First Year MA Students visit Cairo

The student field study trip was to Cairo, Egypt from 10 ­-24 March 2017.

The trip included 10 first year MA students and 2 exchange students from the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, as well as 3 PSTA staff from London.

The trip this year was special in that it allowed not only for in-situ study and research but also enabled an exchange between our London and Cairo students. Our Cairo Programme Manager, Mamdouh Sakr, kicked off the programme by giving an introduction to the Islamic architecture of Cairo.

The students then visited different parts of the city and experienced its layers of Pharaonic, Coptic and Islamic artistic and cultural heritage.

They sketched and studied geometry in various mosques, museums and madrasas including the Ibn Tulun mosque and the Gayer Anderson museum, the madrasa of Sultan Hassan, the Amr ibn al-As mosque, the newly restored Islamic art museum, the Coptic museum as well as the Pyramids.

The students then settled in the studios of our school in Egypt, the Jameel House of Traditional Art / Cairo, where they worked on a collaborative project with the local students - to design a Mihrab (prayer

niche) according to different architectural styles and crafts materials.

All mihrab designs were successfully completed and embodied the full character of the cultural exchange that took place on this study trip with our international students coming together from the UK, Syria, Europe, the US, Morocco, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, China and of course Egypt.

If you are interested in finding out more about our courses in both London and Cairo, please contact us at enquiry@psta.org.uk.

Ceramic tiles mihrab design

Brass and wood mihrab design

Ceramic tiles mihrab design

Carved gypsum mihrab design

Gypsum and ceramic tiles mihrab design