Appropriating Orientalism ? Saber Sabri's Mamluk Revivals in late 19th c. Cairo

Mercedes Volait (1)

1 CITERES - Cités, Territoires, Environnement et Sociétés

Since Pascal Coste's designs for the Citadel mosque (1823) and throughout the whole century, Cairene architecture, whether public, religious or domestic, experienced the development of Mamluk revivals. Though sharing common references, structures in the Mamluk style (or “Arab” style as it was by then termed) were rather diverse and generally highly eclectic. Yet historicist expressions can also be identified. One such distinctive formula of the Mamluk style emerges from the works attributed to Saber Sabri (c. 1840-1915), the Chief Engineer of the Waqf Administration from 1892 to 1906. The paper proposes to discuss Sabri's architectural achievements in the light of his classical formation (an education in mathematics) and professional activities (as teacher and conservationist) as well as within their architectural and political context.

Mots clés: Orientalism; Mamluk revival; Cairo; Saber Sabri

Domaines: Architecture, aménagement de l'espace; Art et histoire de l'art

Mercedes Volait. Appropriating Orientalism ? Saber Sabri's Mamluk Revivals in late 19th c. Cairo. Doris Behrens-Abouseif; Stephen Vernoit. Islamic Art in the 19th Century : Tradition, Innovation and Eclecticism, Brill, pp.131-155, 2005. ⟨halshs-00005281⟩