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The Revival of Islamic Architecture in Egypt: some notes on the Italian

Conference Paper · February 2005

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Cristina Pallini
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Appeals for preserving the exceptionally beautiful Islamic architecture of Cairo, all too soon
destroyed during transformation of the city into a “Paris along the Nile”, may often be found
in architectural and art journals from the early 1880s to the 1930s, when questions of
preservation frequently led to discussion on how to revive the “authentic” traditions of
Egyptian architecture. 1
One of these articles is by Gaetano Moretti, a prominent architect who visited Egypt in 1901
on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Education: (…) It is strange that a country like Egypt,
where architecture has always shown such remarkable features, and building science has
reached original and unparalleled achievements (from the massive monuments of antiquity to
the elegant products of Arab art), is – despite her present economic and political awakening –
unable to produce any modern building in which local traditions have inspired a revival and
adaption to meet the needs of a modern society 2 (…). Though intrigued by Egypt’s
cosmopolitan life, Moretti deeply regretted that many European architects were reproducing
in Cairo and Alexandria popular features from their own countries, thereby losing the
opportunity to penetrate and reanimate “authentic local traditions,” that he considered as
possessing vital possibilities. As a result of his involvement in debate, then current in Italy,
on how history could aid design - not merely as source of inspiration, but also providing
examples that could be re-interpreted to express a specific problem of modern architecture -
the question of “style” to Moretti was of the utmost importance.
My paper discusses the contribution by Italian architects to the revival of Islamic architecture,
comparing the experiences of Antonio Lasciac (Gorizia, Italy 1856 – Cairo 1946), Ernesto
Verrucci (Ascoli Piceno, Italy 1874 - 1946), Giacomo Alessandro Loria (Mansoura, Egypt
1879 – Alexandria 1937), Achille Patricolo (b. Palermo 1877), and Mario Rossi (Rome 1897
– Cairo 1961). Lasciac, Verrucci and Patricolo worked for the Egyptian royal family and for
the Committee for the Preservation of Arab Art and Monuments (Patricolo as chief architect).
Loria designed a number of buildings for the Ministry of Religious Endowments (Wakf),
where the better-known Rossi also worked as chief architect.

Born in Gorizia, then under Austro-Hungarian rule, Antonio Lasciac’s training was of a
practical nature in the Beaux-arts tradition. He worked for some time in Vienna, 3 eventually
becoming acquainted with the architectural milieu of Rome and Naples. After the British
bombardment of Alexandria in 1882 he moved to Egypt, where the rebuilding of the
European centre marked most of his early work, undertaken for a number of Greek, Jewish
and Levantine notables. He later moved back to Rome remaining there from 1888 to 1895,
working on a large number of projects and participating in major events such as the First
Exhibition of Italian Architecture held in Turin in 1890 (later on Lasciac always kept in touch
with Italy, taking part in architectural competitions and corresponding with several journals).
In 1985 he settled in Cairo, working for members of the Egyptian aristocracy, and in 1907
was appointed Chief architect of the Royal Palaces, a post which he retained until 1914.
During this period he designed the extension of the Abdin Palace (1909-1911) and became
member of the Committee for the Preservation of Arab Art and Monuments. He returned to
Italy in 1915, one of his main projects being a master plan for Gorizia, his native city. In
1920 he returned to Cairo where he continued to work until 1940.

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According to Mercedes Volait, his rich architectural production expresses three “streams”,
each linked to a key stage in his education as an architect: the early years in Vienna, the
period in Rome, his study of Islamic architecture in Cairo. There seems to be no close
relationship between the nature of his clientele and the style of his buildings, all of them of
exceptional quality. He showed remarkable ability experimenting again and again with
architectural language, producing his own “syntax” (the disposition of certain architectural
features and their reciprocal effect): though sometimes conventional in layout, the façades of
his neo-Islamic buildings were always beautiful and highly original (the Palace of Prince
Omar Toussoun in Zamalek, the Abu’l-Rich Paediatric Hospital, 1930). In the case of the
Bank Misr in Cairo (1924-1927) the neo-Islamic style was more marked in the interiors (main
hall and galleries, etc.) confering dignity on this particular theme. His design of the funerary
monument for Youssuf Kamal (to be built close to the Sultan Barquq Mosque, 1922) showed
a rigorous respect for Mamluk architecture. Another project for the Salamlik of Omar Bey
Sultan (1907-08) was considered a promising example of how Islamic monuments could
provide the basis for new architectural forms responsive to modern needs.

