American University, Cairo

The Selection Process for the Architect:

In 1998 or 1999 when BDC/ Mozhan Khadem was busy designing the Koc University in Istanbul, Turkey, the American University in Cairo preselected some 58 prominent international architectural firms for the design of the relocation of their campus. BDC/Mozhan Khadem was on the initial list. A few months later the client reduced the shortlist to 25 and BDC/ Mozhan Khadem was again included. Subsequently, the shortlist was reduced to 12 and then to six. BDC/ Mozhan Khadem was included in the final shortlist. Request for proposals was issued to the six firms and an architectural design competition was held among them. 

On September 16, 1999, AUC announced that the architectural firm of Mozhan Khadem, BDC/Boston Design Collaborative, had been selected to develop the Architecture, Master Plan, and Urban Design for the new campus. A commitment that later on, for self-serving reasons, the client representative reneged on and had BDC provide only the master plan and conceptual architectural design for the project. The master plan for the new campus as a full-fledged university includes classrooms, offices, and laboratory space for the principal schools–The School of Business, Economics and Communication, The School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the School of Sciences and Engineering. Additionally, the Master Plan included university Research Centers, the Main Library, Media and Technology Center, Athletics Facilities, Physical education, Recreational Facilities, Student Housing, Student Services, Campus Administration, Faculty Housing, Day Care, and a Physical Plant.

Design concept of the Project

BDC’s approach to the Master Plan and Urban Design of the American University in Cairo was based on Mozhan Khadem’s design philosophy of “continuous architecture with a sense of place”.  Mozhan started the design of the project with an in-depth study of the historic architectural and urban design examples of Cairo. He insisted that his design team members become familiar with such examples and the history and artistic culture of Egypt and its region of influence.

BDC conceived the design of the entire AUC campus as the architecture of continuous interior spaces that surrounds the observer rather than the architecture of isolated buildings (solids) that stand apart from him/her. In this kind of architecture, voids become more important than buildings, and the design will become based on the sequence of open spaces and courtyards each designed for different functions of movement, introspection, interaction, and spiritual rejuvenation. As these spaces unfold in a rhythmic and hierarchical sequence before the eye of the pedestrian, they impart a delightful sense of surprise. They acquire their meaning through the movement of the observer through these spaces. Thus, architecture acquires a kinetic quality.

Our approach to design addressed the rising desire for the Egyptians’ identity affirmation in the Middle East. BDC studied the social conditions, history, literature, and arts of the people of Egypt and Cairo. As usual, our approach to design was holistic. Having learned from many significant architectural examples in history, BDC considered the organization of spaces as the “body” of the architecture of the American University in Cairo (AUC, and the design of surfaces both exterior and interior as its “soul”. The facilities were designed to respond to their exacting functional program, as well as to the way of life of their users. The exterior and interior surfaces were designed to recall the cultural memory of the people of Egypt. We tried to understand the importance of traditional arts and crafts of the region, and provide a modern rendition of them for recalling the cherished ideals of the people.

 Thus the winning master plan and architectural design concept of BDC, unlike its competitors, was presented as a single continuous and interconnected architectural whole. The design proposals of all other competitor architects consisted of fifty to sixty or more discontinuous separate buildings with no sense of place.  As stated before due to political and self-serving reasons, the client representative violated the original condition of the competition and once BDC’s architectural concept and master plan were won and completed, rather than letting BDC complete the architectural design work, he segmented the inherently unified design concept of BDC among many architects including his friends and the architects who had lost the design competition to BDC. Consequently, the built architecture of the new AUC campus lacks the harmony and coherence that Mozhan Khadem’s other architecture and campus designs such as the Koc University in Istanbul and the Aga Khan University in Karachi possess. Although the original master plan and design concept and the organization of courtyards and open spaces established by BDC/ Mozhan Khadem were kept intact, the exterior surfaces of the facility were compromised by the addition of superfluous and unrelated motifs that harmed the harmony and wholeness of the original design.

