We are pleased to announce the launch of the second phase of our project. This phase, running through the end of 2025, aims to prepare the structure of Bazar for future rehabilitation by addressing critical stability issues and initiating selective reconstruction efforts.

More details about the project activities will be updated soon.

Bazar Abbas is a unique hybrid of local architecture and European modernism that has suffered extensive damage as a result of past conflicts on the Suez Canal. This combined architectural typology is repeated in different shapes and forms all over the city of Port Said, a city with a short yet turbulent history: a history of wars and displacements, prosperity and abandonment, colonialism and resistance, marginalisation and power reclamation and many more. These multiple layers of history have been manifested in the architectural and spatial articulation of the city, as well as within the daily life practices of Port Said residents.

Despite its vulnerable status, the 19^th century architectural and urban heritage of Port Said has received little to no recovery measures after suffering in multiple series of wars and conflicts since the mid-20^th century until today. Therefore, the project aims to activate the recovery process of the downtown area through the implementation of small-scale, people-centred strategies for urban conservation and development. The initiative takes Bazar Abbas as a catalytic pilot project not only because this building represents an outstanding architectural heritage but also for its indispensable position in the collective memory and identity of the city, interlinked to conflict, resistance, displacement and daily struggles.

The project offers twofold measures by producing direct tangible results like physical reconstruction and urban heritage mapping while at the same time targeting community empowerment. In this context, the partial reconstruction of the Bazaar will preserve its original features, including the timber verandas. In addition, the combined research, education and training initiatives will recapture the collective memory of the Bazar’s socio-cultural importance, preserve and transfer local reconstruction techniques and eventually provide a model for urban heritage recovery in the historic core of Port Said.

1. Urban (Heritage) Narrative Workshop
Port Said - 9^th to 16^thth of March 2023

2. Urban Recovery Planning
Cairo & Port Said - 5^th to 14^th of September 2023

3. Restoration Trainning
Port Said - October to December 2023

4. Urban Rehabilitation Workshop
Port Said - June 2024

5. Closing Event
December 2024