Born near Ascoli Piceno (central Italy), Ernesto Verrucci attended the Modena Academy of
Fine Arts. In 1897 he joined Garibaldi’s troops supporting the Greeks fighting for the
independence of Crete, and was persuaded by a fellow volunteer to seek his fortune in Egypt.
He first settled in Alexandria, but shortly after moved to Cairo where, till 1907, he was
employed by the Ministry of Public Works. He later worked on his own for a number of
Egyptian and European dignitaries, one of his main achievements being a prize-winning
project for construction of the Egyptian University (1914). In 1917 he became Chief
Architect to the Sultanian Wakf, restoring a large number of mosques. These works gained
him the esteem of King Fouad, who appointed him member of the Committee for the
Preservation of Arab Art and Monuments and Chief Architect of the Royal Palaces, a position
he held until the King’s death in 1936, when King Farouk appointed him Superintendent of
Fine Arts at the Royal Palaces. His personal archive 4 includes a large number of photographs
of ancient and modern Egyptian buildings and mosques, as well as an impressive collection of
volumes on Islamic, Coptic and Byzantine art and architecture. His early approach to Islamic
art was mainly confined to funerary monuments (Elni Pacha Tomb in the Muslim cemetery of
Imam el Sciafei in Cairo, 1910 ca., the Royal Tombs in the Rifai Mosque), and later retained
it as one of his many sources of stylistic inspiration. His work for the Royal Palaces 5 fully
justified the opinion of his contemporaries: he honoured the arts with the moving and subtle
music generated by the retreating line of arcades, the beauty of loggias and verandas, where
the original grace of oriental forms matches the composed nobility of Roman and italic
forms. 6 Verrucci in fact places a neo-Islamic throne or banquet hall next to a neo-Byzantine,
a neo-Gothic or a neo-Renaissance interior. His Arabic Music Institute provides a good
example of a neo-Islamic building surrounded by a modern urban setting (diagonal layout of
the monumental entrance portal, topped by a ribbed dome).

Giacomo Alessandro Loria was born in Mansoura, a city on the Damietta branch of the Nile.
He came from a Jewish family from Leghorn that settled in Egypt at the time of Mohamed
Ali. His professional career began as a draftsman in the Alexandria Municipality where he
was encouraged to pursue architectural studies. Following this advice, he later attended the
Polytechnic University in Turin, there certainly benefiting from an exceptional cultural
milieu. 7 He eventually returned to Egypt, without having obtained a degree, but nonetheless
set up in Alexandria as a professional architect. If the Turin environment had been
stimulating, Alexandria was even more so, its leading forces then seeking ways to link the
future of the city with its legendary past. Here he won first prize in a competition for

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designing the Italian Hospital (1913) and later participated in many International architectural
competitions for important public and private buildings in Alexandria and in Cairo.
Loria’s approach to neo-Islamic architecture dates back to his training years during which he
designed an amazing hypostyle mosque. 8 Most probably inspired by the spectacular Mamluk
structures in Cairo, his emphasis was mainly on minarets (comprising sections of various
geometrical shapes: square, octagonal, round), on domes and portals. His Mamluk-inspired
design includes details such as bands of different colours and decorative features. In the early
1920s he took part in competitions for building the premises of Bank Misr, one in Cairo and
another in Alexandria. Both combined a conventional layout with an attempt to convey an
image of national identity. In the Cairo building Loria designed a Mamluk dome over the
central hall. In Alexandria (eventually built) his reference to Islamic architecture is confined
to application of decorative moldings and detailing. In the early 1920s he submitted a project
to the Ministry of Wakf for a complex of apartment buildings in Cairo; his neo-Islamic
design won second prize.

