Reassessment of the compatibility of new functions for historic structures and the urban settings around them: Example of the old Damanhur City Hall - El-Behaira, Egypt
MSA Engineering Journal • 2023
Publication Information
Authors
Mona Y. Shedid ;
Nelly Shafik Ramzy;
Ayman Abdel Hamid Amin
Keywords
Adaptive reuse projects; Old Damanhur City Hall; Damanhur Opera House; Damanhur Center of Artistic Creation; Heritage building preservation and urban space enhancement
Journal
MSA Engineering Journal
Publisher
MSA Engineering
Volume
Volume 2
Issue
ssue1
Pages
141-167
publication.type
Local
Paper Link
Open Link
Supplementary Materials
Not Available
Abstract
In Egypt, there are more and more initiatives including building reuse in the surrounding metropolitan areas as a result of the necessity to make compromises between the physical environment's historical significance and present necessities. It was challenging to develop an explicit framework for assessing various experiences due to the qualitative character of this process and its reliance on multiple points of view. This study intends to accomplish the following three goals using a qualitative approach, a descriptive-analytical methodology, and data from both theoretical and field studies: first, to offer precise, literature-based indicators or measures for assessing adaptive reuse projects; second, to utilise these indicators or measures to evaluate the adaptive reuse of the former Damanhur City Hall (now the Damanhur Opera House and Center of Artistic Creation); Third, to draw attention to the reasons for criticism of decisions involving adaptive reuse through this analysis. The project's evaluation based on the specified measures included semi-structured interviews with stakeholders. According to the study's findings, although most of the physical criteria for adaptive reuse were met, according to the respondents' assessments, the procedure fell short on the social criteria. The study's findings urge cautious adjustment of Egypt's laws and regulations governing adaptive reuse, with the participation of pertinent parties to ensure sounder decision-making.
Staff Members - Benha University