Morphogenesis of Heritage Industrial Complex and Adaptive Reuse of Minet El Bassal Alexandria

Abstract

Historical districts define the character of communities through a tangible link with the past.In certain communities this link is presented in the remains of industry includes buildings, landscapes, structures and spaces that work together, giving these communities, their character representing a special part in their history which reshaped the identity of the city. Minet El Bassal district, the study area, was once a famous Alexandrian Industrial district of cotton manufacture. It was built around 1828 overlooking the only seaport in Egypt at that time. By the early 90s, Egyptian government followed a new policy of liberalization. The immediate impact was a reduction in cotton cultivated area, total production and manufacturing. Cotton industry, which had sustained large communities of people, became redundant. Many of the cotton factory buildings in Minet El Bassal district are on their way to be demolished then the site will be clear for new apartment blocks. So,it is essential to create awareness of the heritage value of Minet El Bassal district's industrial buildings -particularly of its cotton factories- before they demolished as they represent an important part of Alexandrian urban fabric. First, the research focuses on the evaluation of indicators affecting adaptive reuse of industrial heritage are drawn from literature, namely architectural integrity; public perception, form and new building function throughout the transformation process. Correspondingly, the research will discuss some of the environmental, social and economic benefits of sustainable industrial heritage regeneration and adaptive reuse through analyzing case studies in other countries according to defined criteria. The research begins with studies of Minet El Bassalcomprising archival analysis, observations and field visits that will enable the gaining of direct information on current post- industrial buildings situation. Questionnaires and interviews will be used to gather data from a number of respondents, residents and stakeholders (government officials from the public sector (honors) or professional bodies from the business sector, employees and users). Then, regeneration guidelines will be determined from the literature review and analysis of similar cases to define definite procedures to be followed throughout the transformation process of industrial buildings till the adaptive reuse phase. In addition, the research will present a set of design principles that can be applied to similar post-industrial buildings in Egypt.

Keywords: industrial heritage transformation themes, adaptive reuse themes, urban regeneration adaptivereuse indicators, socialdevelopment and architectural compatibility.