Unlike his fellow-architects, Achille Patricolo was also a prolific writer, and this enables us
to follow not only the main stages of his career, but also to discover some of his ideas 9. As
the son of an architect, painter and decorator from Palermo, the cultural background of his
family played a fundamental role. From 1899 to 1908 his work was mainly concerned with
conservation of monuments in the Lombardy region (Mantua in particular). He moved to
Egypt around 1910, and very soon became Chief architect to the Committee for the
Preservation of Arab Art and Monuments, a post he held until the mid 1920s. His works
include the reconstruction of the al-Fath mosque in the Palace of Abdin (1818). It may be
wondered why he retained only the minaret and the portal of the former mosque when his new
building exhibited distinctively Ottoman elements. He may merely have done so at the
request of his client - Sultan Fouad 10 – who wished to express his close relationship with
Istanbul, despite the failure of Mohamed Ali’s “imperial dream.” 11 Another very interesting
work that Achille Patricolo undertook, when Chief architect to the Committee, is his project
for remodeling the square around the Rifai and Sultan Hassan mosques. The idea, warmly
supported by Lord Kitchener, was to reproduce traditional faςades all around the mosques, to
create a neo-Islamic open public space as part of an attempt to stimulate such revival in other
parts of Cairo as well (his design for the house of Hasan Bey is part of this wider project).
Achille Patricolo did not however regret that his project remained unaccomplished: All the
owners except one (…) always firmly refused such architectural coercion, of which the
Tanzim wanted me as an accomplice, despite my lack of conviction and enthusiasm. This was
because I felt, and still feel, how vain it is to oppose the fatal trends of mankind in the field of
art, as in any other field, but also because I feel how a “levelling” civilization has already
cast her dreary shadow over these heirs to a race of artists, corrupting the finer instincts of
they who, across the centuries, had held aloft the Flame of Beauty. 12 Further on in his
article Patricolo blames this situation on the ambition to live alla franca, adding that the
Egyptian Ministry of Education ought to give much greater support to the study of Islamic
architecture.

A Roman by birth, Mario Rossi graduated at the Rome Academy of Fine Arts 13. He moved
to Egypt in 1921 collaborating with both Antonio Lasciac and Ernesto Verrucci. Like most of
his fellow-countrymen, Rossi was deeply impressed by the Islamic monuments of Cairo, and
his portfolios of drawings show how he loved to study them. In 1929 he won a competition
for the post of Chief architect to the Ministry of Wakf, 14 retained until World War II when, in
1941, he was captured by the British and only released in 1944. Rossi then returned to the
Ministry of Wakf as a consultant, became a Moslem in 1946 and, in 1954, travelled to Saudi

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Arabia to decorate the main Mosque of Mecca, returning to Egypt in 1960. The articles by
Ahmed Sidky clearly show how Rossi’s buildings marked a revival in Islamic religious
architecture: his through knowledge of mosque architecture was enhanced by his ability to
mix details taken from various buildings, often introducing innovative features. Considering
how complex were the building processes required to accomplish his projects, and the
richness of their decoration, his building sites may well be seen as real study “laboratories”;
so much so that - as late as the 1950s – Gaetano Morretti expectations of an authentic revival
were latter fulfilled by Rossi's works, based on the local context and fostering a local building
culture. What must still be explained is the way Rossi managed to achieve an architectural
composition matching the mosque’s symbolic function with that of its urban role. Tall,
compact, free-standing buildings arranged symmetrically around a central core, his mosque
marks the fulcrum point in an open space, a landmark in the cityscapes of both Cairo and
Alexandria. In Alexandria three of his mosques – Mohammed Kurayyim, 1949-53, Abou el
Abbas el Moursi, 1925-45, and Ibrahim, 1948-51 - line the Corniche; stretching from the
Palace of Ras el Tin to that of Montazah, and displaying the city’s many identifying features
(the port, the international resort, the summer capital) the Corniche was the best possible
show-place for introduction of a process to “re-Islamize” the built-up environment.

