The Grand Egyptian Museum | Giza, Egypt
Giza, Egypt
The site for the Grand Egyptian Museum is located at the edge of the first desert plateau between the pyramids and Cairo. It is defined by a 50m level difference, created as the Nile carves its way through the desert to the Mediterranean, a geological condition that has shaped Egypt for over 3,000 years.
The pyramids, funerary monuments, are located in the desert on the plateau 2km from the museum site, while the site for the museum is located both in the valley and on the plateau.
The design of the museum utilises the level difference to construct a new ‘edge’ to the plateau, a surface defined by a veil of translucent stone that transforms from day to night. The museum exists between the level of the Nile Valley and the plateau, never extending above the plateau.
A 3-dimensional structure inscribed by a set of visual axes from the site to the three pyramids defines the framework within which the museum emerges, from the overall scale of the site to the smallest of details.
The approach to the museum is a series of layers, whereby the visitor moves through a monumental forecourt, a shaded entrance area and a grand staircase that ascends to plateau level, the level at which the galleries are located where for the first time the visitor sees the pyramids from within the museum.
The museum is envisaged as a cultural complex of activities devoted to Egyptology and will contain 24,000m² of permanent exhibition space, almost 4 football fields in size, a children’s museum, conference and education facilities, a large conservation centre and extensive gardens on the 50hA site. The collections of the museum include the Tutankhamen collection, that is currently housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and the Solar Boat that is now housed beside the pyramids.
Fact sheet
Client Ministry of Culture, Egypt
Size 100,000m²
Date 2003 (Competition)
Status Buildings complete, exhibition installation underway
Location Giza, Egypt
Collaborators
Architects (Cairo) RMC
Structural | Civil | Traffic Arup | ACE (Cairo)
Building Services Buro Happold | Shaker Engineering (Cairo)
Design Team Management Davis Langdon
QS Davis Langdon
Facade Engineering Arup
IT | Security | Fire | Acoustics Buro Happold
Landscape West 8 | Sites (Cairo)
Specialist Lighting Bartenbach LichtLabor
Signage Bruce Mau Design
Exhibition Masterplanning Metaphor
Museology Cultural Innovations
Contact
heneghan peng architects
14–16 Lord Edward Street, Floor 2
Dublin D02 YC63, Ireland
Tel +353 (0)1 633 9000
Fax +353 1 633 9010
Potsdamer Strasse 98a, 4. OG
10785 Berlin
Germany
Tel +49 30 20 89 88 750
Fax +49 30 20 89 88 759