Cairo Expo City / Zaha Hadid

By — Filed under: Architecture News ,Awarded Competitions ,Public Facilities , ,
 

We were just informed that will be designing the Expo City, together with multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy Buro Happold, after a two phase competition.

This project follows the recently announced Stone Towers by ZHA in Cairo, Egypt.

The new Cairo Expo City will provide a facilities suitable for the international conference and exhibition industry, making Cairo more competitive in a global scale.

The facility will be located between the city and the airport. The project includes 450,000sqm for exhibition and conferences, and also two office towers (31 and 33 stories each) and a shopping centre.

A carving and sculpting process (related to the strong relation of the country with the Nile) has been used to divide the large exhibition and conference areas required for Cairo Expo City into clusters of individual buildings that have their own formal composition, yet each building relates to the overall design. A main north-south artery is carved through the design, with secondary streams converging at the centre to ease crowd traffic during event. The movement of people within these streams informs the building entrances on the site.

Works on site starts on October, 2009.

 
 
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Alexander says:

What a Cake!!!…..

 
# June 9, 2009 at 17:46
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pampurce says:

…will somebody,please,anybody STOP HER?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
# June 9, 2009 at 17:46
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Balkan says:

Does she ever take holidays? In last 2 months I saw at least 25 very big projects from this studio.

 
# June 9, 2009 at 18:02
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nico says:

this has gone way out of hands.

 
# June 9, 2009 at 18:08
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HamLëT says:

W O W!!!
She’s Incredible….
you fools can’t understand the design proccess, and the complexity of her ideas…
and yes…she’s unstoppable and she’s very very far of our little minds…The potencial of her architecture it’s not for people like you guys…because you are in the XX century…and of course…not all of zaha hadid projects are functional, but she’s trying to innovate

and finally, i think that she doesn’t care our opinions…
:D, so……have a nice day!!!

 
# June 9, 2009 at 18:34
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sisifo says:

go zaha!.

 
# June 9, 2009 at 18:50
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jonasll says:

there a difference between being a fool and trying to understand what we are ready to sacrifice in the name of innovation.

 
# June 9, 2009 at 18:51
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amb says:

has she ever built one of her masterplan projects?

i think it’s time. (even if this is not really a masterplan…but maybe the closest to her “programmatic landscapes” that has any chance to actually get built). the experiment of a whole complex of buildings with this kind of fluidity and cohesion is something that’s been projected and criticized quite a few times lately (by hadid and others) but i think that we might need a solid try to get a new idea of it.

 
# June 9, 2009 at 19:11
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miguel_vice says:

It will be incredible when one of these current large projects gets built.
She dose excellent design and is finally getting it built.

 
# June 9, 2009 at 19:42
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ChrisS WebeR says:

I don’t know how well it integrates with the surroundings… but it looks nice, Zaha style.

I don’t know what kind of an expo this is, but it’s gonna be a huge complex!

Can’t wait to see it built…

 
# June 9, 2009 at 20:31
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Lin says:

Maybe someday we’ll called this..hey!! u r so “zaha”…..keep going…..

 
# June 9, 2009 at 20:45
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Tarek sakkal says:

ooooooooooooooooo
she is good at 3dmax ,!!!!!!!
Hahahahaahaha

 
# June 9, 2009 at 20:51
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kc says:

I like it and I don’t at the same time..something is always missing in her projects..which makes them FAR AWAY from being masterpieces.. I think she needs to combine more media in support of her interesting ideas, as opposed to producing only digital images..because when I see Zaha name I know what to expect and she can do a better job at defying our expectations..its just all the same stuff, like, do something different! lol

 
# June 9, 2009 at 20:57
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panamArq says:

i think some intern had too much fun with the smudge tool in photoshop….

 
# June 9, 2009 at 21:33
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lala says:

this is one of the more subtle propositions i have seen from this office in a long time. i really appreciate the update of the figure/figure concept. and buro happold are very solid partners of course. there are a lot of quiet things going on here that i can appreciate. i would love to experience this space.

