zawia is a periodical publication, and an online forum, on design, architecture and urbanism, coming from Cairo, Egypt. It is an idea, born in a time of significant change, to bridge years and layers of intellectual distancing and isolation. It is a trial to provide channels and open new possibilities for a mutual constructive dialogue within its discipline, a trial to re-establish links of relevancy and necessity between the local and the global community. It is a trial to cope with and absorb a powerful wave of change with all its energies and promises.zawia is about collaboration, discussion of ideas, and the sharing of knowledge. Hence, ZAWIA provides an open platform for the collective knowledge of architectural discourse, a space for questioning, rethinking, examining, and testing, a space that is organic, hybrid and unexpected.