Architecture is entrenched in our understanding of the past

Majid Al Futtaim is the leading pioneer in shopping malls, retail, and leisure across the Middle East and North Africa region. The UAE company recently shared their expansion plans to invest around EGP24.6 billion ($796 million) in Egypt by 2030 as it looks to expand its presence in the North African country.
I was commissioned to photograph the Mall of Egypt, the first shopping destination of its kind in Egypt.
The Mall of Egypt has been designed as a consumer engagement space with a sense of community created out of the entertainment, experiences, and services which are offered. It is no longer a place for retailers to push out product offerings into a mass market but somewhere which has a pull-marketing approach orchestrated around the needs and interests of an increasingly diverse consumer market, segmented by age, ethnicity, and locality.
The relationship between tradition and innovation in design is fluid and complicated. Architecture is entrenched in our understanding of the past through local knowledge, practice, and wisdom as much as by new industrial innovations and emerging technology.
Since 1998, Majid Al Futtaim has transformed the retail, real estate and entertainment landscape in Egypt over its 25-year presence in the country.
Global management consultancy firm Kearney ranked Egypt in the 7th position in its Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) in 2021, climbing several sports from the 19th place in the previous study.
Developer: Majid Al Futtaim properties
Architect: CallisonRTKL
Other: rmc raafat.miller.consulting (Architect of Record), WSP & Shaker Consultancy Group, BDP (Building Design Partnership Ltd) Lighting, Thinkwell Group (A TAIT Company), Tarek Beshir Architects