DAMIETTA AN URBAN ANATOMY

SITE D
HISTORIC CORE

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DAMIETTA AN URBAN ANATOMY

CONTENTS

OVERVIEW MAPS SECTIONS

▪ Historical ▪ Landmarks and ▪ Section A-A

Background Surroundings (showing the
▪ Human Behaviors ▪ Site accessibility entrance elevation
▪ Events and and Approach of Amr Ebn EL-
Celebrations ▪ Land use and Ass)
▪ Neighborhood Diversity ▪ Section B-B
Context ▪ Solid and Void (showing Amr Ebn
▪ Agriculture ▪ Street activities EL-Ass from
▪ Art and Behavior inside)
▪ Behaviors ▪ Building Heights
▪ Building
Conditions
▪ Patterns of
Movement
▪ Crafts and
Products

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HISTORICAL TIMELINE

Damietta was The French succeeded From 1517 to 1867

known as In August 1248 the to get into Egypt and Damietta was part
"Tamiatta“"the land cursaders attacked turned Damietta’s of the Ottoman
that produces Damietta ruled by mosque into a Empire with
linen”. Louis the IX. cathedral. interruption of the
during the Coptic French occupation.
period,
From 1069 until
1171, Damietta was
the most important
shipyard in Egypt in
the Fatimid period

TIMELINE OF THE HISTORY OF DAMIETTA

In 1981, the
Egyptian president
In 630, it was In November 1219, In 1250, the Egyptian In 1517,Al-Moiz Aybak Hosny Mubarak
declared as a part The Franks tried to army beat the French and AL-Mozfer Kotoz turned Damietta
of the Islamic attack Damietta but and took Louis IX rebuilt Damietta into one of the most
empire and turned they failed due to hostage, but left because they believed productive cities in
into a textile trading the Siege that Damietta totally that its geographic Egypt and exported
center. surrounded destroyed except for location gave it great their products
Damietta and the the mosque. potential. internationally until
resistance of its the economical
people. problems of Egypt
started

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CULTURAL BACKGROUND

Damietta Bridge Ras El-Bar Lighthouse AL-Hayy Al-Thani.

This bridge was awarded the Arab El-Lissan tourism region, where Providing new job opportunities that
Cities Award for Architectural the lighthouse is located in the contribute to solving the
city of Ras El-Bar, the historical unemployment problem in the Delta
Heritage and was a source of
summer vacation for the governorates. An increase in the
pride and delight for Damietta contribution of the industrial sector in
residents. In front of the bridge, a governorate people and most of
general and the furniture sector
hall with a capacity of more than the Republic's governorates. It is
Expansion of furniture production
2,500 people was built so that the city's cornerstone, located on
governors' meetings could be held the Mediterranean shore at the
there. This area has evolved into point where the Nile branch
the most important cultural meets the sea, where all visitors
center in Damietta Governorate, go to watch the sunset
which is advantageous. Because it
is situated just in front of the Nile
Corniche.

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FAMOUS INDUSTRIES

Sweets Industry Boats Industry

Eastern sweets in Damietta are well known Damietta is known for its boat industries
for its unique and rich flavor. and fishing trips that can last from 10 to
20 days.

Carving on Wood Furniture Manufacturing

Even after the world evolutes Damietta Damietta’s furniture has a good
still cares about handmade crafts that international reputation and is exported
are done in a very professional way. at the local, regional, and global levels.

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ART IN DAMIETTA

People in Damietta have a deep appreciation for

art which appears in the details of their work,
such as, street art, and paintings on the boats.
The painting on the boat is a combination of
drawings and text classified with symmetry that
is one of the visual norms and orders of the
people living there. They also worked with floral
patterns which are mirrored.

Short caption as description of photo.

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SITE LOCATION

The site is located at Al Gabana street, on the other side the mosque of Amr Ibn El As. In front of
the site there is a cemetery that surrounds three elevations of the mosque. The site can be specified
by being in an urban place, giving it the characteristics of an independent place with invisible
borders. The site is surrounded with workshops, stores, and residential buildings.

SOLID AND VOID

The study shows that most of the streets tends to be shaded most of the time as they are narrow
and close to each other. The solids are considerably more than the voids, as the buildings are built
in a cluster form. The cemetery takes a big percentage of the solids presented in the figure.
The site itself has no solids.
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MACRO ACCESSIBILITY

There are public transportations,

such as train station and two bus
stations, but none of them access
through the location of the site. The
minimum duration between any
public transportation stop and the
site is 23 minutes.

MICRO ACCESSIBILITY

You can access the site through the main street, or the inner sidewalks. Motorcycles and bicycles are the
easiest access for its ability to go through the sidewalk streets between the residential buildings. The site
has a moderate accessibility route.

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LAND USE
LAYOUT

GROUND

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STREET NETWORK

PATTERN OF MOVEMENT

The site is an empty land between residential buildings that can be an accessed as an entrance , a way for
any of the buildings around it , or an exit. For that, people take advantage and cross path through the site
supposedly for an easier or faster way.
Some of the sidewalk streets are closed with no exit that makes people have no choice but to walk through.
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APPROACH

This plan shows the view as you

approach the site from different
routes . As shown in the figure
above, there are three different
oblique approaches to access the
site.

