Revising Alexandria’s Waterfronts (Form, Identity and Architecture of a Port-City)

This contribution examines Alexandria’s recent waterfront projects conceived before the economic crisis of 2008, and before the riots of January 2011. Such projects bear witness to a globalisation process driven by multinational corporate strategies, as well as to a changing physical and functional relationship between the city and its port. While claiming the importance of a historical urban landscape, expressed by the slogan capitalising on heritage, most of these waterfront projects pursue a set of self-referential architectural forms attuned with the international scene as “events” attracting broader urban tourism. If we consider the port-city’s earlier developments, as well as literary evidence referring to the materiality of the city, we realise how the waterfront theme holds an important place in shaping the identity of Alexandria. A critical factor in the development of Alexandria’s multiple waterfronts is the project’s necessity, concretely bridging the gap between the mythical past and a possible future. It may be added that the functional and symbolic performance of Alexandria’s port-scapes bears witness to the plurality of contributions that have allowed their physical construction. As in Tunis or Beirut, the problem of a formal order was rather one of volumetric and spatial relations or a “three-dimensional plan.”