Cool view

Al-Ahram Weekly

TWO MONTHS after UNESCO agreed on a design proposed by French architect Jacques Rougerie for the first underwater museum of Egyptian antiquities on the Mediterranean coast in Alexandria, a mission from the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology has begun carrying out a feasibility study to examine the best procedures for its construction.

Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said the study was being carried out under the supervision of UNESCO, that would also follow step by step all construction work of the planned museum.

According to Rougerie's design, the museum will consist of a three-storey building. One storey will be onshore, another offshore and the third under the waves along with a large open-air terrace to act as a window so that visitors to the museum will be able to view Alexandria's Eastern Harbour. This will be decorated with four tall glass structures resembling the sails of a boat, which, according to Rougerie, will recall the lighthouse of Alexandria that illuminated the library and the world.