PAD. Pages on Arts and Design

5-10

Authors: Marinella Ferrara, Chiara Lecce

Pages on Arts & Design Journal keeps on its intention to stimulate, through its call, original research topics developing around the countries of the Mediterranean area. While the articles of the previous issue #14 examine prior topics such as Design and Circular Economy Model, Design for the Valorisation of the Mediterranean UNESCO Sites and Mediterranean Design History episodes, the present issue #15 comes back to major problems and potentiality of Mediterranean countries. It pays attention to sustainable development of the Mediterranean Urban Space and Cultural Heritage, giving voice to several authors from the Egyptian Academy, but not only. Therefore, these two last issues configure together a set of design discourses and practices that describe a direction toward what we now call “Social Design”. By this expression, we mean a reflective and creative practice able to face the situations of uncertainty, the challenges of social innovation, the awareness, and their sustainable and durable development. The papers presented address the daily vulnerability of citizens and environments, challenging problems concerning welfare and public services with a social impact, with the aim of re-configuring social and environmental politics.

32-50

Authors: Nariman G. Lotfi

Every year, industrial companies in Egypt discard tons of materials during the production process. However, these unused materials can be utilized by small workshops to make new products. The study aims at investigating disposed materials at the industrial stage of a product life-cycle. The research hypothesizes that by applying design-thinking strategies, designers can establish a link between large industrial companies in Egypt and small workshops, thereby creating a sustainable waste management cycle. By implementing this cycle, companies, workshops, and consumers will benefit. The research collected information from all those involved in the production process: engineers, craftsmen, company managers, and users. Findings showed that the materials industrial companies get rid of can be exploited by small workshops. One example of this production chain, glass, was used to offer a practical solution to the industrial waste problem. The research outcome was a waste management system proposal applied using one of the wasted materials. The report shows that design and product quality need not be compromised for the creation of a sustainable product, emphasizing the importance of the designer’s role in addressing this issue.

70-90

Authors: Ahmed Wahby, Nora Kahil

History is preserved by conserving the heritage of bygone periods and without documentation, future generations would not have any access to this past. It is imperative that records of historical events and/or accomplishments are retained and revisited. The history of Egypt is rich and varied. This paper centers on Egypt’s Belle Époque (1930s and 1960s) and the vision that the Khedive Isma’il Pasha (19th and 20th century) had for developing Egypt. The Belle Époque or ‘beautiful era of Egypt’ to date has received relative attention. Periods such as Egypt’s Pharaonic and Islamic eras are well-known and commonly debated as they were, and remain, continuously researched and documented. Documentation of the past generally occurs through the mediums of writing, engraving, painting, photography and cinematography. The motivation for this research study was to extract information from Egyptian feature films to aid as reference source for present and future studies. This research primarily focused on the metropolitan cities Cairo and Alexandria as they were the predominant centers for Egyptian cinema during the period 1930-1960. The latter cities were competing with the top ranked cities worldwide. However, with time they became out of the ranking due to negligence, mega population and ignorance. Somehow, Cairo’s downtown is still maintained comparing to Alexandria’s architecture. However, the disregard for Alexandria’s architectural heritage is sadly proliferating the loss of original building façades. The threat to Alexandria of losing its bygone charm and therefore the greater part of its identity, weighs heavy on the spirits of its inhabitants who wish to preserve their surrounds.

117-138

Authors: Andreas Sicklinger, Alaa Baligh, Sherin Helmy

Despite the strength, beauty and depth found in the Islamic art, people hold limited knowledge towards it, which creates a superficial and limited understanding of the “Islamic” specification in an object or design. Therefore, our aim is to investigate the public’s perception of Islamic Art, using critical design as the framework of investigation. A one-year research project investigated this issue from different points of view. Initially, a survey was made reaching the result which states that people keep a superficial understanding of Islamic art limiting it to decorative patterns and calligraphy. In order to overcome this, a historical research was conducted in order to investigate and understand the belonging of certain design aesthetics and forms to specific dynasties in relation to location and time as a potential knowledge container. However, the people’s awareness about strength and beauty of Islamic art would stay limited. Therefore, a third approach tried to borrow from the Critical design research strategy, which is aimed at leveraging designs to make consumers think about the everyday objects. It challenged peoples’ shallow perceptions about the role of the daily used products, as opposite of affirmative design. A public experiment was conducted in a public park, juxtaposing contradictory design styles through using “unislamic” forms with Islamic decorations and vice versa.