A project with young students to discover the heritage of Cairo.
HERITAGE AWARENESS / TALK ABOUT THE CITY
Project: Take a Juice with your Heritage!
Location: DEO- German Evangelical School, Cairo
Date: April 2013
Partners: DEO
The project “Take a juice with your Heritage!” aims at promoting the knowledge of the history of the urban development and the architecture of Cairo, from the Islamic time until today, involving the children of the German School in Cairo in activities related to foster an actively discover the Heritage.
The first pilot-project started in April and involves one class (13th level) of the DEO for three appointments.
1: BUILDING TOGETHER CAIRO
During the first meeting, through interactive plays, we asked the children to present their own perception of the city, finalising together a real map of Cairo which contains also the individual mental references of each students (for example: where they live, where they go to do sport, where they buy food…).
AIMS: Targets of the first working session is to link the personal experience of the city with the “big historical facts” which characterise the urban phases of growth of Cairo.
2: SITE VISIT
The second appointment was a site visit in Islamic Cairo. During the walk from Bab Zuwayla to Ibn Tulun, we discussed together with the students about the district, referring to the map of Cairo realised in the first working session. In this way they linked the visual abstract representation of the city through the map with the real environment. The students finalised sketches of different urban situations, plans and details of the visited buildings.
AIMS: The students are fostered to build a relation between the abstract plan of the city produced during the first meeting and the real urban and architectural surroundings. Through sketches they get to know the architecture from a typological and stylistic point of view.
3: FINAL DISCUSSION
The third and last appointment was used to reflect on the work done and encourage the future personal discover of the city and its architectural heritage.
The plans, descriptions and sketches of the buildings prepared during the site visit were presented and described, summing up the whole process and the results achieved.
AIMS: By rethinking about the whole project and things done, the learn process will be intensified. The curiosity and self-initiative of the students will be fostered, to make them to continue site visits and sketches.
For the pilot project, the three appointments were in cooperation with Elke Kanold, teacher at the German School.
Hana and Tarek, voluntary students from the GUC, joined the project to easily create a link with the younger students and to learn about how to organise and manage the activities. With their help, we aim to continue similar projects in further local schools.
http://www.deokairo.com/de/unterricht/kunst/kunstprojekt-deo-guc.html?type=98
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