Writing on architecture, design, and the discipline of seeing, from the WASF Collective.
cultureIn The GEM
Inside the Stores of the Grand Egyptian Museum
Inside the Grand Egyptian Museum, a group of commercial spaces negotiate the relationship between brand identity and one of Egypt’s most significant cultural institutions. From Beanos and Dima to Nakhla, Azza Fahmy and Okhtein, five designed stores within the GEM draw variously on ancient Egyptian history, materiality, museological display and the visual identities of their respective brands. Through conversations with the designers and founders behind the projects, the article explores how each space responds to the museum’s architectural and cultural context, and how a commercial space can establish its own identity within a setting that already carries such a powerful voice.
HistoricalFrom Dior to Nubia
From Cairo to Aswan: Two Events by Dina Iskander
Dina Iskander, event designer and founder of Boutique de Fleurs, has spent over three decades designing events across Egypt and beyond, creating experiences in which space and scenography are as carefully considered as the occasion itself. Her projects within historic spaces are particularly concerned with how an event can respond to the physical and symbolic character of its setting. Two major projects, an exclusive lunch designed for Dior in 2022 at the historic Muhammad Aly Palace in Shubra and a magical three-day private wedding in Aswan and Nubia, illustrate how this approach takes shape across different spaces.