ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses in architecture of designs from Ancient Egypt: so called 'Egyptianizing' architecture. Egyptianizing exhibits, museums and World Fairs gave rise to even more didactic and recreational uses: leisure, fun or theme parks, where Egyptianizing motifs were fully in evidence. Charles B. Cooper constructed a building in Philadelphia in 1847, the Egyptianizing decorations of which were made of cast iron. This supposedly referred to the owners' trade, whilst attracting the attention of customers to the product's solidity and longevity - assumed by some commentators to be symbolized by Egyptian architecture. At a presumably rather superficial level of analysis, it has often been assumed that the occasional use of Egyptianizing architecture for suspension bridges and railways was to allay concerns over innovative structures or alarming inventions. In these cases, Egyptian art was seemingly utilized to reassure people by its reputation for, once again, solidity and longevity.
