The heavy dependency on private cars has shaped the design of cities. While offering fast, comfor... more The heavy dependency on private cars has shaped the design of cities. While offering fast, comfortable, and convenient commutes, cars have become the most popular method of transportation, but are also a health crisis due to the toxic emissions they release into the atmosphere as well as the high death toll from traffic accidents. For these reasons, there is a need to minimize the use of cars within cities in favor of greener and humanized urban design that would improve the quality of life and reduce the global threat of climate change. Humanizing Cities Through Car-Free City Development and Transformation is an essential publication that explores the concepts of car-free cities and city humanization as possible solutions to reduce the deteriorating effect on the environment and the community. The publication discusses the urban initiative to implement pedestrianization and humanization of cities and public spaces to promote the concept of car-free living. Featuring coverage on a wide range of topics including city humanization, smart mobility, and urban policies, this book is ideally designed for urban planners, environmentalists, government officials, policymakers, architects, transportation authorities, researchers, academicians, and students.
Based on the information and analysis of the author's visit to the Grenfell-Baines Institute ... more Based on the information and analysis of the author's visit to the Grenfell-Baines Institute of Architecture at the University of Central Lancashire in 2016, this paper gives an in-depth introduction to the experiential design education of the GBIA, including the teaching concepts, the training strategy, the concrete pedagogical measures and the support system.
Built environment designers have intuitively known the value of design decisions on the quality o... more Built environment designers have intuitively known the value of design decisions on the quality of human experiences. Social and behavioural scientists have added to this a body of research that increases the understanding on how design impacts these experiences. As culture is considered to be the way people do things in a certain place, much of cultural studies consider physical environment as tangible and persistent artefact with which building’s users continuously interact. The built-environment is at once the context for behaviour, and influence the behaviour. Culture is said to be powerful and persistent. Sustainable environmental design- as a discipline concerned with balancing the built environment with its context- is commonly based on integrating the most efficient and cost-effective sustainable technologies, some designer integrates passive and active environmental design solutions, if adequate. Whereas, to a great extent, the choices of environmental solutions alternative...
Advances in Mechatronics and Mechanical Engineering, 2020
This chapter discusses the challenges and debates related to the concept of shared space street d... more This chapter discusses the challenges and debates related to the concept of shared space street design via demonstrating the case of the ongoing Masterplan development scheme of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), in Preston, North West England, United Kingdom. Based on hands-on experience, being involved with the project on multiple layers, in project management, working, and living in Preston City, the authors employ observational analysis methods to explore and reflect on the challenges UCLan Masterplan has faced, how it learned from the city's most recent Shared Space development (the Fishergate Project), and they further expand on their prediction on how the project may influence the transformation of Preston's public realm. This chapter aims to start a debate on how Shared Space tactics can lead to near-to car-free urban zones and contribute to the enhanced people-focused urban experience.
International Journal of Architecture, Engineering and Construction, 2019
The application of building information modelling (BIM) during the construction cycle of any deve... more The application of building information modelling (BIM) during the construction cycle of any development varies. Systematically, the way BIM's applied during the initial phase will have a direct influence o n p hases t hat f ollow afterwards. Previous research focused on the application of BIM and concentrated on various aspects, which included sustainability or how to overcome the loss of data/information. However, it limited its focus on the application during a specific p hase o f the project. Analysis outlined both the benefits a nd b arriers o f a pplying B IM d uring t he c onceptual d esign p hase. T he study suggests that an informed evaluation of the application of BIM during any particular phase should take in consideration different stakeholders' roles and responsibilities.
ABSTRACT: This paper is a part of a PhD research project on World Heritage Sites com-menced in Fe... more ABSTRACT: This paper is a part of a PhD research project on World Heritage Sites com-menced in February 2007 at the School of the Built Environment, University of Nottingham. The work focuses on the interpretation and communication of the 'spirit of place' and looks at the potential ...
Conserving the cultural significance of heritage sites-as the guardians of social unity, place id... more Conserving the cultural significance of heritage sites-as the guardians of social unity, place identity, and national pride-plays an essential role in maintaining sustainable social development, as well as preserving the variations identifying cultural groups and ...
