Revolutionary Modernism? Architecture and the Politics of Transition in Egypt 1936-1967
Mohamed Elshahed has written his PhD in Middle East Studies at New York University (NYU). He has a Bachelor of Architecture from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and a MA in Architecture Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Elshahed’s research focuses on modern urban and architectural developments in the Middle East, particularly Egypt, from the 19th century to the present. His dissertation, “Revolutionary Modernism? Architecture and the Politics of Transition in Egypt, 1936-1967”, argues that 1950s urban and architectural development associated with Nasserism refashioned preexisting architectural production in the service of Egypt’s “necessary transitional authoritarianism”. The state’s developmental programs led by Egypt’s society of engineers focused on spaces of everyday life such as middle-class housing, public schools, and recreational spaces.
As a EUME Fellow, Elshahed will work on a book manuscript based on his dissertation and expand upon it by incorporating other forms of cultural production from the period of his study. Popular cinema, song, and literature will add needed nuance and complement his architecture-focused dissertation to provide a more vivid understanding of this key moment in Egypt’s cultural and political transformations.
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