Mohamed Adel Dessouki: Laščak in Alexandria

Thu, Jun 2, 2022 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

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Mohamed Adel Dessouki will present the varied state of Anton Laščak’s architecture in Alexandria and the Save Alex initiative.

About this event

Nonument Group, in collaboration with the Centre for Creativity at the Museum of Architecture and Design, invites you to three Field Events, which will take place in June in three locations: in the park of Villa Rafut near Nova Gorica, in the park of Villa Bled in Bled, and next to the Plečnik Stadium in Ljubljana.

As a prelude to the event in Villa Rafut park, we invite you to a lecture by educator and artist Mohamed Adel Dessouki, who will present the varied state of Anton Laščak’s architecture in Alexandria: from the many demolished buildings to the buildings where informal construction is flourishing and the building that today houses the Museum of Royal Jewellery. This reading will also serve as a starting point for understanding the complex situation of the erasure of Alexandria’s architectural heritage in general. Dessouki is also a founding member of the Save Alex initiative, which has been advocating (since 2012) for the protection of the city’s rich architectural heritage, and drawing attention to the alarming state of its erasure.

Anton Laščak or Antonio Lasciac was a Slovenian-born architect from Gorizia. He built a successful career in the metropolises of colonial Egypt at the end of the nineteenth century. For his architectural merits, he received the noble title of bey and title as an Egyptian court architect. In his old age, he wanted to settle down in the oriental surroundings of Villa Rafut, which he built in his native Goriška. He died in Cairo.

Mohamed Adel Dessouki is an educator and a visual artist who lives and works in Alexandria, Egypt. He got his bachelor degree in architecture from Alexandria University in 2000 and earned a master’s degree from the Arab Academy for Science and Technology in 2003 and a Ph.D. in Architecture from Cairo University in 2012. He is currently an assistant professor of architecture at the Arab Academy for Science and Technology. Dessouki’s artistic practice focuses on memory, architecture and the everyday. Dessouki is a founding member of the Save Alex initiative which has been advocating, since 2012, to protect the built heritage of the city of Alexandria. He also blogs about the city of Alexandria, its endangered heritage, and its history in Gudran Medina Mot’aba (Walls of an Exhausted City).

The lecture will be held in English via Zoom.