Conclusions
Many more names could be added to lengthen this list: Ciro Pantanelli (Siena 1833 – Cairo
1884) who designed the famous Sabil at Bab-al-Hadid (1869) and the Zahar house in Cairo,
together with some neo-Islamic ginning factories; Augusto Cesari (b. Ancona 1833), with
his neo-Islamic artistic club in Cairo; Alfonso Maniscalco (b. Naples 1853), and his Islamic
Museum in Cairo (1903); Adolfo Brandani (b. Tantah 1882), who designed the new School
of Art and Crafts in Cairo (1932); Carlo Virgilio Silvagni (b. Cairo 1893), who worked on
restoration of the El Kalam, Sultan Hassan, El Ghuri, and El Akhmar mosques in Cairo.
Their biographies and a more thorough knowledge of their artistic personalities could
certainly clarify whether for them the Orient was, or was not, an exotic hallucination. Most
often the approach to Islamic architecture adopted by these Egypt-based architects came from
direct experience of monuments seen in their original settings, ranging from inclusion of
certain details (crenellations, recessed profiles, etc.), to borrowing complete elements
(porticoes, domes, minarets, etc.), sometimes giving a fresh interpretation to traditional types
and urban settings.
In its profound cultural implications, the revival of Islamic architecture in Egypt provides a
basis for questioning the current idea of eclecticism. Was it that styles (that have) entered the
domain of History 15 were merely applied as such, or was it a process of courageous
experimentation? Was there a reaction against the form of Westernization which had
prevailed throughout the nineteenth century? Was there a conscious attempt to “re-Islamize”
the cityscapes of Cairo and Alexandria? Considering the role of Italian architects in the
revival of Islamic Architecture in Egypt, eclecticism seems very similar to a “fluid” culture,
capable of far more than merely recycling the past, crossing many borders, favoring a
continuous process of choice and adaptation of different historical traditions; further study is
still needed for a full understanding of the motivations, progress and achievements of such
crucial times. 16 A discussion of Italian work may even lead to a review of Edward Said’s
idea of orientalism. For each and everyone of them Egypt was the adventure of a lifetime.
Considering how diverse were their training and cultural backgrounds (from the architect-
artist to the technician-builder, whether or not possessing a proper qualification), it is hard to
say how far these architects adopted a cultural filter, coming to terms with the Orient (…)
based on the Orient’s special place in European Western experience. 17 We may wonder to

4
what extent their non-Eurocentric attitude was a by-product of cultural displacement or was
simply a way of assimilating a context hitherto unknown to them. Again, who among them
managed to progress from the mere application of decorative mouldings to discovering a fresh
interpretation of traditional types and urban settings? These are only some of the many
questions that may be raised. In trying to answer them we should perhaps discuss and
compare more of these experiences, agreeing with Khaled Asfour 18 that, in the Egypt from
1898 to 1953, the debate on ideas of modernity and tradition, local and foreign, false and
authentic, was conducted with far greater subtlety than is the case today.

