Patterns of Cairo’s Latest Project Looks Up to Alexandrian Ceilings

Patterns of Cairo - a digital knowledge-sharing project by Megawra, an Egyptian architectural office specialising in conservation and heritage management - has set out to document and preserve the city’s architectural history. Supported by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Egypt, the project explores overlooked design elements across Cairo’s historic buildings.

Its latest effort, ‘Alexandria in Cairo’, focuses on the Alexandrian Style ceilings, also known as Sakandary. These distinctive ceilings, introduced to Alexandria during the Fatimid era and later on found their way through Cairo, feature rectangular wooden beams and shallow square coffers arranged in a checkered pattern. While some are left bare, others are richly decorated in faded reds and deep blues, remnants of their former grandeur. Found in mosques, mausoleums and historic complexes, these ceilings have quietly endured, bearing witness to the passage of time.

Painted Sakandary ceiling in the Mosque of Mustafa Shurbaji Mirza

Sakandary ceiling with chevrons in the Qaytbay Complex at the Northern Cemetery

Sakandary ceiling with chevrons in the Qaytbay Complex at the Northern Cemetery

Gilded Sakandary ceiling in the Mosque of al-Muayyad Shaykh

Gilded Sakandary ceiling in the Mosque of Abu al-‘Ila in Bulaq

Painted Sakandary ceiling in the Mosque of Mustafa Shurbaji Mirza

Sakandary ceiling with carved decorations at the Madrasa of Uljay al-Yusuf

Painted Sakandary ceiling in al-Tikiyya al-Rifa‘iyy

Reconstructed Sakandary ceiling at the Mosque of al-Amir Qawsun

Gilded Sakandary ceiling in the Qaytbay Complex at the Northern Cemetery

Sakandary ceiling with star-rosettes in the Mosque of Ulmas al-Hajib

Gilded Sakandary ceiling with star-rosettes in the Qalawun Complex

Restored Sakandary ceiling in al-Tikiyya al-Rifa‘iyya

Patterns of Cairo works to digitise and share these architectural elements, creating an open-access platform featuring 200 meticulously documented patterns. The archive will serve as a resource for artists, craftspersons and designers, bridging traditional craftsmanship with contemporary creativity.

Photography Credit: Megawa, Patterns of Cairo