Mogamma

The Mogamma (Arabic: مجمع التحرير, also spelled Mugamma) is a government building in Cairo, Egypt. The Mogamma was the result of a series of master plans for the Qasr el Nil area (now Tahrir Square), which used to be occupied by the British Barracks. In 1947 when King Farouk ordered the demolition of the barracks upon the departure of British troops from the area, a series of urban planning proposals ensued. The idea for a centralized all-in-one administrative building emerged from the 1947 plans and construction began in 1948 and ended in 1951. The building's style reflects typical 1940s modernism, and government buildings in the same style can be found in New York (Buffalo, New York City Hall) and Paris. Contrary to popular belief, there is no Soviet association or inspiration and the building was not produced by the Nasser regime. Three years after the building's completion, Nasser became president in 1954 and the building was thus associated with his era and the new regime. The Mogamma is located in downtown Cairo to the south of Tahrir Square, which was, at the time, the newly designed "Liberation Square".