Cairo

There are relatively few trees in Cairo, but there are lots of palm trees that ornamentally line major boulevards and avenues. 

Alhough downtown Cairo was planned by European architects, throughout the city is a mix of different architectural styles. I was taken aback by how European the downtown area was. I had seen it with my eyes before going to read up on it, then I understood why the downtown is the way it is.

The beauty of this downtown area is fading now, but it must have been splendid at some time in the past. It still is beautiful though, but there is something uniquely Egyptian about it. And not just the downtown. 

Despite the conflicting styles and influences, the European style buildings, as with the modern ones, almost all have subtle Egyptian touches and finishes, which, together with the use of Arabic signage, include unique features like hieroglyphs, pharaonic motifs, ancient Egyptian imagery, and other ornate detailing, everywhere you look; this including inside the elevators at my hotel; small details that constantly reminded me of where I was. And I haven't mentioned the even older traditional North African and Arabian architectural styles. I found the mixture of the ancient, modern, and everything in-between, very interesting. I would have loved to have stayed a bit longer to roam around more. 

This made me feel that in sub Saharan Africa, and in Nigeria in particular, we have abandoned our traditional building styles, such that there is little in modern architecture that can be termed as a uniquely Nigerian style. Our traditional building styles and practices, except perhaps for Hausa traditional architecture to a limited extent, have been largely relegated to a past era. What I've seen in Egypt is the opposite. The Egyptians have brought their traditional styles with them into the 21st century, taking advantage of new technologies to advance that unique style of theirs. This made for a cultural richness and depth that we could have had in Nigeria too, but don't have today in our buildings.