Architect and author Khaled Adham traces the personal and familial impulses that have shaped Cairo’s Mohandiseen district. In the 1940s, Mohandiseen was a subdivision for an aspiring class of homeowners and professionals. Today, in its ever-higher, ever-denser buildings, Adham finds stories that reveal how an Egyptian middle class strives to maintain its footing. These narratives take place as much in the streets of Cairo as in the cities of the Gulf. Adham’s academic career has delivered enlightening work on Dubai, Doha and Cairo. In his latest work, it’s the family histories of everyday Cairenes that condense all these cities into the teeming streets of Mohandiseen.

Biographies of a Cairo Neighborhood is part of Night School 2026 | Pardon Our Progress, a five-week program of seminars and public events led by Todd Reisz and dedicated to encounters with urbanism and history in Dubai. Learn more about the programme here.

The event is free and open to all. Please confirm your attendance by registering here.

Khaled Adham is an Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning. He holds a B.Sc. in Architectural Engineering from Cairo University, a Master of Architecture (M.Arch) from Kent State University, and a PhD in Architecture from Texas A&M University. Adham has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in architecture and urban planning at universities in the United States, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. Most recently, Adham held a research fellowship at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) in Berlin. Teaching responsibilities have included architectural design studios, urban design, urban planning, and the history and theory of architecture. His professional practice includes participation in architectural design projects and competitions, as well as contributions to planning and development initiatives for several villages in Egypt. His research focuses on how late capitalism shaped Cairo’s urban and physical transformations, with particular attention to housing and urbanization of the Middle-class in Cairo. Findings have been published in academic journals and edited volumes, presented at international conferences. and shared in invited talks. Across teaching, research, and practice, Adham’s record refl ects sustained engagement with contemporary urbanization in Egypt and the wider region, informed by both scholarly inquiry and professional experience.

Image credit: View over Mustafa Mahmoud Square, Mohandiseen, Cairo, 2011. Photograph by Hossam el-Hamalawy