 
# June 9, 2009 at 23:00
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jay says:

amazing. really good stuff here. i love it!

 
# June 9, 2009 at 23:08
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otis says:

this is rather out of control. the fluid curves are attractive at this perspective but really this does not make any sense in a day to day application. people will refer to it as the meringue building or something similar.

 
# June 9, 2009 at 23:09
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imagine says:

­why there’s not any plan and section? i want to know more about the function agrangement and the structure. i don’t know how can they build this without columns.

 
# June 9, 2009 at 23:57
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2MACoff says:

ААААААА
К У Д Р И
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
# June 10, 2009 at 00:10
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carlos says:

why in all the Zaha projects, i never see details or plans?

i don’t understand the building, and i think no one in here can understand the project acording only to some renders.

 
# June 10, 2009 at 00:47
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HppyRobot says:

Эхх, раз, еще раз. Еще много-много раз…

 
# June 10, 2009 at 00:52
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AlexandrCH says:

plans PLZ

 
# June 10, 2009 at 01:57
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AAA says:

i don’t understand zaha, please, this is a computer on her hands. i think the world is a litle more dirty. Can you image a the human proportion in a city of zaha?, it’s not about the form, it’s about the thinking. Please anybody stop her!!!.
the architecture will lost the measurement.

 
# June 10, 2009 at 02:04
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AAA says:

the architecture will lost the measurement.

 
# June 10, 2009 at 02:05
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Nas says:

DUDES AND CHICKS of the architecrul world
IF YOU WANNA BE ZAHA HADID ALL U NEED IS 3DS MAX+TURBO SMOOOOOTH
TRUST ME

 
# June 10, 2009 at 05:01
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sebastijan says:

this project is completely irrelevant for the contemporary world. projects like this for the most part completely ignore any economic/cultural/environmental sustainability. the forms are completely contrived and non usable… so much wasted space. i am all for savvy design. i like curves and i like angles, but the whole “zaha” design philosophy is outdated. she was cutting edge in the 1990s, but that was at the fore of the digital design era and she was making cutting edge spaces. her designs were still a communication of pen and computer. but she has not evolved at all except towards an even more gross and masturbatory and useless realm. i have heard her lecture and read her stuff- i wanted to like her as i did find her interesting- but she is so primitive and moronic and the only theme to her work is “movement”. she has the design mindset of a freshman undergraduate architecture student who is under the illusion that architecture is a purely artistic act. the built work i have seen is sloppy and awkwardly detailed and looks good only from one angle- and not even from that great because all her photos are with wide angled lenses and reality is not as dramatic. it is also pathetic that you can tell exactly what software he stuff is modeled. enough for now.

 
# June 10, 2009 at 10:14
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se puede discutir muchas cosas…

 
# June 10, 2009 at 10:23
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landsnatcher says:

to Sabastijan –
the only thing i love more than masturbatory architecture, is the masturbatory architectural critic…

 
# June 10, 2009 at 11:48
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mn x says:

i got two words:

TOYO ITO

enough said.

 
# June 10, 2009 at 12:02
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MC says:

Zaha is brilliant, and knew what she was doing before she met Patrick Sumacher.
She used to be an artist, now has become a cartoon of herself (AA Grad School replicants at work). Still very impressive and awesome, but we get sick of it after a couple of minutes.
Someday we will laugh at this as we laugh at Bart Price or those wackos from the 80′s.
Nowadays, I like her better designing shoes and fawcets.
That’s a shame.

 
# June 10, 2009 at 12:39
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Robert says:

Hamlet the only fool is that who believes that shoving numbers into a parametric modelling programme and producing generic curved forms is good for Architetcure. It is not. The practice of Zaha Hadid churns out rubbish for the world without due regard for context, materiality or the human scale. Buro Happold then work the magic to make the glossy visual architectural porn appear real.

 
# June 10, 2009 at 13:24
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DzetaB says:

Hey landsnatcher, you make me laugh… jajajajajajajajaja

 
# June 10, 2009 at 13:32
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HamLëT says:

well robert….in this case…the AA and the IaaC are full of fools…and all the parametric architecture and the respective theories about that, are useless??? don’t you say that????

this is the new age…with masters like Van Berkel, Toyo Ito, Asymptote,etc…let me ask you something robert:
all of they are fools??

