How One Man In Egypt Is Keeping This 200-Year-Old Tile Tradition Alive | Still Standing

syed hussein has been making tiles since he was 12 years old and much of his process is still the same. syed learned this craft from his father who worked at a shop owned by greek immigrants. The high cost of materials and hard physical labor have steered workers away from the craft. Syed has been offering free apprenticeships to young craftsmen for the past 40 years to keep the traditional process going. He says the most important thing for syed is that this art lives on [Music] inside egypt or foreign [ music]      .   i.e.   we visited cairo to see how his workshop is still standing. i-Report: See how cement tiles are handmade at one of the few workshops left in. egypt. Music:  We visited cair to see  how cement tiles are made at a workshop in cairo, Egypt. i- Report: See  how cement tiles are made in cair, egypt and other parts of europe.  Music:  We visited  cairo to see how their workshop is still standing. Music:  We visit cair to see how the craft has been around since the 1800s when cement became a cheap and. efficient way to build but for  syed  hussein it's an art form even though other. types of tiles have threatened his business he's stayed true to his trade [Music) plan. we visited cairi to see how his  workshop is. still standing syed. hussein says ceramic and marble tiles took over the market in the 1990s shaking up his business. He and his two employees are among the few tile makers left his team can. make up to 150 tiles in just a day they sell one square meter of. them for 500 egyptian pounds or 31 dollars to   music: we visited cair to see how their  workshop is still standing in  egypt  music: i-Report : We visited  cair to seehow circles of cement tiles have been built in the city of cairo over the past few years. Music : The art of making cement tiles has been going on for over 35 years and is still going strong in egypt and in  other parts of europe. The  art of building cement tiles is still alive and thriving in  e gypt and in other countries like the uk and france and in belgium. It's a process that syed does freehand he tops off the mold with a mixture of sand cement. and limestone a crucial step to ensure the pattern stays in place. He then sends it through the hydraulic press the machine's pressure solidifies the cement within seconds.  then he adds in water syed pours each color into its. own section using one of his stencils he's had these for over  35 years  he worked slowly and precisely to navigate the finer details foreign  to navigate the fine details foreign [Music Foreign [ music: foreign]  Some designs syeddoes freehand are made with sand cement and limestone a crucial step to ensure  the pattern. stays in place [Music: foreign [music: foreign].  Syed says ceramic  and marble  tiles took  over the  market in  the 1990s shaking  up his. business he says since then the high cost of materials have steered workers  away from  the craft and he's made new cheaper designs now.  The craft has  been around since the 1800’s and cement was discovered as a cheap. and efficient building material and in belgium the industry flourished after world war one when. the country needed rebuilding and cement tiles were an affordable option eventually changing tastes in europe's tile market pushed cement aside by the mid 20th century and eventually changing  tastes in  europe’ in the tile market. In egypt syed says he and his team have been going to the same workshop for 40 years offering free  apprenticeships  to young  craftsmen to keep  the traditional  process going [Music  on Music] on  Music on  Circles of cement tiles has been  going on for the past 40 years to keep the  traditional process going in egypt for the past 40 years.  he says he  has been  making. tiles since  12 years and much of his  process is  the same and much of his process is still the. same.