Cairo is a city built in layers. Across three days of talks, site visits and architectural tours, cAIAro 2026 explores how successive civilizations have shaped the city—and how architects today negotiate the relationship between heritage, identity, contemporary practice and the future. 

The program moves deliberately between discussion and experience: from the American University in Cairo to the Pyramids of Giza and Grand Egyptian Museum; from the churches of Coptic Cairo to the mosques, houses, streets and public spaces of Islamic Cairo. 

Day 0 - Wednesday, November 11 

19:30 - Welcome Reception

For Full Conference ticket holders.

Location: TBC

Day 1 - Thursday, November 12 

Day 1 will open with a morning of talks. The afternoon tour will take us to Ancient Cairo - first we will head to the Giza Plateau, to see the monumental Great Pyramids and Sphinx, followed by a visit to The Grand Egyptian Museum.

  • Buses pick up participants from recommended hotels and transfer to conference venue.

  • Registration and coffee at AUC Tahrir Square

  • Speaker:

    Raya Ani, FAIA, Founder and Design Director, RAW-NYC Architects 

    Opening cAIAro 2026, Raya Ani considers three cities shaped by very different moments in the history of the Arab world. Through Baghdad, Cairo and Dubai, the keynote explores how cities carry culture forward—and how contemporary architecture can respond to history, identity, climate and rapid urban transformation without resorting to imitation

  • Speaker:

    Dina Ghobara, Senior Architect and Sustainability Coordinator, Pace 

    Ahead of the conference visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum, Dina Ghobara offers an inside perspective on translating one of the world’s most ambitious cultural projects from architectural vision into built reality. Drawing on her experience as part of the GEM construction team, the session examines multidisciplinary coordination, environmental performance, BIM, building systems and the technical demands of creating a contemporary museum alongside the Giza Plateau. 

  • The first architectural tour brings participants face-to-face with architecture at its most elemental and enduring. At the Giza Plateau, the Great Pyramids and Sphinx become the setting for exploring structure, construction, material, geometry, landscape and monumentality—as well as the contemporary challenges of conserving and interpreting one of the world’s most significant archaeological sites. 

  • From ancient monumentality to one of Egypt’s most important works of contemporary architecture, the program continues at the Grand Egyptian Museum. The visit examines the building as both architecture and complex cultural infrastructure, exploring visitor movement, accessibility, environmental control, building systems, conservation and the relationship between the museum, its collections and the Giza Plateau. 

    CES: Estimated 3 LU/ HSW for AIA Members 

  • Item description

Day 2 - Friday, November 13 

Day 2 will likewise start with a morning of talks and panel discussions. This time the tour will focus on Coptic Cairo. Looking at sacred architecture within the Fortress of Babylon, we will be visiting sights including the Hanging Church, Church of St. Sergius and Bacchus and the Church of the Holy Family Dwelling.

8:15 - Departure from Hotels

  • Speakers:

    Nirmeen Abu Lughod, Dr. Hadeel El Naggar and Rajagopalan Palamadai, Intl. Assoc. AIA 

    How does sacred architecture evolve while retaining cultural and spiritual continuity? This session considers the mosque across different periods and places, examining how typology, climate, material, technology and social context influence architectural expression. Rajagopalan Palamadai adds a perspective on the work and legacy of Hassan Fathy. 

  • Speakers:

    Sarah Abdel-Monim and Roba Youssef, Assoc. AIA 

    Cairo exists not only in buildings and streets, but also in memory, literature and the stories of those who inhabit it. This session examines how cultural narratives shape our understanding of the city and asks how architects might translate memory, identity and lived experience into meaningful contemporary design. 

Track A

Track B

  • Speakers:

    Sanmita Patel, Prof. Abdelmohsen Farahat and Dr. Nagia Said 

    Heritage is not static. It exists within cities experiencing demographic change, development pressure, environmental stress and competing ideas about what should be preserved. This session examines the relationship between cultural heritage, social equity and urban transformation—and the role architects, researchers and communities can play in shaping the future of historic places. 

  • Speaker:

    Dr. Maria A. El Helou and Dr. Ibrahim Saad 

    Can memory itself become a form of design evidence? Bringing together perspectives from neuroarchitecture, human-centered design and digital interpretation, this session explores how identity, memory and human experience can inform architectural decisions—and how emerging tools can help designers interpret cultural context rather than merely reproduce its visual language. 