 
# June 10, 2009 at 15:05
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amb says:

i think it’s all about putting the parametric aspect behind strong concepts and not to do it for the sake of doing it. I think toyo ito’s approach, for instance, cannot be reduced to the parametric while the aa’s production’s much less substantial i would say…

 
# June 10, 2009 at 15:43
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MC says:

As a former AA student, I have to agree with amb
And Patrick Schumacker has been a bad influence not only to the AA but to Zaha as well.
All looks the same now, as a self-confessed marxist, he might be quite happy

 
# June 10, 2009 at 16:48
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giraffestudio says:


we’re an architect,,.,.and not a tyrant!!!!
oh my,.,
please….!!!

 
# June 10, 2009 at 20:39
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i.sun says:

WHY NOT???
what’s wrong with being new and real? why not creating our very own era’s landmarks? she is pinning the contemporary thinking and technology to the pages of the history! i admire that! you should understand her as an icon,Isn’t it that the world is seeking heroes right now? you all watch those movies and series,and some are even crazy fans of them!! then why the hell not!??
and by the way my friend, her approach is 100% natural! look at her curves! haven’t u seen them somewhere before? in the valleys and mountains n beautiful topographies?
what i love about her is SUBTLETY. her superior attention to the details around us. notthin outta space but down to earth!

personally as a future architect, i don’t follow her, she’s not perfect, no body is as much as nature! but i look up to her in the ways she’s translating what she sees and want to see into lines! that’s what I’m trying to figure out!
cause it’s all about the lines! all architecture is.
if such things weren’t seen before it was only because of the lack of technology now we can challenge our limits to expand as far as our dreams! then WHY NOT!

 
# June 10, 2009 at 22:10
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HamLëT says:

OMFG!!!
finally someone with whom I can agree…!!!! tnks men…
your words make me feel comfortable in this forum i.sun

Let’s go to defend the new architecture, and show to the whole world who’s the new generation!!!…

 
# June 10, 2009 at 22:53
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i.sun says:

i’m glad that u understand my friend ,but u made me utterly uncomfortable with putting that F. up there! please have some respect at least for US who believe.
Fantastic GOD bless u.(i hope u meant that!!!!)

 
# June 10, 2009 at 23:28
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HamLëT says:

ja!
ok… it was not my intention…only an expression
sorry if I the “F” offends you :S

 
# June 11, 2009 at 00:34
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babcia_jadzia says:

I value her architecture and genius, but I can’t understand why all her projects are after one fashion… She has too serious position in architecture buisness to do like that… For me, she only makes a fool of her.

 
# June 11, 2009 at 01:26
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simba says:

wow this is amazing. I get the concept. The richness if the egypt sands really show in the design scheme. This is totally amazing. I hate all the nausty arrogant coments that people post. In 100yrs we are going to look back at zaha’s work and say, ‘yes this was the biggining of the futuristic city’. Totally love this!

 
# June 11, 2009 at 05:13
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ar8studio says:

she is awesome n doing the decon…in correct way

 
# June 11, 2009 at 05:16
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DiaphanousAbyss says:

Is it really new or innovative? Really? Especially when your whole practice is based on sampling a series of script from a parametric modeling program that your latest interns from the AA happen to be really good at? She is the new age FOG in every way. It is no longer about research or innovation… its a self-involved obsession with branding. In an age where ‘collaborative intelligence’ is highly apparent… and project like these require mindfull contributions from several people, why do you continue to produce ‘zaha-esque’ images? Why is that even important? I’m sure zaha has just as much to do with the design and fabrication of this project as Bill Ford has to do with the design and fabrication of the new Ford Explorer.

 
# June 11, 2009 at 09:00
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Alexander says:

As i say you… What a cake…

 
# June 11, 2009 at 11:56
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Mike says:

She has built large work before. Her building are disappointing because they are purely style. It will be some time before architects learn to use the computer for more than trying to make buildings match the flashy renderings their young designers come up with.

