[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] have unveiled plans for an office and retail development called The Stone Towers in Cairo, Egypt.

Inspired by the patterns and textures of ancient Egyptian stonework,
the north and south facades of each tower will be covered with recesses
and protrusions emphasising the effects of light and shadow on the
surfaces.

Here’s some more information from Zaha Hadid Architects:
–
STONE TOWERS, CAIRO BY ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS
The Stone Towers by Zaha Hadid Architects for Rooya Group of Egypt
is located in the Stone Park district of Cairo. Providing office and
retail facilities to a rapidly expanding Cairo, the unique 525,000sqm
Stone Towers development also includes a five-star business hotel with
serviced apartments, retail with food and beverage facilities and
sunken landscaped gardens and plaza called the ‘Delta’.
Hisham Shoukri, CEO of Rooya Group said “There is a overwhelming
need in Egypt for developments of the highest international standards
required by the serious and growing investment climate of the country -
ultimately contributing to making it a hub for multinationals in the
region. The Stone Towers needed an architect with daring ideas,
innovation, international expertise and experience…it needed Zaha
Hadid.”
Ancient Egyptian stonework incorporates a vast array of patterns and
textures that, when illuminated by the intense sunlight of the region,
creates animated displays of light and shadow. The effect is powerful,
direct and inspiring. The facades on the North and South elevations of
each building within Stone Towers adopts a rich vocabulary of
alternating protrusions, recesses and voids to enhance the deep reveal
shadow lines that accentuate the curvatures of each building within the
development and animate the project throughout the day.
“I am delighted to be working in Cairo, states Hadid. “I have
visited Egypt many times and I have always been fascinated by the
mathematics and arts of the Arab world. In our office we have always
researched the formal concepts of geometry - which relates a great deal
to the region’s art traditions and sciences in terms of algebra,
geometry and mathematics. This research has informed the design for
Stone Towers.
“With a large-scale project such as the Stone Towers, care must be
taken to balance a necessary requirement for repetitive elements whilst
avoiding an uncompromising repetition of static building masses.”
states Hadid. “The architecture of Stone Towers pursues a geometric
rhythm of similar, interlocking, yet individually differentiated
building forms that creates a cohesive composition.”
Client: Rooya Group
Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects
Structural Engineer: Adams Kara Taylor
Gross Building Area: 525,000 m2
Site Area: 170,000 m2
Posted by Rose Etherington from dezeen.com