Cairo Municipality
Location
Cairo
Country
Egypt
Construction
1959
Address
Tahrir Squqre
Project Status
Built
Building Type
Public building
Notes
Initially, the building was to house the Cairo Municipality; the location of which was at the Abdeen Palace recently evacuated by King Farouk. The Director General of the Municipality at the time happened to be Mahmoud Riad who was commissioned to build the new headquarters. The team was made up of: Mahmoud Riad (Project Architect), Hussein Bakry, Tawfik Hanafy, Safaa Seroor, Hassan Mansour, and Abd el Moniem Ahmed.
Construction started in 1959. However, the Municipality never enjoyed occupying it for it was always occupied by different parties. Shortly before the members were supposed to move into the new building, the new Socialist Party headed by Gamal Abd el Nasser had occupied the building. After that, in the Sadat era, and after he had formed the NDP (National Democratic Party), it was turned into this party’s headquarters.
In 2011, following the Egyptian Uprisings of the Arab Spring, the building was heavily damaged by fire. The building currently houses the Socialist Union Buiding and is threatened by demolition.
Sources
http://www.riadarchitecture.com/#!__riad-generation01/selected-projects/vstc5=socialist-union
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