Historic Restoration of Harawi Residence

Cairo, Egypt

Anna Bardos

INTRODUCTION

The Harawi residence is a private house situated in the

heart of one of Cairo's most architecturally rich quarters,
near to the Al-Azhar Mosque. The building as a whole
was built in 1731, but it also contains a large reception
room dating from the 16th century, and a later addition
of a secondary entrance from the 19th century. It was
restored between 1986 and 1993 by the Mission for
Safeguarding Islamic Cairo and the architect Bernard
Maury.

CONTEXT

Historical
The Harawi residence is known by the name of one of
its last owners, Muhammad Harawi, who occupied it in
the first half of the 19th century. The building was
significantly modified at that time, but luckily the most
important rooms survived this period of modernization.
The building was acquired by the Egyptian Committee
for Conservation of Monuments of Arab Art at the
beginning of the 20th century.
In 1970 a research mission was set up called the
Mission of Scientific Study of the Palaces and Houses of
Cairo of the 14th to 18th Century. This was an initiative
of the Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique
(CRNS) and the French Foreign Affairs Ministry, in
collaboration with the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation.
In the early 1980s Dr. Ahmed Qadi was the head of the
Egyptian Antiquities Organisation. He instituted a new
policy of restoration and safeguarding of important
buildings, which led to many projects.

In 1984, at the request of the Egyptian Antiquities

Organisation, France created the Mission for
Safeguarding Islamic Cairo with the objective of
restoring a monument. France was to provide two
experts, and Egypt was to provide the labor and
materials. Architect Bernard Maury was chosen to direct
the project.

The Harawi residence was chosen in 1985 out of six

buildings in Cairo under consideration for restoration.
Criteria justifying the choice included the significant
architectural, archeological and historical value of the
building, its relatively unaltered state, and its privileged
position in the heart of the urban fabric.

Due to the knowledge acquired of the domestic

architecture of Cairo during more than 15 years of
research, the Mission of Scientific Study of the Palaces
and Houses of Cairo was able to propose a method for
the restoration and to commence work quickly.

THE PROJECT

Spaces and Uses

The mostly three-story house consists of a number of
rooms built around a main courtyard. (Image 1) The
1. Plan of the Harawi Residence
original entrance to the building is from the south,
through a passage off the alley Zuqaq Al-Qasr (1). As in
all houses of this era, the access to the court is crooked
to preserve intimacy. The central court (9) is open to the
sky and provides access to all parts of the building. A
second entrance to the north of the court was added in
the 19th century, accessed from Zuqaq al-Ennabi, and
is the one more frequently used.

The mandara (16) to the east is, as is traditional, divided

into three separate spaces. The central space has an
octagonal basin of mosaic in the floor, with ventilation
through a lantern 14 meters above. Another reception
room, the salon, (12) to the south of the central court is
decorated in two styles Cairene, with geometric
patterns, and Turkish, with floral patterns. The ceiling in
this room bears the date 1731. Other rooms on the first
floor include kitchens, outbuildings and storage spaces.

The second floor is mainly occupied by private

apartments, which are accessed by one stairway to the
west. The Qa'a (35) is a beautiful traditional room, with
floral decoration and plastered walls of slate blue. The
rooms 37, 38 and 47 are similarly decorated, rooms 42
are from the 19th century and of less interest.

Structures, Materials, Technology, and Construction

The foundations of the house are of quarry stones and
2. Detail of the entrance door
rubble held together with earth mortar. They are laid in
trenches dug into the ground, with the greatest depth
being 1 meter and the width varying between 600 to 800
centimeters. These were found to be in fairly good
condition at the outset of the restoration work, and not
too affected by water.

As a general rule, the ground floor walls are faced with

dressed stone, and the higher levels are of plastered
brick. The filler between the stone facings is rubble and
debris held together with a mixture of lime and earth.

The floors are constructed in the traditional manner of a

line of joists, which hold the floor, covered with a bed of
filling material 150-200mm deep as the setting for
flagstones. Lime mortar, about 50mm deep, and stone,
also about 50mm deep, is used for the floor. The
ceilings are constructed in the same manner as the
floors, but the beams are carved and the exposed
underside painted. Roofing also uses this construction 3. View of entrance door from the
street.
method, but the stones are thinner and are
waterproofed.

CONSERVATION OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES

A principle aim of the Harawi house project was to save

an Islamic building of Cairo and to try to create more
momentum in this direction. The restoration of the
Harawi residence is seen as a 'work-school' for the
learning of traditional skills. The completed project can
be seen as a reference tool for future projects.
Throughout the duration of the work, the Mission
pursued the goal of educating the workmen.
Great progress was made in the aim of reintroducing
traditional construction methods, and in training artisans
who could then use their skills elsewhere. The necessity
of bringing in external qualified labor for more
specialized restoration work resulted in many of the
unskilled workers acquiring experience, skills, and even
qualifications themselves.

The second positive result of the project is the

successful integration of the building into the social life
of the quarter, and its wide range of visitors. The quarter
has become cleaner around the Harawi residence, and
the government of Cairo has made efforts to improve
the quarter with new streetlights, resurfacing of certain
buildings, and the regular removal of household waste.

CONSERVATION PROGRAM INTERVENTIONS

A main concern was to respect as much as possible the 4. Details of screens in the
materials used in the original construction, so stone, house.
brick and wood were used according to traditional
practices. The use of lime was reintroduced, as too
often it is abandoned in favor of cement with a
detrimental effect on old buildings. All the materials
used originated locally, and were often salvaged. To
assure the same quality of stone for the floors, pieces
were acquired from old buildings being demolished.
Wood was also found in this way. Only the bricks used 6. View of the interiors.
were of present day manufacture, and these were
covered by plaster.

