MARRIOTT BUZZ NO. 15 - 2019

9 necklace of leafy jewels. At the head of the structure is the shape of a grail, in the middle of which sits a glorious flower in full bloom. The top of the clock is adorned with a warrior’s helmet, which is also encased in a wrapping of leafy vines, whilst the back of the clock features a design of plants arranged in a fanning shape. The spectacular golden arches of the Promenade were conceived in the Moorish style by architect Carl von Diebitsch, who dedicated himself to the revival of Moorish Spain in a unique style of execution and who had spent six months in Granada studying the Alhambra’s storied architectural composition. He was obsessed with oriental design and it was in part due to his studious and thoroughly meticulous nature accompanied by a boldly imaginative vision that ordained Al Gezira Palace with its unique place amongst Egypt’s, and indeed the world’s, modern palatial wonders. Von Diebitsch was most infatuated with the aesthetical elements of Islamic architecture, and thus sought to impose such designs in his work on the Gezira Palace. The golden archway of the Promenade was fashioned with ornate muqarnas and sebka elements, which were characteristic of Alhambresque and Moorish designs, and Von Diebitsch viewed such patterns and designs as the most significant gifts of Moorish-Islamic architecture. As such, Von Diebitsch married two unique styles, combining the old Moorish designs with the engineering innovation he developed in his Berlin workshop, which saw the imposition of iron-cast facades constructed in Germany and then shipped to Egypt. Von Diebitsch, although he did not contribute until then any entirely novel method of execution, was adept at transferring local practice to the state-of-the- art technique of cast-iron, which was perhaps his most original feat of architectural composition.