Studio Meem

“I decided to start Studio Meem at a moment when things were changing with hope towards a brighter future,” said Manar Moursi, founder of the Cairo-based architect and design atelier Studio Meem. “It was my way of contributing to my city by culling my experiences and talents into projects that raised critical awareness about the architectural and urban environment.”
http://www.designmena.com/insight/meet-cairo-creative-manar-moursi-founder-of-cairo-based-studio-meem

Meet Manar Moursi, founder of Cairo-based Studio Meem

تحفل القاهرة بآلاف -إن لم يكن أكثر- الأشياء الرمزية، الموزعة في فضاء المدينة العام.. في الشوارع والميادين، وعلى الأرصفة، والحوائط، وحتى الأسقف والمطلات.. هذه الأشياء، تنظر من يلتقطها ويجمع منها تاريخ للمدينة المعقدة المتراكمة. كتاب “صالون الرصيف ..ألف كرسي وكرسي في القاهرة” فعل ذلك، وصاغ من “الكراسي” الملقاة في تلافيف القاهرة خريطة موازية ومختلفة للعاصمة المصرية..

منطقتي | محمد خير يكتب: صالون الأرصفة.. القاهرة تجلس على كرسي قديم في الكتاب الصادر عن دار أونوماتوبي الهولندية والكتب خان المصرية، لا يبخل المحرران بإرفاق خرائط رحلاتهما القاهرية بصورة منفصلة يمكن تصفحها وحدها

"Sidewalk Salon:1001 Street Chairs of Cairo is an intimate portrait of the capital of Egypt seen from its sidewalk street chairs and the thousands of people who occupy them. These dilapidated chairs, which populate Cairo’s sidewalks, speak of the city from the level of its pavements. The street chairs are used in this book as tools to explore intimate details and the collective memories of the city. While documenting these original chairs, the book tells the story of the human dimensions of the city."
Check out the interview on Design Indaba on Sidewalk Salon here: http://www.designindaba.com/articles/point-view/1001-cairo-street-chairs-and-particular-charm-imperfection And support the project by ordering a copy of the book!

1001 Cairo street chairs and the particular charm of imperfection | Design Indaba

And it's live! We are very pleased to announce the launch of the map-based website (www.1001streetchairscairo.com) of our project Sidewalk Salon. In this website you can follow some of the paths we walked in 6 different areas of the city and sample a selection of the chairs we found along these paths. You can listen to some of the interviews we conducted with the chairs owners and read the fiction and poetry commissioned for the project. Check it out, enjoy and share widely! Support the project by ordering a copy of our book from one of the many distribution points: http://www.sidewalksaloncairo.com/distribution

It was during long walks in Cairo neighborhoods that Studio Meem’s Manar Moursi became interested in the palm-fiber (“gireed”) vegetable crate found on every other street-corner. “I was very attracted to its materiality, imperfection and pattern,” Moursi tells me. “I saw a lot of potential in re-using it.” In 2011 she launched her first product line after researching the crate’s production process. Off the Gireed included palm-fiber seating and shelving units. Read Lara El Gibaly's piece here on some of the designers participating in the Cairo Now Exhibition this week in Dubai Design Week including Studio Meem
http://www.madamasr.com/en/2016/10/26/feature/culture/heritage-in-designembracing-flux-and-function-over-blind-nostalgia/

Heritage in design: Embracing flux and function over blind nostalgia In a global design culture, what do phrases like cultural appropriation, self-exoticism & “authentically Egyptian” mean anymore?

Dubai Design Week 2016 is opening in a few hours with work from talented Cairo designers. Below featured in an article in Ahram English is a photo of Studio Meem's Ahwa Sada tables which will be on display among other work this week. Pass by if you are in Dubai. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/246264.aspx

All eyes on Cairo’s designers at upcoming Dubai Design Week - Visual Art - Arts & Culture - Ahram Online Cairo is this years Iconic City at Dubai Design Week

Studio Meem's Ahwa Sada, Off the Gireed and Supernatural Tables will be on display from the 24th-29th of October as part of Cairo Now! in Dubai Design Week 2016. So will an installation of 1001 Street Chairs of Cairo ألف كرسي و كرسي Check it out if you are in Dubai next week!

Studio Meem's Mapping Cairo and collaboration on the Kodak Passageway were in this year's Egyptian Pavilion in the Venice Biennale. Below a link to a text originally published in the catalogue republished in Domus Magazine on the works included in this year's pavilion.
"Social justice – including more equal access to housing, health care and labor opportunities – were amongst the key demands of revolutionary forces in 2011. Fueled by the energy of the post-revolutionary context, some architects, urbanists and researchers found themselves intensely questioning the two trajectories of growth in Egypt, aiming for a potential force to change and reform. It is the fruits of their work presented in the 15.Venice Architecture Biennale."

Reframing back

Studio Meem's Friends in Berlin, and friends with friends in Berlin.
Sidewalk Salon: 1001 Street Chairs of Cairo ألف كرسي و كرسي will be on sale at the Miss Read Berlin Art Book Fair, at our publisher Onomatopee's table from Friday, June 10, 17:00 to Sunday, June 12, 19:00.
Do go and get your copy if you are around and spread the word!
Lots of exciting publishing houses, books, parties and events.
Location: Akademie der Künste Hanseatenweg 10, Halle 1+2 10557 Berlin.
For more information: http://missread.com