An Eclectic Architect at Work: Giacomo Alessandro Loria

Giacomo Alessandro Loria was a talented architect who spent his entire carreer in Egypt, approaching modern building types but adopting many different styles. Loria was born in Mansoura to a Jewish family well established in Egypt; he began working as a draftsman at the technical office of the Alexandria Municipality (1894-96); he later moved to Turin to attended the Politecnico. In the former Savoy capital in the process of Italianisation he could certainly experience a stimulating cultural climate; however Loria returned to Alexandria without a degree and begun practicing as an architect. So far scholars (Awad, Volait) have dealt maily with Loria’s activity in Alexandria, where Loria was awarded the first prize for the Italian community hospital. Based on visual material included in his Album Studi e Concorsi (studies and competition projects), this paper will try to shed some light on Loria’s work in Cairo. In fact he took part in a series of architectural design competitions: for the school and hospital of Qasr el-Aini, for the Jewish community schools and hospital, for the Italian orphanage 'Constantine and Elena Drosso', for the new Law Courts and the new Stock Exchange, for the new permises od the Crédit Foncier Egyptien and the Banque Misr, and for a series of residential buildings.