Full lecture title:
"Lost Treasure, Found in the Attic: The Architecture of Shepheard’s Hotel in Cairo"

Few buildings embody the waxing and waning of European influence in Egypt during the 19th and 20th centuries as profoundly as Shepheard’s Hotel in Cairo. A potent symbol from Napoleon to Nasser, the hotel was completely destroyed during the infamous “Black Saturday” riots of January 1952.

Given its historical, cultural and social importance, little scholarly work has been devoted to Cairo’s most venerable grand hotel. Though unorthodox research methods, an astounding cache of documents from the lost building - including the original floor plans - was uncovered in the attic of a castle outside of Nuremberg, Germany. Thanks to this spectacular find, the building can now be correctly attributed to the previously unknown German architect Johann Adam Rennebaum (1858-1937) who lived and worked in Egypt for more than fifty years.

These documents serve as basis for the first systematic documentation and analysis of the building and the different styles employed in its extravagant decoration. More than merely lodging for travellers, Shepheard’s was a means to “step through the looking glass”, the very embodiment of Cairo and the tourist attractions along the Nile, and an essential part of the journey to Egypt in the golden age of travel.

Tarek Ibrahim received his BA in art history from New York University in 2000 and his M Arch at Columbia University in the City of New York and Parsons The New School for Design in 2008. He moved to Berlin shortly thereafter, where he worked for several years as a practicing architect, most notably at the firm of Sauerbruch Hutton, before returning to academia in 2012. He received his Master’s in art and architectural history from the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in 2016. Mr. Ibrahim is currently a research associate for the director general of the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace, the largest cultural project in Berlin, opening at the end of 2019. In addition, he is writing his PhD on the life and work of the German architect Johann Adam Rennebaum as a mirror of - and a window onto - the German expatriate community in Egypt around 1900. His thesis on the architecture of Shepheard’s Hotel will be published by the German Archaeological Institute this year.

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