If you think Hadid is designing this stuff herself and not having her recently graduated student from the GSD doing it, you have no understanding of how an architecture firm works.

 
# June 11, 2009 at 13:51
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ghia says:

it is amazing works for zaha hadid

wow this is amazing. I get the concept. The richness if the egypt sands really show in the design scheme. This is totally amazing. I hate all the nausty arrogant coments that people post. In 100yrs we are going to look back at zaha’s work and say, ‘yes this was the biggining of the futuristic city’

 
# June 11, 2009 at 16:16
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HamLëT says:

I remember you that Zaha has been criticized before for her ideas, which were allegedly impossible to build, and with the Vitra’s building and the ski ramp, show to entire the world they were wrong.
so I have no doubt that we will soon see it built and we shall all wow !!!!!
and regardless of how it works Zaha and her office, she’s a genious…

 
# June 11, 2009 at 17:13
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Mike says:

people, she isn’t designing these things by herself. she is designing them with an office full of staff, most of whom are young students who are in grad school or just finished. the word genius does not apply in this situation. why do you think this building is a work of genius? i cant see one iota of self-criticism in these renderings. she has become a pop icon.

 
# June 11, 2009 at 17:23
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Cartertutti says:

anti-human architecture. aggressive postmodern perversion. Nice lines, but I don’t like it at all.

 
# June 11, 2009 at 17:36
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klo says:

i just wonder if this is gonna look this awesome from the point of view of the person who is gonna be around that space …. or would a human being feel a little lost around there ???

 
# June 11, 2009 at 18:48
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gg says:

I think the romulans are coming.

 
# June 12, 2009 at 09:19
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Opium says:

Hamlet…you finally answered the question…you are not..lol. Has for zaha’s project seems like there’s too many people who like chantilly toppings…nothing against chantilly in cakes..but chantilly architecture is very annoying, too sweet curvy and sexy…like latex mtv sex videos…

 
# June 12, 2009 at 11:05
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andik says:

agree…. stop her !!

 
# June 13, 2009 at 02:07
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JC perkins says:

for all of those people who disagree with her architecture, I have a single challenge:
find your own obsession–maybe it isn’t, fluid/dynamic form– and pursue that vision with as much relentless, imperial force as Zaha does.
stop complaining… you are only jealous of her success.

 
# June 21, 2009 at 13:34
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Robert says:

Ah not jealous in any way, fluid shape, or randon form. I shall return to the real worl to worship at the alter of Zumthor LOL.

 
# June 22, 2009 at 14:12
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george says:

JC Perkins, you say “find your own obsession,” but is that what makes extraordinary architecture? I think not. Just look at Frank Gehry’s buildings- most of which have THE SAME forms/ materials/ techtonic language/ expression as that of his Bilbao Guggenheim (which in its own right is truly remarkable and a great response to its context). But once you start “obsessively” repeating something (everywhere) it becomes a bore… it becomes less special and frankly (no pun intended) i would prefer not to see another Frank Gehry/ Zaha Hadid/ etc building with the same non-contextual, half-baked, re-hashed projects. i find myself saying “oh look, its another Bilbao”… the same can be said for Zaha’s recent spate of activity. Before this current block of work, I do believe that the work emanating from her office was quite visionary and certainly she has challenged the way we percieve architecture… It’s a different story for me now… I can just imagine all those fresh graduate-slaves pumping out project after (same) project in the Zaha Mass Production Factory? Poor kids… But i digress…

I think the Cairo project is hideous… actually, that would probably be an understatement…

i’m with Robert… when’s the next train to Haldenstein? (Zumthor’s studio) :)

