The foundations for what could become Africa’s tallest building, a 390 metre tall tower in Egypt's new administrative capital, will be poured within days, according to the country's prime minister.

"Iconic Tower" is one of several Dubai-style mega projects being built in Egypt’s new administrative capital 45 kilometres east of Cairo. It is hoped that when completed it will stand as the tallest building in Africa [...]. — The National

The mystery of how, exactly, the pyramids were built may have come a step closer to being unravelled after a team of archaeologists made a chance discovery in an ancient Egyptian quarry.

Scientists researching ancient inscriptions happened upon a ramp with stairways and a series of what they believe to be postholes, which suggest that the job of hauling into place the huge blocks of stone used to build the monuments may have been completed more quickly than previously thought. — The Guardian

Idia Designs, an architectural design firm, has revealed some preliminary details on the chosen design of its New Administrative Capital’s landmark, the “Oblisco Capitale Tower,” which is deemed to surpass Dubai’s Burj Khalifa in stature, Invest-Gate reports.

“It is still a concept,” according to the company’s statement. However, some photos and videos were released, showcasing the tower’s features.

Idia notes that state-run El Nasr Housing and Development is the project’s developer. — Invest-Gate

Archaeologists believe they have found the key to unlocking a mystery almost as old as the Great Pyramid itself: Who built the structure and how were they able to transport two-ton blocks of stone to the ancient wonder more than 4,500 years ago? — Newsweek

Incidents like these take place relatively frequently in Egypt where building regulations are often flouted and additional floors added without planning permission. — Daily Mail

The villas are naked concrete, baked in the sun like unpainted pottery. The swimming pool is a trough with light fixtures poking from the sides. There are no guests, many stray dogs, and one-full time member of staff—a watchman who spends much of his time tending a fruit orchard where mangoes, oranges and lemons grow.

If this were an isolated case, it would be mere misfortune. But the Seagull is just one ruin among dozens that line some 200 km of road on the southeastern Sinai coast. — Quartz

Amid Cairo's brick buildings and heaping piles of trash is a sprawling work of art, which, at first, looks messy and incoherent. 

But when you stand on the nearby hillside and read the spray-painted Arabic "calligraffiti," as its creator Tunisian-French artist eL Seed calls it, the message reads loud and clear: "If one wants to see the light of the sun, he must wipe his eyes."

[...] in total secrecy from the Egyptian government due to the country's strict laws forbidding artistic expression. — techinsider.io

[Tarek] looks down at the glossy graphics, and then up again, before gesturing around at his neighbours. “Where are we in this picture?” he asks...

Norman Foster’s practice has chosen to partner with a government widely condemned by international human rights groups for its brutal crackdowns on dissent and widespread use of torture; in return, the company seems to believe it can carve out a place for itself in the vanguard of a progressive new era of urban design...

Is it right? — the Guardian

The [British] museum announced a six-month show that will tell the remarkable story of two lost cities at the mouth of the Nile – Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus – which by the 8th-century AD had been swallowed completely by the sea. [...]

the loans will range from the enormous, a 5.4-metre-high granite statue of the Nile flood god Hapi, to the domestic. [...]

It represents Egypt’s first major loan of antiquities since the country’s revolution in 2011... — theguardian.com

Cairo is an unruly urban sprawl that has spun out of control. Now, officials want to build a new capital in the desert -- a potent symbol of President Sisi's regime. But will it ever happen? [...]

The old Cairo is an ugly city, an affront to the senses. [...] a city of contradictions, created from the bottom up, even though that had never been the intention. It has been growing wildly since the 1960s -- from 3.5 million back then to 18 million now -- against the will of the country's rulers. — spiegel.de

Most Egyptians have always lived in the fertile stretch along the Nile, the nation’s breadbasket which accounts for less than 10 per cent of Egypt’s territory. But urban growth has become the chief threat to agricultural land as farmers haphazardly – and illegally – build new houses to make room for the next generation.

Construction surged even more amid a security vacuum that followed the 2011 popular uprising that ousted the country’s long-time autocrat, Hosni Mubarak. — thenational.ae