Cairo Designathon is the Country’s First-Ever Architectural Design Marathon

Cairo Designathon, Cairo’s first-ever architectural design marathon, is set to hit the ground running with a series of online design workshops across multiple collaborative platforms, hosted by a selection of designers across different disciplines. The marathon's first edition’s theme revolves around creative design solutions that answer post-Coronavirus pandemic realities, and will be held from May 6th through to May 8th.

The marathon will welcome submissions in five aspects of contemporary urban life: healthcare and prevention, home environments, workplaces and educational institutions, urban spaces and the outdoors, and retail and entertainment.

Participating designers will be divided into one of ten workshop groups, which will be directly facilitated by some of the best designers in Egypt. Each team will then tackle one of the five categories and have the full three days of the event to execute their visions. All teams will be receiving advice and mentorship from renowned architectural designers Ahmed Fayyad, Karim El Assal and Nedal Badr.

In addition to the workshops, the event will also feature lectures by key figures in the design world including Ahmed Helmy, Randa Mahmoud, Hisham Mahdy, and Hani Saaad among others. At the end of the marathon, an international jury will choose three design solutions to be manufactured in association with the Chamber of Wood and Furniture Industries, showcased in the Cairo Design Awards, and published in El Beit Magazine. Finally, each designer in the winning teams will receive a free diploma for the HEDS design academy.