The effect of British imperialism on the Egyptian architecture

Abstract

Imperialism is the political, cultural, and financial dominance of one country over another. The change in any of these factors affects the country’s architecture, proving its relevance to imperialism. Architecture is sometimes even used as a means to impose culture and political order by the imperial power. British Imperialism lasted for 74 years in Egypt, affecting the culture, politics, demography, and society. As architecture reflects and embodies the cultural and political life of a society, British Imperialism must have an influence on the architecture in Egypt. This thesis will address the effect of British Imperialism on Egyptian architecture. It will be divided into three main phases: before the formal British colonization, during the formal British protectorate over Egypt and after the 1919 revolution and the rise of the nationalism movement. The aim of this thesis is to argue that British Imperialism had a significant effect on Egyptian architecture. Each phase of imperialism had dissimilar factors and conditions, which caused visible changes that, can be witnessed through architecture. This thesis will analyze several examples from the three different phases to support the hypothesis that each phase had a different, distinct effect on architecture.