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Al-Azhar Park is a public park located in Cairo, Egypt. Among several honors, this park is listed as one of the world's sixty great public spaces by the Project for Public Spaces ((PPS )). The park was created by the Historic Cities Support Programme ((HCSP )) of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture ((AKTC )), an entity of the Aga Khan Development Network ((AKDN )). The park, developed at a cost in excess of USD $30 million, was a gift to Cairo from Aga Khan IV: a descendant of the Fatimid Imam-Caliphs who founded the city of Cairo in the year 969. The park project, a great urbanism initiative, included *The development of the park *Archeology involving a 12th-century Ayyubid wall *Historic building rehabilitation (the 14th Century Umm Sultan Shaban Mosque, the 13th century Khayrbek complex, and the Darb Shoughlan School) *Several quality of life improvement initiatives requiring skills training, area rehabilitation, microfinance, and support in the areas of health and education, among others. ==The gardens of al-Azhar Park== In 1984, Agha Khan IV was visiting Cairo on a conference. From his hotel balcony Al-Darassa hill was visible: mounts of rubbish amassed during 500 years. He decided to intervene and offer the city of his ancestors the much-needed gift of an oasis in this urban desert. The sum of 30 million dollars was allocated to the project and put in the qualified hand of a local architecture and urbanism office: Sites International. The site posed several technical challenges; half a millennium of debris was at hand. Works of excavation, grading and replacement with appropriate fill began in 1992. "Over 765,000 m3 was taken out of the Park and 160,000 m3 was used as fill elsewhere on site. A further 605,000 m3 was subjected to geotechnical treatment (sieving, washing, etc.) and mixed with 60,000 m3 of special sand and topsoil to enable the site to be covered with a layer of “good” soil from 0.5 to 2.0 meters deep. A total of 1.5 million cubic meters of rubble and soil were moved, which represents over 80,000 truckloads." 〔Al-Azhar Park, Cairo and the Revitalisation of Darb Al-Ahmar, Project Brief, the Agha Khan Trust for Culture, 2005〕 While the designers grappled with the technical difficulties at hand posed by the terrain and soil the government introduces an additional unexpected constraint at halfway through the process: three cisterns were to be integrated into the terrain to improve the supply of potable water to the city of Cairo. Works had to be interrupted and the design revised to integrate the new three elements. The new revised layout of the park was then carefully designed according to the landscape of the hill and the new 3 water tanks. It is mainly divided in five sections according to slope inclination, leaving us with: 2 hills (southern and northern), a rolling topography hill to the east, a flat area north and a western steep slope. The designers insisted on integrating traditional Islamic landscape traditions in both their design and choice of greenery, thus allowing the past flow of the city to come back to life. Tradition and historical legacy were preserved: This legacy can be seen in a variety of styles from different periods and different regions. It is reflected in the bustan-like orchard spaces, the shaded sitting areas (takhtaboush) and the Fatimid archways used in the construction of Park buildings, among other elements. Persian and Timurid elements are also reflected in the water channels and fountains.〔 The Nile, symbol of Egypt and Cairo, also finds a place in the new project as the river is designed to feed the water ponds in the park. The choice of plantation was also carefully made, according to landscape and quality of soil. Several tests were done at the American University in Cairo that offered its nursery for propagating the flora of the park to make sure that the adequate choices for the climate were being made. Opened to the public in 2005, the gardens of al-Azhar are reminiscent of historical Islamic gardens, with a blend of modern and traditional elements. The central terraced formal gardens, emphatic use of fountains, Mamluk multicolored stonework, sunken gardens, intersecting waterways and bold Islamic geometry are all integrated into a contemporary site design; cafes are situated at the entrance, playgrounds and scenic overlooks are arranged along curving paths. The site is supported by a reservoir constructed for the project. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Al-Azhar Park」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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