Cultural heritage sites are commonly identified on the basis of their heritage values and signifi... more Cultural heritage sites are commonly identified on the basis of their heritage values and significances. Though, cultural heritage significances are often acknowledged, yet are probably too intangible to be integrated into the management and development processes of heritage sites. This paper demonstrates a research work that has been looking at developing a strategy for interpreting/understanding cultural heritage sites based on identifying their significances, and the possibility for evaluating such significances for the purpose of connecting them to site management objectives. The research employed qualitative research methodology, where the investigation employed critical literature review and content discourse analysis of data and heritage management documents (with main focus on UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites documents and ICOMOS’ charters), questionnaires and site observation. The research mainly focused on the study of two World Heritage Sites: Liverpool Mercantile City and H...
The Twenty-First Century witnessed a significant shift in museums’ nature and definition, but the... more The Twenty-First Century witnessed a significant shift in museums’ nature and definition, but the most important thing to mark is the rise in awareness of, particularly local, museums’ role towards their local community, and their responsibility to ‘CONNECT’ to their audience on various levels. Generally, it is important to acknowledge that museums, as cultural institutions, represent a very important architectural typology; museums contribute to the definition and celebration of cities’ identities; probably replacing the ancient domination of religious/spiritual buildings, to identify the shift from religious to cultural representation as one of the major ‘place’ characteristic. This paper documents a semi-life project experience for Year One BSc Architecture Design Studio. The demonstrated design project intended to introduce Level 4 architecture students to an approach for perceiving architecture as a connecting catalyst within its context; where they were asked to study, analyse...
Mental Health problems are remarkably increasing in the UK, where people are facing di˙erent chal... more Mental Health problems are remarkably increasing in the UK, where people are facing di˙erent challenges day after day, including stresses from everyday life. Out of a deep belief that architecture can play a significant role in supporting users’ wellbeing, instead of augmenting their stresses, this paper analyzes an extensive multidisciplinary literature review, of 720 sources, from three di˙erent disciplines: psychology, medicine and architecture. The analyzed literature studies the relationship between users’ wellbeing and the surrounding spatial environment. The investigation aims to identify a set of possible architectural design parameters that can a˙ect users’ psychological wellbeing. The analysis identified fifteen spatial psychologically supportive design stimuli (PSDS); each of them was subject of further procedures of in-depth analysis queries that aim to define their main characteristics, impacts on users’ psychology and wellbeing, and their influences within the design o...
This Paper explores and criticizes different theories and perceptions concerning ‘cultural herita... more This Paper explores and criticizes different theories and perceptions concerning ‘cultural heritage’ to explore the definitions of ‘heritage’ throughout history, and questions how the conflicts in considering and identifying ‘heritage’ might have affected the approaches to its conservation. In such process, the paper investigates the relation between ‘place’ and ‘memory’ and how place has been always the medium through which history was written, resulting in two inseparable faces, tangible and the intangible, forming the two-faced coin of ‘cultural heritage’. This research assists understanding the complex construct of heritage places; stressing the growing awareness of intangible heritage’s importance, which represents a remarkable turn in heritage conservation realm in the twenty-first century, and emphasizing the notion of heritage as a coefficient of society, which is understood through experience, learnt through performance, and represented through ‘activities’ formed in the pr...
Communicated modules in architectural education target, in the first place, enhancing and develop... more Communicated modules in architectural education target, in the first place, enhancing and developing students’ understanding of design requirements, via improving their innovative capabilities. Architecture students are expected to practice the integration of gained knowledge that affect the architectural design-construction-use phases, obtained through all taught modules, into their design projects; such knowledge would include construction technologies, ecological considerations/technologies, socio-cultural influences, tangible/intangible heritage, building regulations…etc. Achieving such integration, several approaches have recently been employed in different architectural pedagogical systems all over the globe. In United Kingdom, as an example, the integrated process within architectural design studios is an essential requirement that is stressed by both the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Architects Registration Board (ARB). This paper displays the Universi...
