The residential villas and the modern corporate buildings that line the main streets of New Cairo, a new suburb to the east of its namesake, often draw the lavish praise of politicians and admirations of the public.

A group of architects, however, are not among the admirers. They think that New Cairo — and similar suburbs and towns on the outskirts of Cairo — is made up of dull cement blocks and poor imitations of high-rise buildings and gated communities that are found in Gulf states.

“In New Cairo … there is no harmony of architectural styles. It is a [bizarre melange of] classic, modern, post-modern or high-tech. We are afraid that this alien style will spread to the current capital,” architect Ahmed Salah, one of the organizers of an exhibition titled “Architecture Tsunami” at the American University in Cairo (AUC), told Al-Monitor.

The exhibition, which brought together different works, photos and a series of interactive visual interpretations, sought to show the changes and movements in the urban planning of Cairo. It looked back to Egypt's architectural history in photos, then showed how old neighborhoods have changed or new ones built.