The Plastic Footbridge
We are preoccupied with the widespread waste of plastic bottles. We also think that this waste, if up-cycled, can turn into useful material for the purpose of designing lightweight structures. The Demerdash footbridge in Ramses, for instance, sees thousands of passers-by unprotected from the heat of the sun. Our project was ideal in this sense. "We will up-cycle empty plastic bottles, without adding any new materials, and use our design skills to turn this waste into a shed to be installed in a vital public space," we thought to ourselves. During this process, a low-tech approach was adopted, using manual tools and simple electric devices for fixation.
 
Boldan is a platform that creates hands-on workshops and connects initiatives in the field of the Vernacular Architecture Heritage. At Boldan we aim to document the tangible and intangible aspects of the architectural, vernacular heritage of those places, not only by taking pictures or writing about those beautiful buildings, but also by experiencing the whole local building process  ourselves and by observing the community interaction during the building process. Boldan is trying to create new, but old and simple ways of building and living in remote communities that take inspiration from their own heritage.
 
Eiid - عيد | is a start-up architecture studio that works on creating innovative ideas for recycling and reusing municipal waste, including organic waste and solid waste, to design rooftop gardens and landscapes. We hope to: open doors for using unexpected techniques and materials in architectural design, help our country to be more sustainable and clean and raise awareness of the value of garbage in our community. In November 2015 Eiid was awarded with the"Greener Cairo" prize, organized by Cairo Climate Talks, for promoting the creative idea of building rooftops entirely made of recycled material, plastic bottles and used tires. 
 
Shaimaa Atef attained her Master's Degree in Cultural Heritage Management at the Sorbonne, Paris 1 in 2014 and she received a professional diploma in Research Methods and Skills from the Maastricht School of Management in 2015. She has worked as a field office director and as a field researcher in the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) for 2 years and she is currently working as a researcher at “Mahatat for Contemporary Art”. Her research interest areas are heritage management, cultural policies, urban studies and the rights to public space.
 
Abdulrahman El-Taliawi is a Cairo-based practicing architect and writer. He attained his Bachelor degree from the School of Fine Arts in 2007 before embarking on a professional career in Sinai, New York and Milan. He acquired his Master of Science degree in 2013 from Politecnico di Milano on the topic of Urban Voids as Infrastructural Architecture. He is currently the Managing Architect of Tasmimat, a Cairo-based design studio. He is also the co-founder of Boldan, an initiative for the exploration and documentation of earthen vernacular architecture. Taliawi’s research interests draw upon a diverse range of disciplines and include contemporary and vernacular architecture, literary space and the architecture of the text about which he frequently writes in his blog “Becoming Taliawi”.
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Ramy Beshr is an Architect and Building Engineer who received his Bachelor’s degree from the school of Architecture, Faculty of Fine Arts in 2007. He acquired his professional experience in diverse sectors of Design and Construction of Architecture in multi-scale projects in Egypt and in the KSA. He received his Master’s Degree in Architectural Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in 2015, that is when he developed an interest in Environmental & Sustainable approaches. His research and application concern is the Circular Integrative Development in Urban, Architectural and Industrial fields.
 
 
Monica Michel is an architect, who graduated from El Shorouk Academy in 2013. She concluded her pre-master studies at Cairo University in 2015 and later started her research in “How to build a Roof Garden by using recycled materials”. She is interested in nature, farming, environmental architecture and waste material recycling and its potential use in construction activities. She is also the co-founder of startup called Eiid.
 
Ahmed Salah received his Bachelor degree in Economics from MSA University. He has a passion for asking hard strategic questions about how to influence the extant reality and whether we are moving towards a substantial change or not. He is the Operations Manager at RISEUP Summit, the biggest summit of the year for Egyptian entrepreneurs and also one of the co-founders of Mesaha, a co-working space and youth hub. He is interested in public space and entrepreneurship.