The Yacoubian Building

We went on a hunt today.

When Chris and I were on the boat on the Nile, Chris needed a new book to read. There was a little lending library on board and he was able to get a novel called “ The Yacoubian Building” that was published in 2003 by Alaa Al Aswany. The novel, that takes place in Cairo, was later adapted into a 2006 film of the same name. The review on Goodreads was good. (You can read it at the bottom of this footprint.)

When we got to Cairo, Chris, just out of curiosity, did a search on Google for the Yacoubian Building and found out that it is a real building and it is located on No. 34 Talaat Harb Street, Cairo. So then he looked it up on Google Maps and FOUND IT - very close to where we are staying in Downtown Cairo! You have to love Google maps. We do. We decided to go on a mission to find it.

This historical building was built for the Lebanese-Armenian millionaire Jacob Yacoubian in 1937. He was the head of the Armenian community in Egypt. The builder designed the building in the Art Deco style, with some classic European touches. The name Yacoubian was engraved on its entrance in Arabic and English in luminous neon lettering.

The building was home for Cairo's upper-class during the Kingdom of Egypt - home to cotton millionaires, members of the royal family, and foreign nationals. During and after the 1952 revolution the building was used as a domicile for Egyptian military officers and their wives. By the 1970s the building was transferred to mixed use, including shopfronts and offices. Then there were physical transformations to the building, among them the transformation of rooftop rooms from laundry rooms to housing for poor.

Over the years the building has not aged gracefully, so as we walked down the street it is on, we had trouble trying to figure out what building it was. The original building has changed so that the whole first floor has become shops with big advertising signs on the front facing the street. There is no mansion grand entry anymore.

The only way that we could figure out what building it was, was by asking a local shopkeeper. He pointed to the building and said we were looking at the right building and that the entry was through a small doorway. So we went across the street and walked in.

The wide stairs and an elevator were in front of us but when we looked back to the entrance we saw the Yacoubian neon sign so we knew that we were in the right place.

The building’s rooms now are occupied by workshops and even a hostel but it was neat to see glimpses of its past glory. All the buildings in this area had been big mansions for well-to-do people but are now in disrepair. It reminded us of the buildings in Havana, Cuba… in fact the
book that Chris read was a fictionalized story about the building which serves as a metaphor for Cairo's own deterioration.

Our mission was completed, but once again we could only imagine what life in this building was like when it was in its glory. It’s my turn to read the book now.

Here is Goodreads review about the book -

“This controversial bestselling novel in the Arab world reveals the political corruption, sexual repression, religious extremism, and modern hopes of Egypt today.

All manner of flawed and fragile humanity reside in the Yacoubian Building, a once-elegant temple of Art Deco splendor now slowly decaying in the smog and bustle of downtown Cairo: a fading aristocrat and self-proclaimed "scientist of women"; a sultry, voluptuous siren; a devout young student, feeling the irresistible pull toward fundamentalism; a newspaper editor helplessly in love with a policeman; a corrupt and corpulent politician, twisting the Koran to justify his desires.

These disparate lives careen toward an explosive conclusion in Alaa Al Aswany's remarkable international bestseller. Teeming with frank sexuality and heartfelt compassion, this book is an important window on to the experience of loss and love in the Arab world.”Read more