Design Methodology:

Mozhan Khadem was presented with an academic program prepared by Arthur Lidsky, from the firm of Dober Lidsky Mathey consisting of some sixty separate buildings for separate academic disciplines. Since the design philosophy of Mozhan Khadem is based on the design of “Continuous Architecture” and the belief that there should be no physical and educational separation between different academic disciplines. Mozhan Khadem took the following steps for developing the proposal for the design competition of this project.

Deconstruction of the academic program presented by the client and prepared by Dobe, Arthur Lidsky.

(i)- All the spaces of all of the different academic buildings, regardless to which college they belonged, were separated and categorized as (a)- large classrooms, (b)- small classrooms, (3)- seminar rooms, and offices, (4)- large laboratories,(5)-  small laboratories, (6)- offices,  (7)- conference rooms (8)- etc.

(ii)- Many colleges were prepared with pictures of actual historic architecture containing many courtyards and open spaces in important Egyptian and related Middle Eastern architectural and urban design examples. The examples that were used were architectural masterpieces such as Ibni Tulun Mosque, Sultan Hassan Mausoleum, Share el Moezz, in Cairo,  Meydan i Shah in Isfahan,  Al Azhar University in Cairo, Etc. Kairouan  Mosque in Tunisia, Kairaouine University in Fez, Morocco, etc.

The most appropriate college possessing a variety of large public and smaller private spaces was selected as the “guiding college”, which then inspired the final master plan from which the design concept for the university was developed. It consisted of many interconnected open spaces (Voids) and building elements (solids). The central and primary space was a large central courtyard for interaction, large enough to accommodate a population of 5000 people from which many smaller interconnected  open spaces/courtyards radiated. These smaller courtyards/spaces were designed for a variety of physical and mood-provoking functions of community, privacy, introspection, repose, movement, etc. 

Within the master plan, the passages and street spaces for movement were inspired by such actual examples as Share El Moez in Cairo. These spaces for motion were incorporated into the conceptual design of the project.

(iii)- The deconstructed spaces stated in item 1 above regardless of to what college or academic discipline they belonged were organized along the appropriate open spaces thus developed in the master plan / conceptual design of the university. In order to enhance the public life of the campus, large classrooms stated in 1 above were organized along the main public courtyard of the proposed design wherein about 5000 people consisting of faculty, staff, and visitors could simultaneously gather. In order to maximize the traffic along this main courtyard, the Student Center was deconstructed into different parts. Its restaurant and eating facilities were located along one end of the main public space and its shopping and commercial parts were located along the 

other end of the space. The library was located in the heart and center of the main public space of the university. Smaller classrooms, seminar rooms, and offices were located around the smaller courtyards designed to evoke moods of introspection and privacy. The highly specialized laboratories were located in special facilities and courtyards where their requirements for functional specificity could be met.

In this fashion, as one can see, the sixty or seventy different academic buildings were transformed into a singular continuous architectural entity consistent with the wholeness and unity of academic teaching. This approach to Campus design is unprecedented in other colleges and universities and is unique to the way BDC/Mozhan Khadem designs colleges and universities. The winning master plan and conceptual design model proposed by BDC/ Mozhan Khadem demonstrates this kind of unique approach to university design. As one can see on this website, all of BDC/Mozhan Khadem’s designs follow this kind of approach to architectural design

(iv)- furthermore the whole facility was designed based on the planning and structural module of 4mX4m. This modular program would provide internal flexibility for expansion and remodeling whereby one 4mX4m will become office space, 2x 4mX4m a seminar room 4x 4mx4m will become a small classroom, 8x 4mx4m will become a large classroom or a laboratory, etc. Over the last twenty-five years, this planning/structural module had proved very successful for the internal remodeling and expansion of Koc University in Istanbul. BDC/Mozhan Khadem used the same planning module of 4mX4m for the design competition proposal of the American University in Cairo (AUC).

This project has received many awards and recognitions.

The International Design Competition Jury 

LIST OF JURY MEMBERS:

• Ismail Serageldin; architect and V.P. World Bank;
• Charles Correa, architect;
• Ricardo Legoretta, architect;
• John Hayes, AUC trustee and 
• Chair Relocation Committee;
• Elizabeth Driscoll, AUC trustee;
• Tim Sullivan, AUC Provost;
• Kenneth Toepfer, former AUC Executive Vice President.