Egypt

‘I am downtown Cairo’: Brian building

A large banner placed on an old building on Abdel Khaliq Tharwat Street in downtown Cairo captures the attention of people once they enter the street.
 
The banner hangs from the building known as "Brian", named after the deceased English businessman David Brian who first owned the building in the 1910s.
 
The banner depicts the image of the building and reads: "I am downtown Cairo."
 
The company which is tasked with restoring the building is trying to attract the attention of passers-by to highlight the historical value of the building. 
 
The seven-story building was constructed by the renowned English architect R. Williams in 1911 and stands on an area of 1,958 square meters. It overlooks three main downtown streets, including Abdel Khaliq Tharwat, Adly and Mohamed Farid streets.
 
Engineer Sohair Hawass, who supervises the development of downtown's buildings, said the building has a distinguished architectural style and uses the counter-fire sand brick for heating, which was common in the era of Khedive Abbas Hilmi II.
 
Hawass said the building is registered as an archeological building under the law.
 
 
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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