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Cairo Central Library Bachelor Project (2016)

In Academic, Monday, February 01, 2016

“A city with a great library is a great city”



The Spring 2016 Bachelor Project had the topic of a central library for Cairo.



The project site is an area of c 15,000 sqm close to Tahrir Square, on Nile Corniche, on the site of the former NDP headquarters building, which was set on fire in the revolution of 2011, and which was dismantled in 2015.



The site is perfectly situated and suited for a large public building with an importance for central Cairo, the Greater Cairo region, and the entire country.



A library today is not only a place to read and borrow books, but much more an information hub for all media, whether ancient or contemporary, with not only reading rooms, but also meeting, performance, and event spaces. This becomes even more important in a country with a fast growing and young population, and with multiple everyday restrictions on access to education and information, and a high rate of illiteracy. Cairo Central Library will become a place of education and democracy.



The design project thus dealt with questions of scale, public space, access, media, and use, among others. Materials, light, and proportion played an important role. Students trained to master a complex spatial program and to fit it into a meaningful urban building shape that should be an important element in Cairo´s future urban waterfront.



8th semester


Involved Academics:


Assoc. Prof. Dr. Florian Seidel

Moataz Samir

Omar Diab


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