From Freedom of Expression to Expression of Freedom: Responding to Socio-Political Change in the Classroom

Abstract

On 25^th January 2011 Egyptian reality changed. This change brought violence and even death, but it also brought concepts previously absent from society – democracy, choice, rights and freedom of expression. As educators we quickly became aware of our responsibility to capitalise on the opportunities this presented. This paper sets out to outline the ‘Freedom Pavilion’ project at the American University in Cairo (AUC), and its role in illustrating the expressive power of design. The American University, with a campus in Tahrir Square, was figuratively and literally a witness to the events of 25^th January. Upon returning to classes merely 36 hours after the overturned president abdicated, as part of its role to bear witness to these events AUC launched a project to collect artifacts from the revolution – the ‘University on the Square’ initiative. The project outlined here is a design studio response to that initiative.

Students were challenged to present projects that could embody this newly born freedom and functionally house the artifacts that bore witness to it. Programmatically the project was required to house the ‘University on the Square’ collection while creating a space for free exchange of ideas, debate and discourse. Projects ranged from abstractions of the revolution's narrative; experiential spaces relaying the multi-sensory encounter of moving from oppression to freedom; and conceptual installations using the overlay of material, form and experience. This paper presents the power of bringing civic engagement into the studio and integrating critical discourse to motivate students, challenge their assumptions and foster their creativity.

Keywords:

• design studio
• Egypt
• pavilion design
• socio-political change

Introduction

Civic engagement in the classroom is not a new concept. Since formal education first began the socio-political realm has influenced, and been influenced by education, oscillating from open dialogue to dogmatic oppression. As a result of this dynamic relationship many social movements historically have begun within, or revolved around, the congregation of students in educational institutions. From the South African school boycott of the 1950s (Ewing 2005), to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s at Columbia University (Hays 1969) to Tiananmen Square in the 1980s (Zheng 1990), engagement in civic society, politics, and issues of social liberties have come to the forefront of our educational forums. Closely intertwined, education and social awareness live symbiotically. More relevant to this discussion is the modern dialogue between social awareness, civic engagement and education; with the Egyptian Women's Rights movement and its relationship to public education reform (Salmoni 2005).

Technology has brought an entirely new dimension, and indeed power, to this relationship between the classroom and the street. Today's Facebook generation – with a population currently placing it, were it a country, as the third largest in the world – has been instrumental in effecting change, for better or worse, in today's society. Bringing such technological culture and networking dynamics into the classroom is fast becoming a pedagogical revolution in and of itself. Real-time experience, online keyword ‘trending’, user-created content such as YouTube, image tracking such as InstaGram and a multitude of other dynamics are continuously being effectively woven into classroom strategies. A most recent example of this is the multimedia, real-time, online discussion of the Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011–2012 as documented and experienced through MediaThread at Columbia University's Centre for New Media Teaching and Learning (Bossewitch & Preston 2011).

Egypt's recent revolution is no exception to this paradigm shift. Not only were students of the Facebook generation actively involved, and indeed perhaps the tipping point for social unrest, but they were joined almost unequivocally by all sectors of society, making the Egyptian 2011 revolution at once unique and incredibly powerful in its leaderless galvanisation of society against oppression, corruption and decades of dictatorship.

Architecture as a Vehicle of Socio-Political Expression

Architecture has always been an important vehicle of social, collective expression. Most notable among such architecture in contemporary Egypt is the work of Hassan Fathy, and later Abdelhalim Ibrahim. Both heralded for their dedication to community and society, they paved the way for contemporary architectural form, expression and constructs that represented important paradigm shifts of the time. Their work challenged totalitarian modernism with responsive communal expression, and has been called by Halim himself ‘an architecture of resistance’: this quotation was taken from an unpublished interview of Abdelhalim Ibrahim by the author, as part of a series of interviews in preparation for a monograph of his work in 2007.

With such shifts from the international, post World War II mass architecture, the path was set for contemporary Egyptian discourse over the role of architecture as a tool of social expression, symbolism, change and identity (Asfour 2009). This project is an example of such discourse.

The University on the Square

The American University in Cairo (AUC) has a long history as witness to social change in Egypt. Founded in 1919 by Americans determined to bring liberal education to the region, it grew from its original 20 students to its current enrollment of over 6000 students in both undergraduate and graduate programmes. Throughout this time it has both contributed to and influenced the socio-political dialogue in the country, while remaining non-political (Murphy 1987). Its student body, with their western mentality and Egyptian loyalties, has at times made historical contributions to contemporary Egyptian society.

