This conversation is the first of three recorded in Cairo about Cairo. Beth Stryker and Omar Nagati, through the description of their research and design work, introduce us to the post-revolution city and its multiple forms of informal architectures. We begin by evoking tbe numerous passage ways of Downtown and the work of Cluster to rehabilitate two of them. We then describe these forms of informality, the danger in romanticizing them — by systematically assuming that they advance the common good — and what can be learn from them. We then conclude by problematizing the act of cartographying what was not ...

Grounded Urban Practices → are projects, initiatives or offices who use space as a key agent of change → are rooted in communities, social movements or local areas → are critical of the status quo → experiment with legal, financial and organizational models as well as strategies, methods and tools A wave of Grounded Urban Practices has emerged in Cairo after the 2011 revolution and in Amsterdam/Rotterdam during the 2008-2012 financial crisis. After almost a decade of experimental research and interventions challenging business-as-usual spatial production, many GUPs in both contexts face several difficulties today. In Egypt, the regime has managed to restore order, while in ...