Take an Architectural Tour of Cairo with Salem Charabi — Reimagined for Clarity and Engagement
Bold opening hook: Cairo isn’t just a city; it’s a living archive that reshapes every traveler who leans into its chaos. And this is the part many miss: its past isn’t stored in museum halls alone—it thrives in the streets, the crafts, and the intimate rooms where history is made anew every day.
I’m Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, sharing a personal gateway into Cairo through the eyes of architect Salem Charabi. My own background is a blend of Egyptian and Danish roots; both parents are doctors who met in Copenhagen, where I grew up. My journey isn’t about displacement but about making a deliberate choice to explore. Every school holiday, I visited family in Egypt—my father has six siblings—and those trips filled my memory with images of Downtown Cairo: driving with my fighter-pilot cousin, or watching my grandmother, Oufa, iron in the hallway of her home. As I’ve grown, I’ve realized that traveling from Copenhagen—traditionally orderly and sanitized—has broadened my world in profound ways.
This summer, I moved to Cairo full-time. The city’s vastness isn’t only physical; it’s layered with history and stories that keep rewriting themselves. Founded in 969 CE by the Fatimid dynasty as Al-Qāhirah, meaning “the Victorious,” Cairo has seen Ayyubid, Mamluk, and Ottoman eras. Like a palimpsest, its narrative keeps being overwritten and added to. Yet, when you lean into its chaos, Cairo reveals surprising generosity. The best approach isn’t to fight the momentum but to follow a loose plan from point A to point B and let the rest unfold.
Egyptian architect Malak Abdelhady inspired me to relocate. My training is in architecture, and since 2017 I’ve been growing a furniture practice near Copenhagen using limited materials. Here in Cairo, I’ve encountered an abundance of craftspeople, domestic techniques, and materials I hadn’t imagined. The city is already transforming my work in unexpected and exciting ways.
Cairo’s most intense expression of history’s compression is the City of the Dead, a vast necropolis dating back to the 7th century. It is a living cemetery where graves, mosques, homes, and artisan studios exist side by side. You’ll see glassblowers and blacksmiths, as well as silk-rope makers who use the length of the street to weave their wares. Just to the east of the Mamluk cemetery lies the 15th-century complex of Sultan al-Nasir Faraj ibn Barquq, a major funerary monument that includes a mosque, a school, a beautiful courtyard, and one of the era’s finest rooftop views.
Cairo is a city of cars, and a taxi is often the most practical way to move around. Yet the most rewarding experiences happen on foot, especially in Al-Darb al-Ahmar—”the red path” in Historic Cairo. This district welcomes guided tours through its narrow lanes, and it’s home to more than 1,000 artisans, from tent makers to furniture makers. It’s a quintessential Cairene setting where plans frequently derail, inviting unexpected discoveries—such as spending hours watching an artisan carve bronze figurines. The deeper you explore, the more you’ll discover that Egyptian craftspeople operate within a rich culture of knowledge sharing.
Al-Darb al-Ahmar also houses the Egyptian Architecture House—once the home of the 20th-century architect Hassan Fathy. His work blends Ottoman and Mamluk influences and features intricate Islamic architectural models. Fathy’s influence extended beyond design; he wrote plays, spoke about craft, culture, engineering, and politics, and he conceived the village of New Gourna in Luxor using mud brick. His technical drawings are preserved at the American University in Cairo’s Rare Books and Special Collections Library.
Fathy’s close collaborator and friend Ramses Wissa Wassef is another pivotal figure. Living now on a compound of the Wissa Wassef Art Center in Harrania, I’m setting up a small atelier there. My first project is a series of stone chairs carved by Luxor sculptors. The Wassef workshops welcome visitors, and nearby is the Adam Henein Museum, whose lush garden hosts modernist sculptures and animal-inspired forms, including a monumental Noah’s Ark. For me, it stands as Cairo’s counterpart to The Noguchi Museum.
If you venture farther, a drive about 80 miles southwest leads to the Fayoum Oasis, where a community of potters, weavers, and basket makers lives among dunes and lakes. Pigeon is a local delicacy, and farms dot the landscape. The towers that rise above urban rooftops—whether built from ceramic pots or attached to buildings—speak to the resourceful power of architecture in Egyptian life.
My personal favorite site is the Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun, one of Africa’s oldest complete structures. Built with red brick in 87 AH, its space is a masterclass in architectural clarity. The tulip-shaped minaret is both monumental and humble. A decade ago, the sense of timelessness I felt during a visit remains striking. Climb to the rooftop to hear the call to prayer—its sense of time and place is extraordinary. In photos, it may look solitary, but in reality it sits among a web of other architectural forms, which is precisely the beauty of Cairo.
BARS, Cafés, and Restaurants to Explore
- Foul Zaman Abou Youssef, 4 Al Shawarbi, Bab Al Louq, Abdeen
- Tasha Restaurant, 39 El Sayeda Zeinab
Things to Do and Places to Visit
- Adam Henein Museum: adamheneinmuseum.com
- Al-Darb al-Ahmar tour: aldarbalahmar.com
- The American University in Cairo’s Rare Books and Special Collections Library: library.aucegypt.edu
- Egyptian Architecture House: egyptarch.gov.eg
- Khanqah of Sultan al-Nasir Faraj ibn Barquq: El-Gamaleya, Manshiyat Naser
- Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun: Ahmed ibn Tolon Sq, Tolon, ElSayeda Zeinab
- Wissa Wassef Art Center: wissawassef.com
Notes and practical tips
- Getting around: While Cairo’s traffic can be intense, many highlights are best approached on foot or via guided strolls that reveal the city’s hidden craft networks.
- Planning: Have a flexible route from A to B, but be prepared for delightful detours that reveal artisans at work and overlooked architectural gems.
- Local networks: Engage with craftspeople and galleries; their openness often leads to spontaneous demonstrations and conversations that deepen understanding of Cairo’s architectural culture.
Controversial or thought-provoking prompt to end: Cairo’s revival of ancient craft traditions alongside rapid modernization raises a question worth discussing: should modern cities preserve traditional methods in their original forms, or should they evolve by blending them with contemporary practices? What’s your stance, and how would you balance heritage with progress in a living city?
