ACA Archives - Sayed Karim (Korayem)

Karim is a leading figure in the modern movement in Egypt. After studying architecture in Cairo University, graduating in 1933, Karim went on to complete masters and doctoral degrees at ETH Zurich where he studied with and assisted Swiss architect Otto Rudolf Salvisberg. In 1938 Karim returned to Cairo and established his architectural practice and in 1939 he founded al-imara, the region’s first Arabic language architectural journal focused on modern and contemporary design. Karim’s portfolio included many private residences and villas as well as apartment buildings. In the aftermath of the Second World War Karim became increasingly interested in urban planning and he drafted plans for many new urban centers or urban expansions across the region in locations such as Damascus, Kuwait, Jeddah, and Baghdad. In the 1950s, Karim participated in state-sponsored planning and housing projects, most notoriously Nasr City. Karim’s contribution to modern architecture in Egypt lies in his efforts to bring together the diverse practices in the country by a variety of architects into a loosely defined Egyptian modern movement, which is not restricted to a fixed ideology or manifesto. Besides his many built and unrealized projects, Karim’s ultimate legacy is al-imara magazine, which stands as the single most complete record of modernist architectural practice in Egypt from 1939-1959.
(Mohamed El Shahed)

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