World-Class Architect
Born, Cairo, Egypt, 1943, Medhat Abdou graduated in architecture from the University of Cairo, 1964, immigrating to Canada,1966. Summer training in West Germany during university years was the main reason for leaving Egypt to work abroad after graduation. Travelling through Europe was an awesome experience for Medhat in that the future architect with Webb Zerafa Menkes Housden was seeing the same buildings all over Europe that he had studied as a student. Facing uphill challenges, Canada became his land of destiny. Medhat had one suitcase and $150 when he left Egypt. By the time he arrived in Montreal,1966, $25 was all that was left. Gaining a job was easy in 1966 as Montreal was booming. Once the Expo 67 boom had come and gone, Medhat left Montreal for Toronto joining a multidisciplinary firm as Assistant Architect working on projects in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. until the start of the 1967 War. In August, 1969, Mehat joined the WZMH Partnership, an internationally respected architectural firm. A partner himself since 1985, Medhat Abdou, over a 30 year career, has been involved in the design of no fewer than 25 major projects world wide which have honed his skills and taught him how to put complex projects together. After the 1992 Gulf War, Medhat took on his first major architectural commission to design four buildings in Abu Dhabi for Etisalat, the telecommunications giant of the United Arab Emirates. Other projects in the Middle East which Medhat Abdou has designed include Kuwait’s 85-million-dollar Headquarters for the Public Institution for Social Security; Beirut’s 100-million-dollar Trade Centre in Lebanon; Alexandria, Egypt’s 200-million-dollar San Stefano mixed use complex on the Mediterranean Sea, including a 125 room Four Seasons Boutique Hotel; and the 300-million-dollar Nile Plaza Four Seasons Hotel overlooking the Nile River in Cairo. With Hisham T. Mostafa, owner, looking on, in this view, Medhat Abdou, left, on behalf of WZMH, signs the contract commissioning him and his Toronto based firm to design the spectacular Nile Plaza. [Photo, courtesy Medhat Abdou]