Grand Egyptian Museum

1. The most sublime question evoked by the Competition Brief: A Centre of Egyptian Archaeology, History and Culture, not just another important museum in the world

A magnificent laboratory, a place of knowledge, science and art; a museum for the world.
We landmarked the central position of the Conservation and Archaeological Research:
The Core of the Museum.

2. A stimulating problem: the urban scale. The Desert Border

The idea of the Museum Centre as an urban interface between the city and desert.
The Monumental Axis as an architectural connector on an urban scale between the built-up areas and the new areas of expansion. The museum for the whole city.
A monumental access with two entrances.

3. Special care: The sublime nature of the Pyramids

The decision for the City:
The eminently urban character of the Museum, a program for Cairo.

The splendiferous collection, daily life, an international centre for museum studies,
the popular market: an illuminated internal space between the water and the desert.
A port in the interior of the dunes.

4. The open air Museum: 360 degrees

We have avoided the idea of the territory as mere backdrop, the great object and the Parks as isolated portions of the site. The Parks configure the structure of the territory itself. There is no residual space between them. From the highest contour line at the Pyramid level, a continuum moves across dunes and oasis, until reaching the immense perfect flat plateau of the Roof Promenade. A spectacular night landscape. A desert terrace over the city.

5. Horizontal line: Aperture

As the principal façade, we have taken the extensive green strip along the Avenue, the pool, and the horizontal gable wall taking up the entire front of the site. In this linear park of native vegetation and environmental coolness- a memory of ancient riverbank- the monumental gable wall floats gently on the water. This is not a museum-temple, but rather an artefact of daily life, a boat on the Nile with its sails illuminated. We have therefore called this façade the “Park of the Nile”.

6. Hypertext

The idealisation of the implantation of the GEM is, per se, the hypertextual metaphor for the city. Both the urban implantation and the location of the permanent collection are understood as being part of the same conceptual operation. A spatial device allowing multiple routes.

Coming soon.