Taz Studio

ARCHITECTURE . INTERIOR . PRODUCT . ART DIRECTION

A multi disciplinary studio based in Cairo seeking an experimental approach in design practice through

Architect Ezzat Taz - founder of TAZ STUDIO - participating as architecture design mentor in CAIRO DESIGN WEEK

Participation of architect Ezzat Taz in cairo design week as a design mentor of architecture where discussion panels and critics taking place creating some new ideas with the competition participants.

SETTLMENT PROFILES FOR FUTURE URBAN DEVELOPMENT : EMPOWERING REFUGESS AND DISPLACED COMMUNITIES

As the world faces ongoing challenges of forced displacementand the need to accommodate growing numbers of refugees, it is essential to develop effective strategies for urban development that prioritize the well being and integration of displaced populations . Settlement profiles provide valuable insights and guidance for future urban planning, helping to create inclusive and sustainablecommunities that support the needs of refugees and displaced individuals. This attempt is to explores the importance of settlement profiles as a tool for empowering these communities and facilitating their successful integration into new urban environments.

Settlement profiles play a pivotal role in supporting future urban development for refugees and displaced communities, by providing a comprehensive understanding of socio-economic, cultural and environmental aspects of host areas, these profiles empower policymakers and planners to create inclusive and sustainable communities. Through targeted interventions , improved accessto services, fostering social cohesion and promoting environmental sustainability, settlement profiles contribute to the successful integration and well being of displaced populations, ultimately helping to build a more equitable and resilient urban future.

ARCHITECTURE DESIGN CHALLENGE : DESIGN FOR RELIEF

The global refugee crises and forced displacement have resulted in the urgent need to develop sustainable and inclusive urban enviroments that can accomodate and empower refugees and displaced communities. Settlement profiles play a crucial role in informing urban development plans and strategies, but several challenges need to be addressed to ensure their effectiveness and positive impact. this design problem focuses on overcoming these challenges to create settlement profiles that truley empower and support the well-being and integeration of refugees and displaced communities.

AAST senior projects review and critic discussions in collaborations with Dr. Mo'men Elhousseiny

STUDIO APPROACH

The existing city acts as reference for design. We study the architecture in the city through its morphology, typology and political economy. We understand urban conditions and settings from direct experience and observation. The studio considers individual buildings as situated within the context that is the urban fabric – “the relationships, traditions and common needs of the city as a whole.” The contemporary city acts as a point of departure for design. Through our designs, we attempt to anticipate new possibilities and scenarios that project the city’s evolution. Individual works aspire to enhance urban experience and contribute to the ongoing urban process. While each building is made by the city, every new design at the same time contains the potential to transform the urban fabric

THE MODERNIST PARADOX

The studio is concerned with re-designing modernism architectures produced at a delicate political history of Egypt post 1952 and some of which are currently demolished by the present regime. The idea is to imagine a different course of development for the city and its built environment at the premium locations of these grand monuments. The Modern Movement was an international mind of action led by Western architects and planners many of whom worked for the colonial and fascist regimes. The Movement had its influence on the global south. It played a critical role in shaping cities across the previously colonized nation-states. It transformed indigenous cities in their entirety, opening streets, sweeping neighborhoods, and building monuments as symbols of political power. Planners, architects, and military experts used the colonies as experimental laboratories for the development of modernist ideals of legibility and sanitization such as evident in the work of Le Corbusier at Algiers, who then developed his planning principles and guidelines for Paris. Modernism in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East developed further with independence in the second half of the twentieth century. The city became an object of development in the hands of socialist authoritarian leaders such as Nasser, Tito, and Sukarno. Planning cities and building monuments were instrumental for the regimes’ propaganda machine. With the rise of nationalism, architecture became a mediating space for a collective national identity. Articulations of a glorious past were reproduced, or on the opposite hand, erasing parts of history took place to deliberately fade certain memories of a nation, which would question the regimes of rule. In the process of creating a powerful and glorious political party, a unified character for the nation-state was invented and manufactured. Museums, schools, universities, radio stations, newspapers were all storytelling mediums of this single narrative of the state. In the process, minorities, sub-cultures and sub-identities were suppressed. Architectural representation of a national identity became a process based on coercion, difference and paradox. By the end of colonialism, colonial planners and architects imagined a hybrid architecture that embraced scientific progress, technical rationality with indigenous cultures of the ‘Orient’ and the other – albeit in a fetish way. In the postcolonial era, however, indigenous architects aspired a monumental architecture that would build the nation and create a monotonous identity, nonetheless this democratization of character is rooted in violence and suppressing the other

Lecturing at istituto marangoni Miami - Miami Design District

Ezzat Taz had been invited to Lecturing at istituto marangoni Miami - Miami Design District for fashion and interior design class, opening up for new ideas and giving potential for young designers through telling short stories about architecture within the context of Arab region, the lecture focus on the human behaviorology affected by socio-economical parameters and the definition of territory, through various range of projects with short stories and narrations that had an emphasis on the ego of the architects, human being & cinema focusing on such topic.

TAZ STUDIO participation in DSS - DESIGN SUMMER SCHOOL - in collaboration with STUDIO 34

Design Summer School 2024

𝟭.𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗨𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹
[27 July - 8 Aug]
Academic Practice
- International Theories Of Architecture
- Urban Design Guidelines
- Standards And Codes
- Space, Form and Function
Professional Practice
- Projects Showcasing
- Case Studies
- Competitions Showcasing
𝟮.𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹
[10 Aug - 22 Aug]
Academic Practice
- Fundamentals Of Interior Design
- Fundamentals Of Product Design
- Furniture Design Basics
- Manufacturing Process
- Codes And Standards
Professional Practice
- Projects Showcasing
- Case Studies
- Competitions Showcasing
𝟯.𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹
[24 Aug - 4 Sep]
Academic Practice
- Materials Specifications
- Tender Documents
- Project Management Basics
- Contracting
- Reports [ BOQ/FFE]
**BOQ : Bill of Quantities **FFE : Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment
Professional Practice
- Projects Showcasing
- Case Studies
- Fine Finishes principles
𝟰.𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹
[27 Jul - 27 Aug]
Machine Learning Technology
- AI
- Coding
CAD Softwares [Computer Aided Design]
- AutoCad
- Revit
- 3D Max
- Photoshop
CAM [ Computer Aided Manufacturing]
- 3D Printings
- Digital Fabrication
- Basics Of Robotics
Project Management Softwares
Digital Twins
- VR
- BIM Models
Architecture Cinematic Production
𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁
5-6 September 2024
𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Majarrah Business Park - Sheikh Zayed City

DSS - DESIGN SUMMER SCHOOL - Lecture Announcement

The Design Summer School 2020 included (Design Virtual Training) illustrating the phases of project design. In addition to that, it included a list of sessions and talks about the architectural design presented by professors from Egypt and Lebanon. Also, a set of workshops and tutorials include Autodesk 3ds Max Workshop, Vray Workshop, Adobe Photoshop Workshop, Google Sketchup Workshop, Manual Sketching Workshop, Introduction To BIM, Autodesk Revit Workshop, Environmental Simulation Workshop, Introduction To Computational Design, Introduction To Digital Fabrication, Introduction to coding, and Rhino 3d Modeling Workshop. The result was that the students received Autodesk certificates after completing the prior mentioned workshops.