Farouk El Gohary’s Al Ebrahimi Emblem in Abu Dhabi

Throughout the 20th century, Egypt had a wealth of modernist architects who helped shape its visual identity. Amongst them was Farouk El Gohary, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 83, leaving behind a myriad of modern buildings in Egypt and beyond.

From playfully pharaonic facades in airports in Luxor and Aswan, to spelling out ‘money’ in hieroglyphs on the Ministry of Finance and Egyptian Tax Authority facade in Cairo, El Gohary embraced novelty with his designs. But El Gohary’s footprint ventured beyond the land of the Nile, and the Al Ibrahimi building in Abu Dhabi stands as a testament to his architectural curiosity and an emblem of the Emirati capital’s modernity in the 1980s.

Considered one of Abu Dhabi’s most recognisable buildings, Al Ibrahimi Building is a landmark within the city, one of few surviving structures that embody the capital’s modern aspirations. It was inspired by a Metabolist facade that El Gohary created for a residential building in Mohandiseen, Cairo. Further exploring his initial design, El Gohary applied interlocking modules that appear like interweaved concrete over the 17-storey cylindrical building.

El Gohary’s bold approach to modern design started when he began his career in the office of Ali Labib Gabr, who served as the dean of school of architecture at King Fuad I University, now known as Cairo University. Early exposure to large scale projects such as Luxor’s New Winter Palace Hotel in 1960 allowed El Gohary to build an expansive library of architectural thought, materials and technology, which he explored on buildings of his own. For over half a century, El Gohary left his mark on generations of Egyptian architects by teaching in Ain Shams University, which both his children, Germin and Amr El Gohary, went on to do as well.