Cairo According to: Karim El Hayawan

You’ll find Karim El Hayawan wherever there’s a discussion to be had on the literal shaping of the city: at Design Week, at the Creative Industry Summit, at RiseUp, at exhibitions and artist talks around town—just like you’ll find a trace of the city wherever El Hayawan’s work is presented. An interior architect and photographer, he co-founded Design Point Studio in 2002 with Nehal Leheta, which is around the same time he began experimenting with urban photography. Since then, he’s exhibited his visions of Cairo to audiences in Paris, Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Dakar, and Dhahran, as well as at the city’s own most renowned venues. Between El Hayawan and his audience, always, is Cairo.

Here, he tells us about the unique edges of Cairo that mean the city to him, the rare balance that makes Zamalek his favourite neighbourhood, and the go-to cafés that have made themselves a part of his daily routine.

What’s a place that means Cairo to you?

Two locations come to mind:

The edge of Downtown near El Opera Square, where Downtown’s Haussmannian order dissolves into the dense, organic fabric of Old Cairo.

Or the edge of Dahshour, where the desert begins and the necropolis waits quietly beyond the palms.

Complete the following: Cairo is…

Contradiction perfected. It’s ancient and unfinished at the same time, and somehow it works. For me, Cairo isn’t a city you control. It’s a city you negotiate with.

What’s your favourite neighbourhood?

Zamalek, because it somehow feels like a pause in the middle of Cairo. It has a rare balance: dense with culture but never overwhelming. The Nile wraps around it, the galleries nestled and diverse are all walkable. All very chaotic, in a polite way.

Your go-to food spot?

Home. (And Almería in Downtown.)

Your go-to café?

Tchai at Tamara Haus is beautifully done and brilliantly located.

Also, Cake Café in front of our studio in Zamalek has become my daily transit zone where I finish calls or slip in quick meetings. It’s more like an intersection rather than a destination. Always in motion with people passing through – just like Cairo.

What isn’t a Cairo landmark but should be?

Adam Henein Museum and the Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre.

Tell us a song that feels like Cairo.

Carnival – Natalie Merchant

Edaia Fe Geyoubi – Mohamed Mounir

Valery Giscard d’Estaing – Ahmed Fuad Negm

What's a place in Cairo you wish you could revisit for the first time?

Sultan Hassan Mosque.