It was essential that all the work be manual, and so

there were no mechanical appliances or lifting gear on
the site. Of the labor involved, 20% was specialized,
such as that for the restoration of joinery or paintings
and 80% non-specialized, with 90% of all labor
7. External view of the house.
described as native.

In the basement, some stones had been damaged by

humidity and deteriorated through lack of maintenance.
The availability of specialized local labor and materials
meant it was possible to replace defective stones
without the wall above failing a technique that was also
utilized in other areas of Cairo.

The façade on the south of the court showed signs of

profound modification since its original construction.
Under a pointed arched door dating from the 19th 8. Axonometric view of the house.
century were signs of a fanlight, and signs were found of
a large square bay window that had been blocked up
and replaced by three pointed arched windows. Also,
traces of a rectangular opening were found to the right
of the door, at a high level.

When these indications were verified by further

investigation, it was decided to reinstate both windows,
and replace the door. In the process of taking out the
wall filling to reopen the bay window, pieces of a carved
door were found that had been used to block up the
opening, enabling the original 18th century door to be
reinstated.

The façade on the west of the court showed two phases

of construction to the left is a carved stone doorway
from the 18th century, and to the right side are pointed
arched windows from the 19th century, built when the
new north entrance was added. The older doorway was
collapsing due to aging of the mortar, so in the
conservation process it was taken apart and
reassembled with new mortar, then micro-sandblasted
to restore the original color of the stone. The newer part
of this façade required serious restoration only to the
joinery.

The façade to the east of the court required much

restoration at balcony level, with a complicated task of
repairing the beams before waterproofing under the
flagstones. The salon (12) required important restoration
work to the ceiling that was carried out once the bays
were reopened. The ceiling was in very poor condition,
with some beams broken. It was strengthened by sliding
metal structures into the ceiling and the main beams. In
this way they were able to avoid making the additional
structure visible.

The Qa'a above the salon had a particularly broken up

floor, and was also open to the sky as the center of the
ceiling was missing. The ceiling was closed off by an
octagonal element, recalling the lantern of the mandara.
The painted ceilings were carefully restored and then
appropriately lit.

The mandara was missing its lantern and so this was

replaced. The murals were restored, and missing
elements of joinery replaced. Also, the entrance to the
room was moved to its original position as this had been
altered at some stage.
The building's wooden screens and balconies were
waterproofed and protected by tarring. All external brick
construction was re-coated with lime plaster.

Since its inauguration the house has been used to hold

seminars, exhibitions, concerts and dinners, in both the
salon and the mandara.

SCHEDULE OF CONSTRUCTION

1986: Work starts with the restoration of the building's

stone basements. Organizing the work, and more
significantly, the delivery of materials caused much
delay, so that the work did not resume normal speed
until the start of 1988.

1987: Ongoing repair of the structure of the building until

1991 including: repair of brickwork, vital work on both
levels in the west zone of the dwelling, reinforcement of
the floor in the Qa'a and room 37, repair and
waterproofing of the balconies to the east and south of
the dwelling, restoration of the lantern of the mandara,
and restoration of the 19th century parts of the building.

1990:
February: Study of the lighting of the building.

1991:
February: Electric cabling installed.
March: Start of lime coating, and a first test of the
restoration of woodwork, yielding inconclusive results.
November: First attempt to restore the paintings
through the CRETOA d'Avignon.

1992:
January: Trial illumination of the house, which proved
encouraging.
March: The second mission to restore the painted
ceilings, which took one month.
October: Sandblasting of stone walls, which took until
June 1993.

1993:
January: Final electrical installation.
April: Final internal plastering.
June: Lamps installed.
August: Final laying of flagstones.
September: Verification of last details.

September 25th 1993: Inauguration of the house.

THE PLAYERS

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CRNS)

French Foreign Affairs Ministry
Egyptian Antiquities Organization
Mission for the Scientific Study of the Houses and
Palaces of Cairo
Mission for Safeguarding Islamic Cairo
Bernard Maury, Architect

FINANCING

Labor $ 177,710
Materials $ 90,361
Professional consultants $ 530,120
Other costs $ 212,350
Total cost $ 1,010,500

Cost per square meter $790

This cost per square meter is described as average for

work of this kind. Eight percent of the total funds came
from private sources, and 92% from public sources.
None of the public funding was described as from local
sources, 30% came from national sources and 60%
from international. The labor was provided by the
Egyptian Antiquities Organisation.

Bibliography

Maury, Bernard; A. Raymond; J. Revault; M. Zakariya.

Palais et Maisons du Caire II, Epoque Ottomane, XVI-
XVIII siecles. Paris: Editions du Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique, 1983.

Maury, Bernard. Aga Khan Award Project Record, 20th

January, 1998.

Illustration Credits

1-8. The Harawi residence, Images 1 8: Aga Khan

Award for Architecture archives, Bernard Maury.

9. Rotch Library Visual Collections, MIT, Cambridge,

MA, "Plan of Islamic Monuments, 966-1945, detail of
north half, east side."
10 - 13. Maury, Bernard; A. Raymond; J. Revault; M.
Zakariya. Palais et Maisons du Caire II, Epoque
Ottomane, XVI-XVIII siecles. Paris: Editions du Centre
National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1983.

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