Browsing by Author "Amer N.A."

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Appropriate technology and design-build program in architectural education
(Cairo University, 2015) Amer N.A.; Architectural Engineering Department; MSA University; Giza; Egypt
Architectural education may face challenges to successfully integrate appropriate technology and participatory approach in the design course program. The present work aims at clarifying the privilege of adopting the design-build program in architecture design studio and how this was achieved and fulfilled by the faculty members in architecture department in MSA University. The study has a multi-stage structure; staff perception and observation of students' performance, implementation of a questionnaire on the course program and gained experience in the different topics and activities, and the evaluation of questionnaire results. The questionnaire contains 12 topics and activities covered in Architecture Design V Fall2015, MSA University, and was delivered to 150 students. They were asked to rate the importance of the course components and their gained experience. Their perception was measured through the analysis of the questionnaire results. They were enthusiastic about dealing with residence and by the hands-on activities. This was what made the studio different than the traditional ones. Hands-on activities proved to be crucial in architecture education. There is a need to incorporate design-build program for design studios and students engagement with the community through the participatory approach. Integrating appropriate technology in architectural design studios will raise awareness for architectural students of its importance in professional practice.
Urban transformation of informal settlements in Turkey and Egypt
(Cairo University, 2015) Amer N.A.; Architectural Engineering Department; October University for Modern Sciences and Arts; Cairo; Egypt
Developing sustainable cities is an essential issue in order to solve problems caused by rapid growth of urban populations. The main research problem is that sustainable urbanism is not considered in strategies of developing informal settlements in Egypt. The state does not have integrated strategy to solve the problem of informal settlements expansion. The paper aims to highlight guidelines for development processes and urban transformation of informal settlements. Characteristics of eco-cities are presented. Urban transformation project of old informal settlement in Turkey, Zeytinburnu, is discussed showing how some sustainable principles were considered. Efforts exerted in Egypt to mitigate harmful effects of informal settlements are not effective. The majority of public housing projects in new cities are abandoned and informal settlements are still expanding. The case of Imbaba Airport district is presented as a large ongoing development project. Comparative analysis between Zeytinburnu transformation project and Imbaba Airport project is presented. Despite the drawbacks of informal areas, they have certain features that encourage further expansions. Highlighting those features would help in identifying requirements that should be fulfilled during development processes. Main guidelines for urban transformation projects in informal settlements are presented taking into consideration sustainability while planning to transform them into eco-cities.