This role was literally thrust to the forefront when AUC became the urban backdrop for one of the most influential events of recent Egyptian history – the 25^th January revolution. In physical proximity to Tahrir Square which was the site of this historic event, AUC once again bore witness to Egyptian societal change.

Figure 1 AUC bears witness to the Egyptian Revolution. Photograph reproduced by permission of Thomas Hartwell.

Figure 1 shows the view of Tahrir Square during the 18 days of revolt, as seen from the viewpoint of AUC's Tahrir campus. Figure 2 shows the interactive expressive work of graffiti artists in the neighbouring streets during the ongoing conflict between police forces and protestors. Street artists used informal art to dissolve boundaries and visually remove the barricade placed by security forces to block protestors from accessing streets adjacent to Tahrir Square. This work has been referred to as the ‘bedoonhawait’ – or ‘without walls’ movement. The buildings to the left are part of AUC's Tahrir campus.

Figure 2 Creativity in conflict: graffiti by street artists (Lindsey 2012). Photograph reproduced by permission of Ursula Lindsey.

As one of the first institutions to return to its regular schedule, AUC's New Cairo campus situated outside of the city began classes again a mere 48 hours after the successful ousting of the dictatorship regime. With this return to the educational forum came a desire to document and create a collective memory of events, and the ‘University on the Square’ initiative was launched (American University in Cairo 2011).

The ‘University on the Square’ initiative aimed at capturing the experiences of AUC's community, as well as the community at large. A multi-media collection of images, artifacts, testimonials, videos, works of art, articles and essays, this collection serves as a real-time living memory of Egypt's ongoing struggle on the path to democracy. Over the coming years such an archive will play an important role as an impartial reference for the events.

The Freedom Pavilion Project

In response to this initiative, a project was developed for the AENG 352 Design Studio II course in the architecture programme at AUC during the spring of 2011 – truly the Arab spring. The title of the project was ‘The Freedom Pavilion’.

The primary objective of this project as outlined in the brief presented to students was to create an architectural domain where the AUC community and visitors can view, experience and reflect on the events of the revolution. Programmatically the pavilion was required to house the University on the Square collection. This would require flexible and varied facilities for display.

Students were encouraged to expand their position on ‘exhibition’ from a static, unilateral, spectator approach to one that involved interaction and experiential viewing – a more immersive methodology than that typically used in exhibitions. The critical discourse underpinning the design process involved questioning not only what was to be displayed and how to display it, but the role of the pavilion itself. Should it have an experiential approach, focusing on having its visitors re-live the experience? Should it be purely documental and neutral? Should its form and expression play a symbolic role, almost as an exhibit in and of itself, making it more installation art than architecture? If so, what symbolic role should that be? What themes are appropriate references for such symbols – hope, violence, oppression, freedom, rebirth, society? What is such a pavilion's social role? Can it be expanded programmatically to include more than just exhibition space by providing public space for critical discourse? Should such social functions be formalised, or given their dynamic are they best left informal, with the architecture only creating the opportunity, but not necessarily the form, of social expression?

Figure 3 Site map of Freedom Pavilion: proposed location indicated in blue. Photograph reproduced by permission of AUC's University Architect's office.

The pavilion itself was to be situated at the western end of campus, in the publicly accessible plaza in front of the university's main portal (see Figure 3). It would join a number of community spaces on campus including the AUC Press bookstore, a theatre, art gallery and campus centre, all overlooking a public plaza accessible by visitor parking. Situated in an existing grove of trees, students were required to place their structure to accommodate the natural elements on site, as well as to respond to the surrounding architecture. This includes Abdelhalim Ibrahim's campus masterpiece, the AUC portal (see Figure 4), which was designed as a contemporary reinterpretation of traditional geometry meant to inspire and symbolise the contemplation required of liberal arts education.

Figure 4 Abdelhalim Ibrahim's AUC portal. Photograph author's own.

The process by which students developed their work began with a visual collage of images and inspirations, set around a concept statement. Examples of such statements included notions such as ‘from oppression to freedom’, ‘the architecture of re-birth’ and ‘from darkness to light’. These collages helped inform the qualities of space, use of materials, geometric vocabulary, symbolic statements and the social roles of the pavilion.

