The architecture of the dialogue

The proposed research investigates the spatial transformations that the traditional type of mosque underwent in Egypt in the wake of that cultural revolution which, as is generally acknowledged, marked the birth of the modern era in that country. This paper aims to encourage critical reflection on how contemporary architectural design might once again acquire sense and meaning via the process continuity of building types, creating a bridge between tradition and modernity that makes it possible for history to “persist” and “change”. Between the 19th and 20th centuries, at a time of transition profoundly marked by new technical possibilities and new directions of movement that the opening of the Suez Canal had made possible, Italian maîtres d'oeuvre were engaged in the work of modernization and westernization of Egypt. They imported not only a facade style, but also typologies and, above all, construction systems, techniques, materials, and skilled workers. Paradoxically, the mosque’s building site became a place for meeting, dialogue and listening: a metaphor for peace, reconciliation and inclusion between peoples of different ethnic groups and religions, fraternally and actively involved in the work of building the new face of the modern city. The conception of the sacred space underwent an update in continuity with the inherited autochthonous tradition. The process of adaptation to the new lifestyles, imported from Europe and typical of modernity, ultimately conditioned how the fabric of the city was laid out and ordered.