The Mogamma (Arabic: مجمع التحرير, also spelled ''Mugamma'', roughly translated as 'the complex')
is a government building in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
. The Mogamma was the result of a series of master plans for the Qasr el Nil area (now
Tahrir Square
Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political demonstrations in Cai ...
), which used to be occupied by the British barracks. In 1945 when
King Farouk
Farouk I (; ar, فاروق الأول ''Fārūq al-Awwal''; 11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965) was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and the Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1 ...
ordered the demolition of the barracks upon the departure of British troops from the area, a series of urban planning proposals ensued. The idea for a centralised, all-in-one administrative building emerged from the 1945 plans. Construction began in 1946, and ended in 1949. The building's style reflects typical 1940s modernism, and government buildings in the same style can be found in Buffalo, New York (
Buffalo City Hall
Buffalo City Hall is the city hall, seat for municipal government in the Buffalo, New York, City of Buffalo, New York (state), New York. Located at 65 Niagara Square, the 32-story Art Deco building was completed in 1931 by Dietel, Wade & Jones.
...
), and Paris. Contrary to popular belief, there is no Soviet association or inspiration, and the building was not constructed by the government of Egypt's second President,
Gamal Abdel Nasser. Indeed, Nasser did not become the leader of Egypt until November 1954, several years after the building was completed.
The Mogamma is located in
downtown Cairo
Downtown Cairo ( arz, وسط البلد '' "middle of town")'', has been the urban center of Cairo, Egypt, since the late 19th century, when the district was designed and built.
History
Downtown Cairo was designed by prestigious French archit ...
to the south of Tahrir Square, which was, at the time, the newly designed "Liberation Square".
Function
The Mogamma is an administrative governmental building, where all paper work is done by government agencies. For example, one can go there to process documents, get a driver's license, or be issued a visa. The governmental agencies that are located in the building include the Tax Evasion Investigations Offices, the Fire Fighting Organization, and the Passport Offices. The 14-story building is the workplace of 18,000–30,000 Egyptian public servants.
Structure and architecture
The building was designed by Egyptian architect
Mohamed Kamal Ismail, who also designed the
High Court of Egypt's building, and planned the expansion of the
Great Mosque of Mecca
, native_name_lang = ar
, religious_affiliation = Islam
, image = Al-Haram mosque - Flickr - Al Jazeera English.jpg
, image_upright = 1.25
, caption = Aerial view of the Great Mosque of Mecca
, map ...
and
Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Saudi Arabia. The building was built in
Modern Architectural Style, with little attention to the facade's ornamentation, and more focus on its practicality, as the building was planned to - at the time - have around four thousand employees.
The Mogamma in cinema
The Mogamma has appeared in several Egyptian movies, the most famous one being ''Al-irhab wal Kebab (
Terrorism and Kebab)'', a comedy in which the building's bureaucracy frustrates an Egyptian citizen to the point that he mistakenly grabs a guard's gun, proceeds to take the building hostage, and is labeled a terrorist. The film uses the Mogamma and unbearable bureaucracy as a metaphor for all that is wrong in Egyptian society.
The Mogamma today
![The Mogamma at night](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/The_Mogamma_at_night.jpg)
In 2005, the government indicated it had plans for the government administrative buildings and departments to be moved from their present locations in and around the downtown area to someplace else.
[(9 October 2005)]
Red tape Mecca on its way out
'' Reading Eagle'' (from ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''), Retrieved December 13, 2010 In 2016, the government announced its plan to reduce congestion in the
Downtown Cairo
Downtown Cairo ( arz, وسط البلد '' "middle of town")'', has been the urban center of Cairo, Egypt, since the late 19th century, when the district was designed and built.
History
Downtown Cairo was designed by prestigious French archit ...
area, a plan that focuses primarily on the Mogamma, which is believed to have created and contributed to the enormous amount of congestion in Tahrir Square. The administrative offices inside the building are to be emptied and transferred elsewhere outside the downtown area, but while the government set the date for the evacuation of the building to be in mid-2017, the deadline has not yet been met.
Steps towards the eventual move from the building were finally taken in mid-2019, when the
Passports, Immigration and Nationality Administration, which occupied 215 offices in the first and second floors, and used to attract more than %75 of citizens going to the Mogamma, was moved to its new grounds at Al
Abbassia
Abbassia ( ar, العباسية ) is a neighbourhood in Cairo, Egypt. The Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, Cairo is located in Abbassia. The medical faculty of Ain Shams University and its affiliate hospital units are located in Ab ...
. In addition, 140 offices affiliated with the
Ministry of Social Solidarity which used to occupy the fifth floor of the building have been evacuated.
During the Egyptian revolution of 2011
During the
2011 Egyptian revolution
The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...
, the Mogamma was closed on account of the
sit-in in Tahrir Square. A second sit-in in Tahrir Square, beginning on 8 July 2011, also included a blockade of the Mogamma.
See also
*
Qasr El Ayni Street
*
Midan Tahrir
Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political demonstrations in Cai ...
*
Downtown Cairo
Downtown Cairo ( arz, وسط البلد '' "middle of town")'', has been the urban center of Cairo, Egypt, since the late 19th century, when the district was designed and built.
History
Downtown Cairo was designed by prestigious French archit ...
References
{{Coord, 30, 2, 35.1794, N, 31, 14, 5.98, E, type:landmark_scale:3000, display=title
Government buildings completed in 1952
Buildings and structures in Cairo
Downtown Cairo