The Khedive’s Cairo is often referred to as the heart of modern Cairo. Laid out by Ismail Pacha in the late 19th century, the Khedive’s Cairo was a physical manifestation of the governmental and societal evolution that the Khedive envisioned for Egypt. Like many American and European cities, time and intense pressures of population growth has caused this important cultural and business district to lose much of the luster that once characterized Cairo’s importance on the world stage. SWA’s plan uses the rich cultural, historic and natural features that remain to create a framework for revitalizing this important district resulting in a new business, tourist and residential center for Egypt’s growing middle class. While the Khedive’s plan for Cairo is laid out along European lines, the details of our Plan are based upon, and interpret the life style of the modern Egyptians that will inhabit the Khedive’s Cairo.
Rather than furnishing streets with Eurocentric rows of street trees, the plan calls for the use of “micro parks” to provide respite from the frenzy of Downtown Cairo and create a green matrix of usable open space that is imbedded into the fabric of the street. The “micro park” can take on a variety of forms but will typically be a raised garden or paved space of 30 to 50 square meters, which contains a cluster of broad canopy shade trees or an architectural trellis. Micro parks were created to specifically embrace the authentic way that Caireans use the street, and address the realities of maintaining stately rows of street trees in such an urban setting.
Hennepin Avenue
Hennepin Avenue is the oldest street in Downtown Minneapolis, and has gone through multiple transformations over time. The street is undergoing a major reconstruction, and SWA is leading the effort to enhance the character of Hennepin for years to come. The conceptual approach was developed through a robust public engagement process, and touches on the three m...
Thousand Lantern Lake Park System
Nanhai Citizen’s Plaza and Thousand Lantern Lake Park exemplifies the exciting and innovative opportunities for master planning and urban design in new international communities. The site is located in the newly established city of Nanhai, and consists of a commercial precinct, public parks, and civic buildings arranged around a series of lakes and waterways. ...
East Blocks
50 years in the making, East Blocks envisions a new mixed-use neighborhood spanning 10 blocks of EaDo near Downtown Houston—building. Located within an already diverse, eclectic, and walkable arts and entertainment district, the design celebrates the neighborhood’s history as an industrial hub.
East Blocks will be developed in a multiphase process over ...
Long Beach Shoreline
SWA prepared a land use and urban design plan for six miles of waterfront adjacent to downtown Long Beach. Through a series of meetings with local community stakeholders, we were able to determine the different needs of each district in the plan: of critical importance was the need to preserve valuable open space inland, and to maintain an ecological corridor ...