Mostafa ShawkyArchitect

Born in Cairo, 6 January 1915

Mostafa Shawky

Architect

Simplicity, purity and honesty of expression

Mostafa Shawky, on the qualities of architecture

Projects Biography

Mostafa Shawky

Half a century of architecture

Mostafa Shawky is an Egyptian architect, born in Cairo on 6 January 1915. He graduated first in his class, with distinction, from the Department of Architecture at Cairo University's Faculty of Engineering in 1938. He earned a Master of Architecture from the University of Illinois in 1947, then worked with the architects Hertzka & Knowles in San Francisco.

He served in government from 1938 to 1960, becoming director-general of planning and buildings at Cairo Municipality in 1956, before devoting himself to private practice. From 1948 he worked with his partner Salah Zeitoun in the consultancy Shawky, Zeitoun & Partners for some forty years; his son, the architect Aly Shawky, joined him in 1977.

He designed and supervised about one hundred and twenty major projects in Egypt and the Arab world, among them Cairo International Airport, Cairo Stadium, the Nasser Institute and the preliminary plan for 10th of Ramadan City, and he was one of the architects of the salvage of the Philae temples at Aswan. He was the first to introduce the modular system as the basis of architectural planning in Egypt, and among the first to integrate works of art into Egyptian buildings.

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  1. 1938BArch with distinction, Cairo University; joins the Government Buildings Department (Ministry of Public Works).
  2. 1947Master of Architecture, University of Illinois; then works at Hertzka & Knowles, San Francisco.
  3. 1956First prize, Cairo International Airport competition; appointed director-general of planning and buildings, Cairo Municipality.
  4. 1963State Incentive Prize in the Arts; Order of the Republic, third class, on completion of Cairo Airport; Order of Sciences and Arts, first class.
  5. 1980The Philae salvage is inaugurated on 10 March; Ingersoll-Rand Prize (Italy) for the best project of 1980.
  6. 1990Retrospective exhibition (2 June) and State Merit Prize in the Arts (20 June).

Selected works

All projects (64)
Cairo International Airport Cairo International AirportAirports · 1956 – 1963 Salvage of the Philae Temples Salvage of the Philae TemplesPlanning & heritage · 1968 – 1980 Cairo Stadium Cairo StadiumSports Nasser Institute for Research and Treatment Nasser Institute for Research and TreatmentHealthcare · 1970 – 1978 Safir Hotel, Dokki Safir Hotel, DokkiHotels Canal Housing Society Tower Canal Housing Society TowerApartment buildings Planning of 10th of Ramadan Industrial City Planning of 10th of Ramadan Industrial CityPlanning & heritage Misr Dairy Pasteurisation Plant Misr Dairy Pasteurisation PlantIndustry & laboratories · 1956 – 1958 Schindler Egypt Elevator Plant Schindler Egypt Elevator PlantIndustry & laboratories · 1975 – 1980
Model of Cairo International Airport
Model of Cairo International Airport – first prize, 1956 competition

In his own words

Mostafa Shawky wrote about his design method, the people and ideas that shaped him, and the happy moments of his career.

Writings