New building designs often do not serve sensitive sites like conservation areas (Heritage England... more New building designs often do not serve sensitive sites like conservation areas (Heritage England & CABE, 2001,p.3) According to the publication, only new building designs that integrate with the sensitive characteristics of its surrounding settings are successful; this is a result of keen designers making effort to conduct site analysis and careful contextual character appraisal(2001,p35). It is believed that “this lesson has universal applications” regardless of location (Heritage England & CABE, 2001,p.35). This paper presents the current stage of an ongoing research that aims to develop a methodology for objectively capturing historic architectural characteristics; using data acquisition and evaluation based on quantitative data analysis. The research employs the case study of the conservation area in Beith; a town in the North Ayrshire council district within Scotland, UK. Preparing the needed information and employing the right tools are two of the main challenges of this rese...
Humanizing Cities Through Car-Free City Development and Transformation
This chapter discusses the challenges and debates related to the concept of shared space street d... more This chapter discusses the challenges and debates related to the concept of shared space street design via demonstrating the case of the ongoing Masterplan development scheme of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), in Preston, North West England, United Kingdom. Based on hands-on experience, being involved with the project on multiple layers, in project management, working, and living in Preston City, the authors employ observational analysis methods to explore and reflect on the challenges UCLan Masterplan has faced, how it learned from the city's most recent Shared Space development (the Fishergate Project), and they further expand on their prediction on how the project may influence the transformation of Preston's public realm. This chapter aims to start a debate on how Shared Space tactics can lead to near-to car-free urban zones and contribute to the enhanced people-focused urban experience.
This book "Constructing Intangible Heritage" gathers a set of articles organised in fou... more This book "Constructing Intangible Heritage" gathers a set of articles organised in four chapters, under the thematic of intangible heritage: - Towards the immateriality of heritage; - Conceptualizing intangible heritage; - Intangible heritage and cultural manifestations; - The museology of intangible heritage.
This Paper explores and criticizes different theories and perceptions concerning ‘cultural herita... more This Paper explores and criticizes different theories and perceptions concerning ‘cultural heritage’ to explore the definitions of ‘heritage’ throughout history, and questions how the conflicts in considering and identifying ‘heritage’ might have affected the approaches to its conservation. In such process, the paper investigates the relation between ‘place’ and ‘memory’ and how place has been always the medium through which history was written, resulting in two inseparable faces, tangible and the intangible, forming the two-faced coin of ‘cultural heritage’. This research assists understanding the complex construct of heritage places; stressing the growing awareness of intangible heritage’s importance, which represents a remarkable turn in heritage conservation realm in the twenty-first century, and emphasizing the notion of heritage as a coefficient of society, which is understood through experience, learnt through performance, and represented through ‘activities’ formed in the present maintaining and developing the identity of place and preserving its spirit, rather than a past oriented vision that tends to ‘pickle’ images from the past in a picturesque manner that is only tourism-oriented.
The heavy dependency on private cars has shaped the design of cities. While offering fast, comfor... more The heavy dependency on private cars has shaped the design of cities. While offering fast, comfortable, and convenient commutes, cars have become the most popular method of transportation, but are also a health crisis due to the toxic emissions they release into the atmosphere as well as the high death toll from traffic accidents. For these reasons, there is a need to minimize the use of cars within cities in favor of greener and humanized urban design that would improve the quality of life and reduce the global threat of climate change. Humanizing Cities Through Car-Free City Development and Transformation is an essential publication that explores the concepts of car-free cities and city humanization as possible solutions to reduce the deteriorating effect on the environment and the community. The publication discusses the urban initiative to implement pedestrianization and humanization of cities and public spaces to promote the concept of car-free living. Featuring coverage on a wide range of topics including city humanization, smart mobility, and urban policies, this book is ideally designed for urban planners, environmentalists, government officials, policymakers, architects, transportation authorities, researchers, academicians, and students.
