Bazar Abbas: Recovery Lab of Port Said Vol.1

Bazar Abbas is a unique hybrid of local architecture and European modernism that has suffered extensive damage as a result of past conflicts on the Suez Canal. This combined architectural typology is repeated in different shapes and forms all over the city of Port Said, a city with a short yet turbulent history: a history of wars and displacements, prosperity and abandonment, colonialism and resistance, marginalisation and power reclamation and many more. These multiple layers of history have been manifested in the architectural and spatial articulation of the city, as well as within the daily life practices of Port Said residents.

Despite its vulnerable status, the 19^th century architectural and urban heritage of Port Said has received little to no recovery measures after suffering in multiple series of wars and conflicts since the mid-20^th century until today. Therefore, the project aims to activate the recovery process of the downtown area through the implementation of small-scale, people-centred strategies for urban conservation and development. The initiative takes Bazar Abbas as a catalytic pilot project not only because this building represents an outstanding architectural heritage but also for its indispensable position in the collective memory and identity of the city, interlinked to conflict, resistance, displacement and daily struggles.

The project offers twofold measures by producing direct tangible results like physical reconstruction and urban heritage mapping while at the same time targeting community empowerment. In this context, the partial reconstruction of the Bazaar will preserve its original features, including the timber verandas. In addition, the combined research, education and training initiatives will recapture the collective memory of the Bazar’s socio-cultural importance, preserve and transfer local reconstruction techniques and eventually provide a model for urban heritage recovery in the historic core of Port Said.

This project consists of two phases:

Phase I: Training and Capacity Building

Phase II: Preparation for Rehabilitation