.
The most frequent way to reach
the site is from the west,
approach from Salah El-Deen
Street. Students tend to approach
the site from the southern
approach because of the schools’
locations.

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STREET ACTIVITIES / BEHAVIOURS

The street activities are affordable and compatible with the economic state.

Young children enjoy cycling

through the streets of the area.
Most shops and vendors
showcase their products in the
street so that it would be visible
for the people passing by. They
also enjoy sitting Infront of their
shops because of the weather.

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LANDMARKS

Amr ibn el as is the only landmark in the site location. Its not only a landmark, but also the second mosque
built in Egypt it has Kufic writings and columns dating back to the roman era. The mosque consists of a
dome in the center, surrounded by four iwans, and on the western side there is the main entrance to the
mosque, and it is a prominent entrance from its walls and near the door there is a square minaret hall that
was destroyed by an earthquake in ancient times.

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SURROUNDINGS

The site location has three schools: Amr ebn elass elementary school, Salah El-din El Ayoubi School, and
Gamal El din Shiha school.
Small Mosque: Gamal El din Shiha mosque.
There is a huge number of workshops and stores that are located with different specifications.
These surroundings indicate that the area used to be an old residential area, were its residents slowly
started relocating to New Damietta, leaving this area a place for workshops and furniture stores.

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CRAFTS AND PRODUCTS

There are multiple shops and workshops located

around the site that are good enough locally and
internationally. These shops include furniture
shops, wood manufacturing shops, and mechanics.
The shops illustrate the evolution of Damietta’s
economical and industrial sectors.
Nearly more than half of the employees work in
the wood-related industries.

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BUILDING CONDITIONS

Studies show that most residents left the area and allocated in New Damietta, due to the conditions of the
buildings and streets. In the figure above, we can easily notice that this area hold mostly mid-conditioned
buildings.
Some buildings are unfinished or abandoned, so the shop owners utilize them as storage units.

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BUILDING HEIGHTS

As shown in the figure above, most of the residential buildings’ heights are 5 to 16 meters, varying
from two to five story buildings. Nearly all the buildings there abide with the government
regulations regarding the maximum floors' constraints.
The highest buildings are the schools , towers, and newly constructed buildings.

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CLIMATE AND VEGETATION

CLIMATE

7 :oo AM 12 :oo PM
The climate is very moderate.
The figures above shows the shadows subjected by
the buildings in various time periods.
Since the buildings are placed closely to each other,
their shadows create many shaded areas and
spaces.

3 :oo PM
Vegetation

There is a huge lack of planting that impacts economic development as well as ecological or natural
functions.
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LAND PROGRESSION

2007 2013

2016 2018

2020 2023

The progression above shows that the vegetation was strongly visible in 2013 and started to gradually
decrease till today.
The area studies has an abundance in vegetation that affects the area drastically. It is important to the
environment because it produces oxygen, helps to cycle energy and nutrients throughout an
ecosystem, and improves water quality, along with helping to moderate flooding and land erosion.

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ARCHITECTURAL CATALOGUE

ORNAMENTS

The stepped pyramid shaped crenellation in Amr Ebn El-Ass mosque created the same shape inverted in the
negative space between them.
The ornaments were quite simple and mostly made out of wood. They are crafted to decorate the
elevations of the stores and workshops. The bigger the shop is, the more elaborate the ornaments are.

WINDOWS.

Some windows have decorative wooden frames with different shapes, but all of them are minimal and
basic.
The mosque has multiple small openings at the top with hatched shading patterns.

PATTERNS AND FACES

Usually only the frontal façade is painted or decorated, neglecting the other three sides.
The frontal façade is decorated by simple stripped pattern with little ornaments.

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FACADE DESIGN

The façade are decorated with simple ornaments.

They always use wood when building the last floor to forbid any extra floor later on .
The buildings are usually painted from the façade only, neglecting the other sides.

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SECTION

▪ Section A-A (showing the entrance elevation of Amr Ebn EL-Ass)

▪ Section B-B (showing Amr Ebn EL-Ass from inside)

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SECTION

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SWOT
Analysis

Strength 0ppurtunties Weaknesses

• Designing more open • Lack of
• Great products to spaces (greenery) transportation.
serve local and • Export furniture to • Not enough
international international markets services / facilities
residents. which is not less such as pharmacies,
• Welcoming important upon restaurants, etc.
neighborhood meeting local market • Lack of attention to
• Human trained needs. quality standards
staff and excellent • Maintaining the according to
location which possibilities of international
help in access to craftsman proficiency standards,
global markets at in order to pace with • Risks of water
timetable record, technological damage (flood)
and lower evolution.
shipping costs.

Threats
• Increasing rise in the prices of raw
materials.
• Political and economical conditions
of the country

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SITE D
HISTORIC CORE

AR-1 / ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN TWO - FALL 2023/2024