A Contemporary Vision of Environmental Interior Design in Egypt (Proposal for the interior design of a cultural center in Luxor as a model)

Architecture expresses the national identity of each country. The interior architecture of a building expresses the identity of the building from the inside same as the façade does. The public and governmental buildings must be exposed to in-depth studies not only to fulfill the desired purpose in terms of functionality, but also in terms of achieving the national identity. The research aims to apply an interior design to a cultural center that achieves the national Egyptian identity, through the environmental local identity and the Islamic identity. It is a proposed design for the interior architecture of a cultural center in Luxor. The architecture of this center was previously designed by the architect Hassan Fathy, but was not built. Also, it aims to Find design solutions for the interior spaces that are compatible with the environmental architectural design. Besides, it aims to express the local Egyptian identity and meets the present and future requirements and social needs of a cultural center in a developing area in the Egyptian countryside. The research follows the practical analytical method by analyzing the architectural relationships that connect the interior spaces in the original building with each other. That leads to finding geometric shapes, that will be used to design the interior spaces and create ornamental elements. The design also uses some elements inspired by Islamic philosophy, such as water and trees. In addition, it uses elements from the rural environment (like pigeon towers in the Egyptian countryside), which stimulate the visual memory of the user.