Design House Prismatic Pillars Are Changing the Scope of Local Architecture

Launched in 2016, ‘Prismatic Pillars’ is a local design house hoping to change the way people view and interact with modern architecture. With unique designs throughout their portfolio, Prismatic Pillars experiments with the abstract and strays from tradition. But it's not an aimless meandering - far from it. The house incorporates elements of science, maths and mechanical engineering during their design process to introduce new shapes or structures, and figure out how to execute them using local materials. Their research also explores the history of architecture, and figures out what they can use from the past to create modern design aesthetics.

“Most of the time, we like to adapt our designs to the dynamic of the surrounding environment to space," Eslam Abdelkhalek, co-founder of Prismatic Pillars and noted recipient of an honourable mention at the Bergen International Wood Festival and the Cairo Design Award, told CairoScene. “That’s why we used curved morphologies most of the time that seem to be in motion. Everything around us is always in motion… why not reflect that in our designs?”

Sculptures, signature furniture pieces , and residential centres all serve as inspiration during the design house's exploration process. Prismatic Pillars takes pride in the fact that they fully try to comprehend the space prior to the design process, and how that space can function in a practical yet aesthetic manner.

“We try to introduce something new to the Egyptian market,” Abdelkhalek said. “Yes, our designs look abnormal, but they also meet the needs of the people using them. We really try to incorporate everything we’ve learned over the years to create our designs, starting from science lessons from our school days.”

For the future, Prismatic Pillars aim to have their designs extend far beyond the confines of Egypt and want to participate in numerous international competitions, after having previously taken part in the Lamborghini Road Monument competition in 2016.