gazing onto the pyramids of giza, the grand egyptian museum set for november opening

"The Grand Egyptian Museum by heneghan peng architects has reached completion, standing just over a mile from the Pyramids of Giza. The vast complex is located on a desert plateau at the edge of Cairo, and stands as a bridge between the past and the present of the world's most enduring civilizations. Housing 100,000 artifacts, it is the largest museum ever dedicated to a single culture."

"The structure itself, largely cast in concrete, mediates the desert's extreme conditions through mass and shade. This way, comfortable interior temperatures are achieved through the use of passive methods across the vast exhibition halls. A monumental staircase runs through the building's core, ascending six stories. The route moves from Egypt's earliest settlements to its Coptic era, culminating in the Tutankhamen Gallery where over 5,000 artifacts are displayed together for the first time."

The Grand Egyptian Museum sits just over a mile from the Pyramids of Giza on a desert plateau at the edge of Cairo and holds 100,000 artifacts. The museum aligns visually with the pyramids; its roofline rises with the pyramids' horizon but never overtakes them, framing the monuments as a backdrop. Internal walls radiate from a fixed point to form a fanned plan that directs movement west and shapes light and circulation. The concrete structure uses mass and shade for passive climate control. A six‑story monumental staircase sequences displays chronologically, culminating in a Tutankhamen Gallery of over 5,000 artifacts.

Read at designboom | architecture & design magazine