Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Work starts on the Grand Egyptian Museum

Leisure Opportunities

Ground has been broken on the Government of Egypt’s US$550m (£271m, 400m euro) Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) development near the renowned Pyramids of Giza.

The 480,000sq m (5,200,000sq ft) site will focus on a 84,000sq m (904,000sq ft) museum building entered via an atrium containing a monumental statue of Ramses II and a grand staircase displaying huge statues of Egyptian Pharaohs. The third floor of the museum will feature the Permanent Galleries with views to the Pyramids, located 2.5km away.

The centrepiece Gallery of Tutankhamen – approached via a suspended bridge entering the darkened tomb – will display 3,500 pieces belonging to the Young King Tut – the most comprehensive collection worldwide salvaged from the desecrated tomb.


See the above page for more. The page is accompanied by an picture of how the interior will probably look when the museum has been built, with Ramesses II in an atrium composed of slanting planes of stone and glass.

2 comments:

belteshazzar said...

for my mind, the architecture detracts from the wonderous egyptian monument in the atrium. its only one picture so its hard to tell but i'm not sure i like it.

Andie said...

Yes, I wasn't sure about it myself. I am guessing that the idea is to provide large amounts of natural light so that the statues can be seen in a more natural lighting than would otherwise be provided by artifical light. It will be interesting to see it when it is built - all very different to the current museum in Tahrir Square!