khoury, Financial Times
"Cairo since 1900: An Architectural Guide not only fills an immense gap in the architectural history of the region, but also makes a much-needed intervention into the history of global modernism. The urban fabric of this cosmopolitan and vibrant city is described in rich detail, with information on the architects as well as the patrons who gave shape to it. It will serve as an essential guide to understanding, visiting, and studying modern Cairo."—Kishwar Rizvi, Yale University
“The Egyptian capital, for too many visitors, is a bewildering urban fabric to be traversed in search of antiquity, circumnavigated to reach the pyramids of Giza, or bisected rapidly to reach historic mosques. Yet to the trained eye sprawling Cairo’s modern fabric spells out the fascinating history of twentieth-century Egypt. Scholarly and user-friendly at the same time, this indispensable guide is a veritable Rosetta stone for decoding the various languages in which the quest for modernization and identity was expressed in concrete, steel, brick, and stone.”—Barry Bergdoll, Columbia University
"The abundant architectural production which has dotted Cairo since the early twentieth century with dozens of remarkable structures has never been thoroughly documented. This guide is a revelation and will help, thanks to its clarity and precision, both locals and visitors to discover the astonishing buildings which have crystallized the modernization of Egypt's capital."—Jean-Louis Cohen, New York University Institute of Fine Arts
"Cairo since 1900 is a timely addition to our appreciation of Cairo's urban fabric. With meticulous research and beautiful photographs, Elshahed offers us a unique survey of the city's modernist architectural gems."—Khaled Fahmy, University of Cambridge
"Architectural historian and publisher Mohamed Elshahed is safeguarding the architectural history of Cairo – and the rest of Egypt."—Rima Alsammarae, Architectural Digest (Middle East)
"[A] call to arms, a rallying cry to take another look at the everyday fabric of this richly layered city."—The Guardian
“Mohamed Elshahed gathers and presents source material for critical debate about Cairo’s modern legacy. . .[and] aims to survey an overlooked body of work and to reveal its social and political foundations.”—Gideon Fink Shapiro, The Architect’s Newspaper
"Everything from bridges to gardens, from iconic buildings to unknown residential buildings with a story to be told."—Shaimaa S. Ashour, Maydan
"It not only documents the past but also the future. . . to remind us of where Cairo is and where it is heading."—N.A. Mansour, ArabLit
"Extraordinary and unreservedly recommended"—Midwest Book Review
"Elshahed has performed a sterling service in putting together his guidebook, which anyone interested in Cairo’s modern architecture will immediately want to have."—David Tresilian, Al-Ahram Weekly
"[A] handsome illustrated guide. . . for the housebound archi-tourist (and that’s most of us right now), it’s the next best thing to a ticket to Cairo International Airport."—Azure (Canada)
"For those seeking architectural armchair travel experiences, I would heartily recommend Cairo Since 1900"—Romas Viesulas, Five Books
"Cairo's modernism—as described by Elshahed—isn't defined by any particular philosophy, whether local or foreign. Instead, its hallmark is an eclectic hybridity."—Marcia Lynx Qualey, Qantara.de
"[T]he book is beautifully designed, as elegant and functional as many of the buildings it documents. It is a small, compact, softcover volume that can be carried along as one explores the city."—Ursula Lindsey, Al-Fanar Media
"Elshahed counteracts the city’s selective amnesia by cataloging the legacy of groundbreaking professionals who shaped the cityscape mainly from the 1920s onward."— AramcoWorld
"Must-read" — L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui
"Comprehensive"—Jane Levere, Metropolis
About the Author
Mohamed Elshahed is a researcher, curator, and specialist on architecture, design, and material culture in Egypt. He holds a PhD from New York University and an MA from MIT. He is the curator of the Modern Egypt Project at the British Museum, founder of Cairobserver.com, and was recently featured on the Apollo: International Art Magazine podcast, “40 under 40.”
Mercedes Volait is a research professor at the CNRS (Centre national de la recherche scientifique) in Paris and an associate researcher at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. An architect and art historian by training, she specializes in the study of Orientalism in architecture, design, and antiquarianism in connection with Cairo in the nineteenth century. She is the author of several books on the art and architecture of Cairo.
