Michael was nine years old when his family moved from Egypt to Canada. Years later, his architectural education drew him back to Egypt's architecture and urban history and “the layers of entanglements and influences that continue to form the city.” This interest made post-revolution Egyptian architecture a natural focus for his master’s thesis. "Specifically, I'm looking at Egypt's New Capital and various new museums as case studies, with the goal of designing an alternative mobile and modular museum that celebrates the plurality of modern Egyptian identity.”
By proposing new forms of cultural infrastructure, his work aims to inform different approaches to public spaces and heritage representation in rapidly urbanizing contexts. As a recipient of the International Experience Award, Salib visited Cairo to further immerse himself in this thesis material. “I chose to visit the city because I wanted to get a closer look at the sites I'm studying and place myself in context.”
“While in Cairo, I conducted extensive fieldwork by visiting different sites and documenting them through photography, sketching and spatial analysis. Key sites include the Grand Egyptian Museum, the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization and the New Capital, along with other 20th-century monuments that tie my research to historical patterns. I was also able to visit pre-identified sites of intervention and evaluate their effectiveness for my proposal. Beyond my thesis research, I visited sites relevant to my broader research interests, such as new infrastructure projects, art institutions, and Coptic heritage sites. Finally, I had the opportunity to present my ongoing work at a conference at the American University in Cairo and connect with visiting scholars in the field.”
Michael’s favourite part of the experience was reconnecting with his loved ones. Some memorable moments for him included having breakfast by the pyramids, going to the beach, taking a sunset boat down the Nile, and having his friends and family accompany him for a few days of fieldwork.
Michael offers the following advice to students: “Don’t think twice! Every time I work or conduct research somewhere new, I come back with such a deeper understanding of the world. Truly, the more you learn, the more you realize there's more to learn.”
Graduate Student International Experience award funds are available to University of Waterloo graduate students who participate in:
- An academic exchange
- A study term abroad related to research or an academic requirement
- Work or volunteer experience in another country