Grand Egyptian Museum to open in 2024
The opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza has been long anticipated since the Egyptian government held an interntional competition for its design and building in 2002, but there are firm beliefs that it will be ready to receive visitors this year.
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.
heneghan peng architects (hparc) is a design partnership practicing architecture, landscape and urban design and has been responsible for the design of the museum. The practice was founded by Shih-Fu Peng and RóisÃn Heneghan in New York in 1999 and in 2001 moved to Dublin, Ireland. In 2011 an office in Berlin was established.
Current projects include Storm King Art Centre Visitor and Support buildings, Temporary exhibition Pavilions at Trinity College Dublin, the Alte Kaserne at Festung Königstein, the Visitors’ Centre at the Berlin Botanic Gardens and the Grand Egyptian Museum. Completed projects include the Palestinian Museum, the Giant’s Causeway Visitors’ Centre and the National Gallery of Ireland Historic Wing refurbishment.
The museum project has also involved architects RMC, structural engineers Arup, Buro Happold on building services, IT, security, fire and acoustics with design team management by Davis Langdon.
heneghan peng states:
'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 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.'