1
See Arthur Rhone, “Coup d’œil sur l’état du Caire ancient at moderne,” in Gazette des Beaux Arts, XXIV
(1881): 420-423; XXV (1882): 55-67, 144-153; “The Destruction of Cairo,” in Portfolio 14 (1883): 45-48;
Moretti, G., “La villa Zogheb al Cairo. Due parole sull'architettura moderna in Egitto,” L'Edilizia Moderna, 1
(1903): 1-3; Henri Pieron, “Le Caire. Son esthétique dans la ville arabe et dans la ville moderne,” in Égypte
Contemporaine, II (8 1911): 511-528; Max Herz Pacha, “Quelques observations sur la communication de S.E.
Ahmed Zéki Pacha Le passé et l’avenir de l’art musulman en Égypte,” Égypte contemporaine 15 (May 1913):
387-402; Achille Patricolo, “Monumenti e vie del Cairo”, in Dedalo, a. II, f. XI, 1921, pp. 685-708; Ali Labib
Gabr, “L’architecture contemporaine”, L’Art Vivant, special issue dedicated to Egypt, 1930, p. 563-564.
2
see Gaetano Moretti, “La villa Zogheb al Cairo.”, cit., p. 1.
3
See Mercedes Volait, Architectes & Architectures, cit., p. 434; see also Mercedes Volait, “Un architecte face a
l'Orient: Antoine Lasciac (1856-1946)”, in La fuite en Égypte: supplément aux voyages européens an Orient,
CEDEJ, Il Cairo 1989, pp. 265-280.
4
Now kept in the Municipal Library of Ascoli Piceno.
5
Extensions to the Palace of Abdin in Cairo, reconstruction of the Palace of Kubbeh, alterations to the Palaces of
Ras El Tin and Montazah in Alexandria.
6
From the inaugural address at an event in honour of Ernesto Verrucci in Ascoli Piceno, December 1930, see
Riccardo Gabrielli, L'architetto Ernesto Verrucci-Bey e le sue opere in Egitto, Ascoli Piceno 1941, pp. 41-42.
7
At the turn of the century Turin was a city where politicians, intellectuals, but also architects and engineers,
were actively debating problems that arose during transformation of Italy into a modern state.
8
Dated 1897, and most probably prepared while studying at Turin Polytechnic .
9
Writings by Achille Patricolo include: La Conservation des monuments arabes en Égypte, 8vo, pp. 28, Roditi,
Cairo 1914 ; Notice sur la reconstruction de la Mosquée al-Fath, connu sous le nom de Gam’Abdin, à
l’occasion de son inauguration par sa Hautesse le Sultan Fouad 1er, 8vo, pp. 7, Ministère de Waqfs, Cairo
1920 ; La Mosquée Royale de al-Fath. Avec un mèmoire et deux rapports annexes, 1920 ; “Monumenti e vie
del Cairo”, in Dedalo, a. II, f. XI, 1921, pp. 685-708; with Ugo Monneret de Villard, La chiesa di Santa
Barbara al Vecchio Cairo, Alinari, Firenze 1922; “Il Masciad di As-Sayeda Ruqqaya e due mausolei in Cairo”,
in Dedalo, a. III, f. X, 1922-23, pp. 605-632; “Su tre ‘mihrab’ o nicchie da preghiera portatili al Museo Arabo
del Cairo”, in Dedalo, a. IV, f. VIII, 1924, pp. 465-485; “Il cenotafio nell’arte musulmana dell’Egitto”, in
Dedalo, a. V, f. VIII, 1925, pp. 467-490.
From the «Annual Reports of the Comité de Conservation des Monuments de l’Art Arabe»:
“Rapport sur le Citernes de Tell Timis dans le lac Menzaleh”, Ex. 1910, pp. 63-8, pl. I-III ; “Aperçu des travaux
de conservation du 1er Janvier 1914 au 31 Mars 1915”, Ex. 1914 (1915), pp. 1-24, with 34 pl. ; “Service des
travaux de Conservation de Monuments : exposé des travaux exécutés, avec 27 notices historiques”, Ex. 1915-
19, pp. 1-216, with 213 pl. ; “Rapport sur le monuments de Rosette”, Ex. 1915-19, pp. 217-34 ; “Memoire sur
le cimetières musulmans du Caire”, Ex. 1915-19, pp. 235-240; ”Rapport sur l’inspection à Rosette”, Exercice
1920-24, pp. 211-20, pl. XI-XVI.
10
Fouad took the title of king in 1923, marking Egyptian independence.
11
See Nasser Rabbat, “A mosque and an Imperial dream”, in Al-Ahram Weekly
12
See Achille Patricolo, “Monumenti e vie del Cairo”, cit. pp. 702; 706.

5
 13
On Mario Rossi see James Dikie, The works of Mario Rossi in Alexandria, in AA.VV., Amate Sponde...
Presence of Italy in the Architecture of the Islamic Mediterranean, «Environmental Design», VIII, nn. 9/10,
1992, pp. 94-101; Magdi M. Moussa, Mario Rossi and the Egyptian School of Architecture, in AA.VV., Amate
Sponde..., cit., pp. 102-105; Ahmed Sidky, Mario Rossi's Work in the Awqaf, in «Medina», n. 3 July-September
1998, pp. 62-69; Ahmed Sidki, “La moschea egiziana del XX secolo: una prospettiva italiana”, in AA.VV., a
cura di Maria Adriana Giusti e Ezio Godoli, L’Orientalismo nell’architettura italiana dell’Ottocento e del
Novecento, maschietto&musolino, Siena 1999, pp. 311-318.
14
The subject of the competition was the design of a portal in Mamluk style.
15
see Gaetano Moretti, “La villa Zogheb al Cairo.”, cit., p. 1.
16
See Robert Ilbert and Mercedes Volait, “Neo-arabic Renaissance in Egypt: 1870-1930”, in Mimar n. 13,
November 1984, pp. 26-34 ; Tarek Mohamed Refaat Sakr, Early Twentieth-Century Islamic Architecture in
Cairo, The American University in Cairo Press, 1993; Nasser Rabbat, “The formation of a Neo-Memluk style in
Modern Egypt”, in The Education of the Architect, ed. by M. Pollak, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass, 1997, pp.
363-386; Mercedes Volait, Architectes & Architectures de l’ Égypte Moderne, Maisonneuve et Larose, Paris
2005.
17
Cf. Said, E., Orientalism (1977). London: Penguin Books, 1995, p. 1.
18
Khaled Asfour, The Villa and the Modern Egyptian Intelligentsia. Ph.D. diss., MIT, 1991.

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