My 1990 Exhibition

In mid-1989 it occurred to me that the time had come to gather the drawings, photographs and data of the most important projects I had designed and supervised, or designed only, many and varied as they were, in order to prepare an exhibition. After days of continuous work I had prepared thirty-three boards measuring 0.80 × 1.12 metres, each presenting one or more projects, covering:

• Residential projects (palaces, villas, apartment buildings, low-income housing).
• Heritage projects.
• Airports.
• Sports projects.
• Administrative buildings.
• Planning projects.
• Cultural projects.
• Health projects.

I was happy when the boards were finished, especially when I saw that the drawings, photographs and notes I had placed beside each project told its story better than any commentary. I then considered where and when to hold the exhibition. I discussed it with my colleague and brother Dr Ahmed Moharram, who suggested one of the halls of the new building attached to the Egyptian Engineers' Association, and the board kindly approved.

As I was that year the Architects' Association's nominee for the State Merit Prize in the Arts, I thought it right to hold the exhibition before the Supreme Council for Culture met. By good fortune Dr Mohamed Abdel Kader Hatem agreed to open it himself, on 2 June 1990. The president of the Architects' Association then held a symposium on the exhibition on the evening of 20 June 1990, and how happy I was, while giving my address, to announce to my fellow architects in the audience that I had won the State Merit Prize.

I believe the prize honoured not only me but also all my colleagues working in architecture. My success comes only from God; in Him I trust and to Him I turn.

Written in Arabic by Mostafa Shawky. English translation.