CONCEPTUAL
APPROACH:
One
of the most recurrent themes in the history of civilisations
is the close link between their worldview - what they believe
the world to be like- and their large scale architectural production.
In particular, the Egyptians built gargantuan projects because
they believed they were necessary to uphold and sustain their
worldview. It was also their way of keeping eternal archives
of their memory and knowledge, literally carved in stone, or
through metaphoric and symbolic devices. Here are some of the
parallels in attitude - updated for the 21st century
- we have adopted for this project.
The Creative Dialogue between Good and Evil: Chaos and
Order, walking the fine line of entropy:
the 3 paths that start all random and wiggly come together
to form a more 'ordered' system as they approach the territory
of the Pyramids, while keeping the freedom of movement of the
visitors appropriately (apparently) infinite.
Adding Dimensions to unify the Forces of Nature (desert=2D,
pyramids=3D, spacetime=4D, GEM=n-dimensional hyperspace)
Pleasing the Gods to feed the Masses/Pleasing the Tourists
to feed the Masses:
The GEM offers Space for millions, where the Pyramids
offered Volume for one.
Journey to the Afterlife / The Path to Knowledge:
Our entrenched Nile Park recalls the mythological journey in the
rivers of the Underworld, looking for knowledge, education,
leisure, and entertainment.
The Nile as the life-giving
force of fertility / the Street as the locale for urban life:
The lack of a positive urban context within which to
locate the museum complex has led us to create this urban context
as the heart of the scheme.
The Nile as a link
between Upper and Lower
Egypt
/ the Museum as the urban/spatial/social link between different
neighbourhoods:
The museum acts as a link between the broader urban
context and the pyramids; it also acts as a social link between
the museum's visitors and the local community.
PRACTICAL APPROACH: THE SITE & THE WIDER SITE
We took the decision to redefine the site to
better express the museum as a journey through the desert
towards the powerful strength of the pyramids. The brief
called for a "strong visual linkage between the New Museum site
and the pyramids. establishing a kind of formal dialogue"; apart
from the symbolic significance of these extraordinary structures,
it makes sense from a logistic and commercial point of view
to bring the two experiences as close together as possible.
A fuller appreciation of Egypt's history and heritage can then be enjoyed by locals
and visitors alike.
We extended the site along the southwestern edge of
the Shooting Club towards the Pyramids, and gave up a portion
of the Cairo-Alexandria desert road frontage of the original
site. The redefined site benefits from its situation on higher
ground, a greater visibility from the road, and benefits
from a more linear journey through the museum
towards the Pyramids. The amended Shooting Club site, after
being a barrier between the Museum and the Pyramids, now acts
as a buffer between the highway and the GEM and benefits from
an increase in land value as a result of its proximity to the
Museum.
A greater flexibility of spaces and programming is possible
within the proposed linear site, whilst enjoying maximized views
towards the Pyramids and emphasising the chronological journey
through ancient Egyptian culture.
THE PROJECT
Journey: The museum is conceived of as linear journey/route through the site towards
the Pyramids. This journey is the Nile Park itself, with the
ultimate destination being the Pyramids. This route is expressed
as a trench or river bed, cut through the desert, revealing
itself only as a meandering fertile gash in the arid landscape.
This trench, being the spine of the complex, offers the visitor
access to all the various elements of the museum during her
journey, and encourages her to customise her experience, offering
an infinite number of usage permutations.
Monumentality: The sheer scale of the programme poses the challenge
of creating a scheme with a sufficient degree of monumentality
while at the same time exercising restraint. The scheme cannot
hope to compete with the pyramids in terms of historical significance:
a lucid and symbiotic relationship between them is essential.
This potential conflict is avoided and turned into complementarity
because the scheme is perceived not as a volume, but as a void.
Rationality & Flexibility: The museum is a piece of the city, conceived
as a honeycomb made up of similar and near identical units that
can be added as required, particularly in the permanent exhibition
area. The arrangement of the gallery modules solves the complex
issue of chronological and hypertextual routes, while simultaneously
allowing a free and flexible interchange between these prescribed
routes. The conceptualisation of the exhibition modules as self-structured
boxes suspended in the sea of sand, leaves space for future
growth a through densification of the 3D grid.
Geometry: The 3 routes through the Nile Park magnetically associate with the pyramids
as they draw closer to them. The permanent exhibition galleries
gradually reveal themselves, suspended in the desert sand, increasing
in number and density the closer they get to the Pyramids.Control: The scheme is designed to allow for a greater or lesser degree of control
of entry in and aroundthe complex. The level of engagement with
the public can vary according to needs and desires.
