Layers

“Layers” is a work-in-progress project observing the layers of the city of Alexandria while collapsing under the effects of climate change. As is the case with many historical cities, Alexandria’s many layers tell the stories of several cultures and identities, i.e. the Ptolemaic city, the Roman city, the Arab city, the Turkish city, the cosmopolitan city, the Egyptian city, the revolutionary city, and the city exposed to the flood.

All the layers’ observation led to the “will not happen” end, no more romanticization of the end, no more Hollywoodian disaster end to Alexandria. The flood will not be one big tsunami with blue water in the streets; the flood is an everyday invasion of the sea that destroys all the historical layers and erases the memories of the city. “Happening” is the description of past tsunamis versus the danger of climate change.