Dr. Fathi Saleh is currently Advisor to the Prime Minister for Heritage Affairs. He is also member of (Cairo Heritage Development Committee CHDC) which is headed by Advisor to the President of the Republic, and member of (Supreme Council for Urban Planning and Development SCUPD) which is headed by the Prime Minister.

Dr. Fathi Saleh is a professor of computer engineering at Cairo University. He is the Founder and, has been the director of CULTNAT “Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage” for over than 10 years.  

Dr Saleh was graduated from the Faculty of Engineering – Cairo University and got his PhD from the University of Paris – France. During the years 1995-97 Dr. Saleh occupied the position of Cultural Councilor at the embassy of Egypt in Paris, and from 1997 to 1999 he was the ambassador of Egypt to the UNESCO.

“[Cairo is] the oldest ever growing city because within Greater Cairo, it existed since 5,000 years. […] In 3,000 BC an armour has unified Egypt into one country and it stayed like this until now.”

He discusses the European influences on the Egyptian capital, particularly of radial boulevards of Parisian urban planning and Italian architecture.

“[In the modern period], the city was designed by French, but Italians were much more, participating in building Cairo. We also made an itinerary of these Italian architectures […]. Despite Egypt has many monuments from the Pharaonic period, we have started making tours for the architectures of downtown Cairo to show these magnificent works of Italian and French architects.”

domusforum is a new cultural platform launched by Editoriale Domus to look at the impact of architecture, design and technologies on the urban environment. The first event focussing on the future of the city took place at the Franco Parenti Theatre in Milan on 11 October 2018. Among the speakers were Domus Editor in Chief Michele De Lucchi, Egyptian heritage advisor Fathi Saleh, and advocate for a politically and economically united Africa, Samia Nkrumah.