Based on the information and analysis of the author's visit to the Grenfell-Baines Institute ... more Based on the information and analysis of the author's visit to the Grenfell-Baines Institute of Architecture at the University of Central Lancashire in 2016, this paper gives an in-depth introduction to the experiential design education of the GBIA, including the teaching concepts, the training strategy, the concrete pedagogical measures and the support system.
Built environment designers have intuitively known the value of design decisions on the quality o... more Built environment designers have intuitively known the value of design decisions on the quality of human experiences. Social and behavioural scientists have added to this a body of research that increases the understanding on how design impacts these experiences. As culture is considered to be the way people do things in a certain place, much of cultural studies consider physical environment as tangible and persistent artefact with which building’s users continuously interact. The built-environment is at once the context for behaviour, and influence the behaviour. Culture is said to be powerful and persistent. Sustainable environmental design- as a discipline concerned with balancing the built environment with its context- is commonly based on integrating the most efficient and cost-effective sustainable technologies, some designer integrates passive and active environmental design solutions, if adequate. Whereas, to a great extent, the choices of environmental solutions alternative...
Advances in Mechatronics and Mechanical Engineering, 2020
This chapter discusses the challenges and debates related to the concept of shared space street d... more This chapter discusses the challenges and debates related to the concept of shared space street design via demonstrating the case of the ongoing Masterplan development scheme of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), in Preston, North West England, United Kingdom. Based on hands-on experience, being involved with the project on multiple layers, in project management, working, and living in Preston City, the authors employ observational analysis methods to explore and reflect on the challenges UCLan Masterplan has faced, how it learned from the city's most recent Shared Space development (the Fishergate Project), and they further expand on their prediction on how the project may influence the transformation of Preston's public realm. This chapter aims to start a debate on how Shared Space tactics can lead to near-to car-free urban zones and contribute to the enhanced people-focused urban experience.
International Journal of Architecture, Engineering and Construction, 2019
The application of building information modelling (BIM) during the construction cycle of any deve... more The application of building information modelling (BIM) during the construction cycle of any development varies. Systematically, the way BIM's applied during the initial phase will have a direct influence o n p hases t hat f ollow afterwards. Previous research focused on the application of BIM and concentrated on various aspects, which included sustainability or how to overcome the loss of data/information. However, it limited its focus on the application during a specific p hase o f the project. Analysis outlined both the benefits a nd b arriers o f a pplying B IM d uring t he c onceptual d esign p hase. T he study suggests that an informed evaluation of the application of BIM during any particular phase should take in consideration different stakeholders' roles and responsibilities.
ABSTRACT: This paper is a part of a PhD research project on World Heritage Sites com-menced in Fe... more ABSTRACT: This paper is a part of a PhD research project on World Heritage Sites com-menced in February 2007 at the School of the Built Environment, University of Nottingham. The work focuses on the interpretation and communication of the 'spirit of place' and looks at the potential ...
Conserving the cultural significance of heritage sites-as the guardians of social unity, place id... more Conserving the cultural significance of heritage sites-as the guardians of social unity, place identity, and national pride-plays an essential role in maintaining sustainable social development, as well as preserving the variations identifying cultural groups and ...
Cultural heritage sites are commonly identified on the basis of their heritage values and signifi... more Cultural heritage sites are commonly identified on the basis of their heritage values and significances. Though, cultural heritage significances are often acknowledged, yet are probably too intangible to be integrated into the management and development processes of heritage sites. This paper demonstrates a research work that has been looking at developing a strategy for interpreting/understanding cultural heritage sites based on identifying their significances, and the possibility for evaluating such significances for the purpose of connecting them to site management objectives. The research employed qualitative research methodology, where the investigation employed critical literature review and content discourse analysis of data and heritage management documents (with main focus on UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites documents and ICOMOS’ charters), questionnaires and site observation. The research mainly focused on the study of two World Heritage Sites: Liverpool Mercantile City and H...