  • Speakers:

    Andrija Stojic, WHY Architecture

    Carolina Godinho, Perkins Eastman

    Tomasz Wozny, Foster + Partners 

    The closing plenary turns the conference toward the future. Three practitioners working across architecture, cultural projects, urban design and major contemporary development consider how new interventions can become the next layer of cities with complex histories—responding to place and cultural identity while meeting the changing environmental, social and technical demands of contemporary practice. 

  • Within the walls and remains of the ancient Fortress of Babylon lies one of Cairo’s richest concentrations of religious architecture. This guided architectural walk explores the layered development of Coptic Cairo through the Hanging Church, Church of St. Sergius and Bacchus and the Church of the Holy Family Dwelling, examining sacred space, material, adaptation and the extraordinary continuity of a living religious precinct within an ancient urban fabric. 

Day 3 - Saturday, November 14 

Saturday 14 November will be a full day of tours taking in the sights of Islamic Cairo. From the Mosque and Madrasa of Sultan Hassan, to the Gayer-Anderson Museum, the Citadel of Saladin to Al-Muizz Street, we will explore many aspects of historic Cairo architecture, from the religious and monumental to the domestic, and how historic buildings have been adapted for contemporary use.  

The conference will close that evening with the Design Awards and the Gala Dinner.

  • Three remarkable buildings reveal very different dimensions of historic Cairo. 

    The monumental Mosque and Madrasa of Sultan Hassan demonstrates the relationship between religious architecture, civic presence and structural ambition. At the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, participants explore one of Cairo’s most distinctive mosque typologies, including its material expression and passive environmental strategies. The Gayer-Anderson Museum shifts the scale to domestic architecture, revealing how courtyard houses responded to climate, privacy and everyday life and how historic buildings have been adapted for contemporary use. 

  • Beginning at the Citadel of Saladin and Mosque of Muhammad Ali, the afternoon traces Cairo from monumental architecture into the fabric of the living city. 

    The journey continues along Al-Muizz Street and into Khan El-Khalili, exploring how architecture, streets, markets, monuments and public space have accumulated over centuries. Rather than treating Historic Cairo as a collection of isolated monuments, the tour examines it as an evolving urban environment where conservation, commerce, pedestrian movement and contemporary life continue to overlap. 

Optional Extension Tours - 16-20 November

    • Price - $150

    • Please purchase a tour ticket via the Eventbrite registration page.

    • Tour buses leave from and return to Cairo on Sunday 15 Nov. Estimated return to Cairo around 8-9pm

    • The tour will move between the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa, Pompey’s Pillar, the Roman Theatre and the Citadel of Qaitbay.

  • Download the Upper Egypt Tour PDF here for details of the tour and how to book.

    Nile Cruise booking deadline: 1 October
    Please book by 1 October to have the best chance of travelling on the same boat as other conference attendees. Bookings after this date may still be possible, subject to availability, but you may be accommodated on a different boat.

    Single rooms are strictly limited and must be confirmed by the cruise operator before your booking can be finalized.

    • Indicative price - $600 - $700 per person for double room.

      $950 - $1200 per person for single room.

    • Price does not include flights (approx. $200 total) or temple entrance tickets (approx. $100 total).

    • Participants must book this tour directly with the tour provider, Egypt Tours Gateway.

    • Please note: This extension tour is not organized or managed by AIA International or AIA Middle East. All inquiries, bookings, and responsibilities rest solely with thetour provider, Egypt Tours Gateway. AIA International and AIA Middle East assume no liability for these activities.

    • Participants fly to Aswan (please book your own flights). Cruise departs Monday 16 Nov at 9am. Cruise travels from Aswan to Luxor, including visits to Aswan High Dam, the Valley of the Kings, Karnak and many more. Fly back to Cairo from Luxor on evening of Friday 20 Nov (please book your own flights).

    • For booking inquiries, please contact Egypt Tours Gateway:

This event is organised by AIA Middle East and AIA International. We reserve the right based on reasonable assessment of the circumstances to exclude individuals who display unprofessional or disruptive behaviour. AIA Middle East, AIA International, its programmers and moderators can and will select those questions and comments they deem pertinent to the talk and program.

By registering for this event, you consent to the use of your name and image (in any format) for AIA International and AIA Middle East advertising, promotional, and public relations purposes (including newsletters, web pages, social media, brochures, and recordings). To waive your consent, you must inform AIA International in writing at administrativedirector@aiainternational.org no later than 5 days after the event.