The primary mode of investigation throughout the design process was through experimental scaled physical models on site. Environmental context and natural elements were investigated through exploratory on-site photography. These included in particular issues of daylight and their relationship to shade and shadow as a means to inform design in hot climates, create spatial quality and organise behaviour within the pavilion.

In addition the architectural context surrounding the site was investigated through photo-collage. Students presented various approaches ranging from geometric analogies, conceptual referencing, symbolic gestures and utilisation of lines of site (see Figure 5).

Figure 5 A collage showing the various approaches and compositions proposed within the studio.

The following discussion outlines examples of some of the specific approaches presented by the students.

From Oppression to Freedom

Figure 6 Project by Noha Rifaat symbolising the transition from oppression to freedom. Photograph reproduced by permission of Ayman Ghali.

This first project (Figure 6) was rooted in the symbolisation of the journey throughout the revolution, from the shackles of oppression to the refreshing liberty of freedom. Although possibly viewed as reductive with regards to the issues and slightly utopian, this scheme presented a clean expression of the two extremes of this polarising event – oppression and freedom.

Using a transitional approach, the user would enter the pavilion from the eastern end overlooking the plaza, under a series of frames tightly bound with black cables and through a dark web of thread-like ropes which must be traversed to move on through the pavilion. The alcoves to the left and right of the central path would house displays of the artifacts representing the oppression, discrimination and persecution faced by the Egyptian people during the decades of dictatorship rule. This spatial experience would gradually dissipate as the user moves further along the path and the frames become wider spaced, the cables less tightly bound and the color transitioning gradually to white. As this transition occurs the displays begin to move towards those expressing the revolution, its fight for freedom and eventually elements of its success.

The student used a variety of experiential contrasting elements to reinforce this transition – darkness to light; tightness to openness; black to white and dense to loose.

From Darkness to Light

Similar to the first project, this scheme represents a transition from two extreme experiences, in this case darkness and light, to represent the revolution (see Figure 7). Again the student uses a continuous line in the form of cables or threads stretched across a structure to achieve the necessary spatial qualities.

Figure 7 Project by Salah Maged based on the representation of the revolution as a movement from darkness to light. Photographs reproduced by permission of Ayman Ghali.

As a departure however, from the previous project, this student chose to use the vertical dimension as opposed to a horizontal progression along a path, to further reinforce this transition. Starting at the eastern end of the site, the visitor would begin by descending into an underground exhibition space via a ramp and under a canopy of dense, dark cables stretched over spear-like posts. These posts pierce through the plaza level slab, creating a stalactite-like ceiling installation in the lower hall. This space represents the period of dictatorship of the regime. Its darkness, aggressive ceiling and underground location reinforce qualitatively the historical period preceding the revolution – a period of oppression, violence and persecution, all hidden underground, invisible to the world.

The visitor, once having concluded viewing the displays of this hall, would emerge from underground via another ramp which becomes increasingly washed with light. The overhead cables have now completely morphed to white and the visitor begins viewing the display representing the freedom achieved by the revolution. As the light increases the visitor once again reaches plaza level.

From Diversity to Unity

This project introduces the element of colour as a representation of the different sectors, classes and backgrounds of society (Figure 8). Taking the position that the Egyptian revolution was a truly unifying one, this scheme takes a symbolic approach representing this phenomenon, one unique to such revolutions.

Figure 8 Project by Mariam Elibyari representing the intersection and overlaying of a diverse society to create a whole that is greater than its parts. Photograph reproduced by permission of Ayman Ghali.

Being a leaderless movement, the Egyptian revolution united its people with a singular goal – an end to dictatorship rule. In a spontaneous, almost organic fashion, this revolution sparked by an unbridled series of manifestations of the regime's brutality and oppression, reached its tipping point on 25^th January. This pavilion tries to represent that phenomenon.

Using strategically placed colored acrylic panels, the pavilion creates an optical illusion of a spectrum of colours far greater than those used in its original primary palette. Representing the different groups in society – working class, elite, rich, poor, Muslim, Christian, Agnostic etc. – each colour creates something beyond its own expressive limitations when overlaid with the next.

As the visitor moves through this pavilion from its west end towards the central plaza, these colours continuously change and shift dynamically until one emerges through a specific frame, at the vista of which is the AUC's portal – a symbol of the way forward through critically minded, liberal education.