The Twenty-First Century witnessed a significant shift in museums’ nature and definition, but the... more The Twenty-First Century witnessed a significant shift in museums’ nature and definition, but the most important thing to mark is the rise in awareness of, particularly local, museums’ role towards their local community, and their responsibility to ‘CONNECT’ to their audience on various levels. Generally, it is important to acknowledge that museums, as cultural institutions, represent a very important architectural typology; museums contribute to the definition and celebration of cities’ identities; probably replacing the ancient domination of religious/spiritual buildings, to identify the shift from religious to cultural representation as one of the major ‘place’ characteristic. This paper documents a semi-life project experience for Year One BSc Architecture Design Studio. The demonstrated design project intended to introduce Level 4 architecture students to an approach for perceiving architecture as a connecting catalyst within its context; where they were asked to study, analyse...
Mental Health problems are remarkably increasing in the UK, where people are facing di˙erent chal... more Mental Health problems are remarkably increasing in the UK, where people are facing di˙erent challenges day after day, including stresses from everyday life. Out of a deep belief that architecture can play a significant role in supporting users’ wellbeing, instead of augmenting their stresses, this paper analyzes an extensive multidisciplinary literature review, of 720 sources, from three di˙erent disciplines: psychology, medicine and architecture. The analyzed literature studies the relationship between users’ wellbeing and the surrounding spatial environment. The investigation aims to identify a set of possible architectural design parameters that can a˙ect users’ psychological wellbeing. The analysis identified fifteen spatial psychologically supportive design stimuli (PSDS); each of them was subject of further procedures of in-depth analysis queries that aim to define their main characteristics, impacts on users’ psychology and wellbeing, and their influences within the design o...
This Paper explores and criticizes different theories and perceptions concerning ‘cultural herita... more This Paper explores and criticizes different theories and perceptions concerning ‘cultural heritage’ to explore the definitions of ‘heritage’ throughout history, and questions how the conflicts in considering and identifying ‘heritage’ might have affected the approaches to its conservation. In such process, the paper investigates the relation between ‘place’ and ‘memory’ and how place has been always the medium through which history was written, resulting in two inseparable faces, tangible and the intangible, forming the two-faced coin of ‘cultural heritage’. This research assists understanding the complex construct of heritage places; stressing the growing awareness of intangible heritage’s importance, which represents a remarkable turn in heritage conservation realm in the twenty-first century, and emphasizing the notion of heritage as a coefficient of society, which is understood through experience, learnt through performance, and represented through ‘activities’ formed in the pr...
Communicated modules in architectural education target, in the first place, enhancing and develop... more Communicated modules in architectural education target, in the first place, enhancing and developing students’ understanding of design requirements, via improving their innovative capabilities. Architecture students are expected to practice the integration of gained knowledge that affect the architectural design-construction-use phases, obtained through all taught modules, into their design projects; such knowledge would include construction technologies, ecological considerations/technologies, socio-cultural influences, tangible/intangible heritage, building regulations…etc. Achieving such integration, several approaches have recently been employed in different architectural pedagogical systems all over the globe. In United Kingdom, as an example, the integrated process within architectural design studios is an essential requirement that is stressed by both the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Architects Registration Board (ARB). This paper displays the Universi...
New building designs often do not serve sensitive sites like conservation areas (Heritage England... more New building designs often do not serve sensitive sites like conservation areas (Heritage England & CABE, 2001,p.3) According to the publication, only new building designs that integrate with the sensitive characteristics of its surrounding settings are successful; this is a result of keen designers making effort to conduct site analysis and careful contextual character appraisal(2001,p35). It is believed that “this lesson has universal applications” regardless of location (Heritage England & CABE, 2001,p.35). This paper presents the current stage of an ongoing research that aims to develop a methodology for objectively capturing historic architectural characteristics; using data acquisition and evaluation based on quantitative data analysis. The research employs the case study of the conservation area in Beith; a town in the North Ayrshire council district within Scotland, UK. Preparing the needed information and employing the right tools are two of the main challenges of this rese...