 
# June 30, 2009 at 12:25
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    JC Perkins says:

    george, Bilbao is not Gehry’s first building,and not his last. The obsessions that appear in Bilbao were present in his work long before Bilbao and long after. Bilbao is just a small piece in a large research process motivated by FOG’s love of fish and carried forward by his curious questioning of how curvature works, and how it can enrich architecture. Every project is a new experiment.
    So yes, the style may seem monotonous and boring to you, but if you would look a little deeper, you might be able to see what is actually happening in the work.
    Same thing with Zaha: Her obsessions have to do with blending and flow…creating worlds where everything flows together… This has always been the core of her work, even back when she was working with shard-like planar geometries–the real content of the projects was always in flows and trajectories.
    With that in mind, one can appreciate how effectively Zaha has been able to extend this idea to include literally everything on the site: buildings, service roads, pathways pools and even trees. And this is appropriate, since this landscape also becomes two large towers on the corner of the site from which the roof-scape becomes a fundamental part of how people will experience the project.

    Now, as for Zumthor: he has his own obsessions too, and he employs them just as consistently as Zaha or Gehry. Every project is the same thing: Materiality and Light.
    “Oh, look, it’s another Vals but this time on top of a church in cologne, or the edge of a field in Mechernich”

    When you look past the style, they are all pretty interesting projects.

     
    # April 1, 2010 at 13:21
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Mohammed says:

I can`t wait to see this building realized in Egypt
perfect I like the Design so much and I hope to share in preparing this project working drawings for getting

 
# July 16, 2009 at 08:14
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Sondos says:

Can somebody tell me what is the software used in such a project,, really necessarily !!!

 
# December 5, 2009 at 15:30
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love_time says:

stop saying they using 3D max pls….i work at her firm before for temporary proj..they are using simple software called Rhino 3d..

 
# December 17, 2009 at 01:35
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architist says:

Zaha Adid is mathematical genius. YOu can easily see in her works. Give respect to that.

 
# May 8, 2010 at 06:37
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Byungyong An says:

Lovely and comport building!
Always have deep impressed in my heart….

 
# June 10, 2011 at 21:04
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Comeau says:

Looks great from above, but BORING from ground level.

 
# July 9, 2011 at 11:47
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7:39 PM Jun 9th

RT @archdaily Cairo Expo City / Zaha Hadid http://bit.ly/152iVK

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7:49 PM Jun 9th

Getting my daily dose of eye candy from the addictive blog @archdaily Cairo Expo City / Zaha Hadid http://bit.ly/152iVK

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8:33 PM Jun 9th

#architecture Cairo Expo City / Zaha Hadid:
We were just informed that Zaha Hadid Architects will .. http://bit.ly/12qOAN

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3:56 AM Jun 10th

RT @archdaily: Cairo Expo City / Zaha Hadid http://bit.ly/152iVK – Pity, the Snøhetta scheme was much better, but perhaps I am biased.

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2:26 AM Jun 11th

Zaha Hadid should be comissioned to redesign the orgasm: http://tr.im/o7Bk #irfaansizzle

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6:26 AM Jun 11th

Zaha Hadid should be comissioned to redesign the orgasm: http://tr.im/o7Bk #irfaansizzle

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10:07 AM Jun 11th

Zaha to …http://bit.ly/qaDT9
= Bill Ford 2 Ford Explrer. ‘Jus put my logo on it when you’re done.’

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8:58 PM Jun 11th

deus, me dá um pedacinho do cérebro da zaha, please? *.* http://bit.ly/qaDT9

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3:32 PM Sep 24th

Cairo Expo City / Zaha Hadid http://bit.ly/9Joglx

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8:57 AM Feb 13th

@MariettedTH @thetripchicks to see freedom, ancient history and new iconic architecture e.g. Cairo expo City by Hadid http://j.mp/hQJG6P

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8:35 AM Sep 26th

@HannahAllam @fadig Stone Towers in New Cairo http://t.co/2elniI1z and massive conference center near airport http://t.co/E1mvsdq9

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10:28 AM Sep 26th

@HannahAllam @fadig Stone Towers in New Cairo http://t.co/2elniI1z and massive conference center near airport http://t.co/E1mvsdq9

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6:51 PM Jan 27th

@hadouta @amirahoweidy اتفرجتي على الديزاين اللي هي كانت عاملاه؟ حاجة تعجب الباشا :)
http://t.co/WQhE671f

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