Grand Egyptian Museum
| Grand Egyptian Museum | |
|---|---|
| المتحف المصري الكبير | |
| General information | |
| Type | Museum |
| Architectural style | Modern |
| Location | Giza, Cairo |
| Country | Egypt |
| Construction started | March 12, 2012 |
| Estimated completion | May 2018 |
| Cost | $795 million |
| Client | Egyptian Ministry of Culture |
| Technical details | |
| Floor area | 480,000 square metres (5,200,000 sq ft) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Heneghan Peng |
| Structural engineer | Arup |
| Services engineer | Buro Happold |
| Main contractor | OCI/BESIX |
| Website | |
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The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), also known as the Giza Museum, is a planned museum of artifacts of ancient Egypt. Described as the largest archaeological museum in the world, the museum is currently under construction and is scheduled to be partially open in 2018. The museum is sited on 50 hectares (120 acres) of land approximately two kilometers from the Giza pyramids and is part of a new master plan for the plateau.
The design of the building was decided by means of an architectural competition. The competition was announced on 7 January 2002. The organisers received 1557 entries from 82 countries, making it the second largest architectural competition in history. In the second stage of the competition, 20 entries were asked to submit additional information. Judging was complete by 2 June 2003. The competition was won by the company Heneghan Peng from Dublin, Ireland, winning 250,000 dollars. Second place was awarded to Coop Himmelblau. Héctor Vigliecca and Luciene Quel (Brazil), Ruben Verdi (Italy), Michael Zimmermann, Engel und Zimmermann (Germany), Fernando Pardo Calvo y Bernardo Garcia Tapia, Nuno Filipe Morais Monteiro (Portugal) and Martin Roubik (Czech Republic) received Honorable Mention. The building is designed by Heneghan Peng Architects, Buro Happold and Arup. The exhibition masterplan, exhibition design and museology is by Metaphor and Cultural Innovations Ltd.
The building is shaped like a chamfered triangle in plan. It sits on a site two kilometers west of the pyramids, near a motorway interchange. The building's north and south walls line up directly with the Great Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Menkaure. In front of the building is a large plaza, filled with date plants. One of the main features of the Museum is the translucent stone wall, made of alabaster, that makes up the front facade of the building. Inside the main entrance is a large atrium, where large statues will be exhibited.
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