2023 - MA in Islamic Art and Architecture at the American University in Cairo, Moaaz Lafi
Moaaz Lafi was awarded the Barakat International Student Scholarship to study his MA in Islamic Art and Architecture at the American University in Cairo.
Moaaz found his love of Islamic heritage while studying his BA in archaeology at Cairo University. He was enchanted by the streets of Old Cairo, where Fatimid, Mamluk, and Ottoman styles blend together. This appreciation of his surroundings developed into an interest in concepts of urban design. He worked on several initiatives aimed at preserving and cleaning Islamic archaeological sites, including writing the historical study of the Al-Ashraf Khalil to be published by IFAO, as part of the site’s Documentation Project and with a grant from the Egypt Exploration Society.
The American University in Cairo’s strength with Mamluk topics benefited Moaaz greatly, as he pursued an architectural study of the Mamluk mausolea of Mansour Qalawun’s family: a slave who became sultan, and his subsequent dynasty. Moaaz sees this as a turning page in Cairo’s architectural story.