The Power of the People

This scheme presents yet another spatial and architectural representation of the coming together of society over a singular goal, and the power that comes with this unification. Based on the principle that success can only be found in unification and that many voices united in a single call find strength beyond their numbers, this pavilion presents a visual and structural scheme to translate this (Figure 9).

Figure 9 A visual/structural/spatial representation of strength in unity designed by Marina Qaldas. Photograph reproduced by permission of Ezzat Ahmed.

Proposing the use of wood construction, this scheme presents a structurally viable option to such symbolic abstraction. Part of the investigation carried out involved constructability, and interestingly proposed that the pavilion itself would remain unstable during construction, requiring external bracing throughout until it reaches completion – symbolising the importance of remaining united until a goal is reached, a dynamic clearly felt during the revolution when momentum fell, sparking fear of aggressive retaliation.

Rebirth

Taking its inspiration from a cocoon, this project symbolises the metamorphosis that occurred in Egypt during the revolution (Figure 10). As a highly conceptual scheme, this project relies on the almost ethereal quality of the space to represent the power, beauty and pain of change.

Figure 10 Project by Nourhan Mahfouz inspired by a cocoon structure as an analogy for the revolution. Photograph reproduced by permission of Ayman Ghali.

Using uniquely treated textured paper and moulds, the student went through numerous experimentations to reach a structure with the necessary lightness, translucency, flexibility and strength to create the desired quality of space. Creating a series of ribbons, which gradually break open to reveal the interior, this pavilion creates an analogous representation of the struggle and internal strength it takes to break free of a cocoon.

Light plays an important role in this scheme, and through the texture and translucency of the material used, the pavilion only comes to life when lit from within – a light that represents the luminous strength of change.

Symbolism

Continuing on the theme of abstraction and symbolism, other students chose visual and spatial manifestations of the uplifting and regenerative characteristics of the revolution. Without being overly representative this project uses the triangular profile – vaguely reminiscent of the Egyptian symbol of the great pyramid – in a structure literally and structurally peeled from the ground, to represent a rising from the ashes (Figure 11).

Figure 11 A pyramidal profile casts a stratified shadow on the ground, reflecting the uplifting form of the pavilion. Designed by Ragya El Masry. Photograph reproduced by permission of Ezzat Ahmed.

This continuous structure proposes the use of a single material for both ground and roof enhancing the sense of fluidity. The ground representing the people, and the pavilion representing the revolution, are seen as a seamless whole.

Yet another project introduces a symbolic geometry representative of the American University itself where the pavilion is located. Using an abstracted stylised Islamic pattern commonly found in ornamentation and logos at AUC, the student creates a scheme re-defining the building as a simple receptacle of activity (see Figure 12). This pavilion is experienced from above, below, within and around. Its accessible ramped roofs overlooking the interior display halls, provide a visual connectivity throughout as well as a prospect for further viewing.

Figure 12 View of the pavilion. Designed by Rana Swellam. Photograph reproduced by permission of Rana Swellam.

Conclusion

The experience presented by the ‘Freedom Pavilion’ project, given the polarising effect of the subject matter only served to highlight the very benefits of civic engagement in the classroom, particularly the design studio. The following is a discussion of these benefits and the lessons learnt for future application of community in the classroom.

The level of passion felt by the students, so early after the revolution, served as a driving force and motivation taking them beyond the typical levels of work ethic and dedication. But we should not wait for such an historic event to bring community and society into the studio. Indeed our everyday lives are full of issues about which students can express passion and which can inspire design. Better yet, we should perhaps build on existing interests and tap into the issues that students are already engaged with and passionate about.

This motivation pushed students in their investigations and experimentations, encouraging them to seek new materials, innovative structural systems and abstract expressions. There was an observed shift towards the qualitative, multi-sensory aspects of design, as opposed to the typical visio-centric approaches of iconism and literal interpretations. The subject matter, and the students' affinity to it, allowed them to instinctually place themselves within the spaces, with a clear desire of the spatial values they aspired to. This engagement allowed them to design from a personal perspective, enhancing the depth, quality and innovation of the outcome. More images and information about the ‘Freedom Pavilion’ project can be found in the Showcase section of the author's e-portfolio at www.epsilen.com/mmost.