Humanizing Cities Through Car-Free City Development and Transformation
This chapter discusses the challenges and debates related to the concept of shared space street d... more This chapter discusses the challenges and debates related to the concept of shared space street design via demonstrating the case of the ongoing Masterplan development scheme of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), in Preston, North West England, United Kingdom. Based on hands-on experience, being involved with the project on multiple layers, in project management, working, and living in Preston City, the authors employ observational analysis methods to explore and reflect on the challenges UCLan Masterplan has faced, how it learned from the city's most recent Shared Space development (the Fishergate Project), and they further expand on their prediction on how the project may influence the transformation of Preston's public realm. This chapter aims to start a debate on how Shared Space tactics can lead to near-to car-free urban zones and contribute to the enhanced people-focused urban experience.
This book "Constructing Intangible Heritage" gathers a set of articles organised in fou... more This book "Constructing Intangible Heritage" gathers a set of articles organised in four chapters, under the thematic of intangible heritage: - Towards the immateriality of heritage; - Conceptualizing intangible heritage; - Intangible heritage and cultural manifestations; - The museology of intangible heritage.
This Paper explores and criticizes different theories and perceptions concerning ‘cultural herita... more This Paper explores and criticizes different theories and perceptions concerning ‘cultural heritage’ to explore the definitions of ‘heritage’ throughout history, and questions how the conflicts in considering and identifying ‘heritage’ might have affected the approaches to its conservation. In such process, the paper investigates the relation between ‘place’ and ‘memory’ and how place has been always the medium through which history was written, resulting in two inseparable faces, tangible and the intangible, forming the two-faced coin of ‘cultural heritage’. This research assists understanding the complex construct of heritage places; stressing the growing awareness of intangible heritage’s importance, which represents a remarkable turn in heritage conservation realm in the twenty-first century, and emphasizing the notion of heritage as a coefficient of society, which is understood through experience, learnt through performance, and represented through ‘activities’ formed in the present maintaining and developing the identity of place and preserving its spirit, rather than a past oriented vision that tends to ‘pickle’ images from the past in a picturesque manner that is only tourism-oriented.
This paper aims to discuss the relationship between the tangible and intangible heritage. Several... more This paper aims to discuss the relationship between the tangible and intangible heritage. Several questions are explored for discussion: does current conservation practice really preserve ‘heritage’?; how do people see heritage and interact with heritage sites as opposed to the methods of treatment introduced for the site’s conservation?; and why intangible meanings, memories, values, experiences, and feelings should be preserved and maintained in heritage sites. Historic Cairo is the case used here for reflecting upon these questions. Containing no less than 600 classified monuments, Cairo was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1979 for meeting three, out of six, of the selection criteria for inscription. Representing World Heritage highlights the significance of choosing, conserving, interpreting, and displaying our cultural heritage. The efforts being undertaken in the process of conserving Historic Cairo and their influences on the site’s visitors and inhabitants are questioned throughout the paper. Whether such efforts are sufficient for revitalizing Cairo’s old spirit raises questions such as: Why was Cairo, Al-Qahira (meaning the victorious), seen as the ‘Mother of the World’? - Do people still consider it so? – And, what do people admire in the existing Historic Cairo? Thus, the connection between Historic Cairo’s tangible remains and its intangible spirit of place can be perceived. The paper uses the results of a field visit, an on-site and online questionnaire, and a personal observation study.
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Papers by Ehab Kamel
Historic Cairo is the case used here for reflecting upon these questions. Containing no less than 600 classified monuments, Cairo was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1979 for meeting three, out of six, of the selection criteria for inscription. Representing World Heritage highlights the significance of choosing, conserving, interpreting, and displaying our cultural heritage.
The efforts being undertaken in the process of conserving Historic Cairo and their influences on the site’s visitors and inhabitants are questioned throughout the paper. Whether such efforts are sufficient for revitalizing Cairo’s old spirit raises questions such as: Why was Cairo, Al-Qahira (meaning the victorious), seen as the ‘Mother of the World’? - Do people still consider it so? – And, what do people admire in the existing Historic Cairo? Thus, the connection between Historic Cairo’s tangible remains and its intangible spirit of place can be perceived. The paper uses the results of a field visit, an on-site and online questionnaire, and a personal observation study.