Tomb, temple, and pyramid: architecture and repatriation at the Great Egyptian Museum

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes contemporary architecture projects for new museums and their relationship with the demand for the repatriation of museum collections. The methodology is based on the study of the architectural design of the Great Egyptian Museum (GEM) - still under development - in dialogue with the experiences of the Acropolis Museum, in Athens, and the Royal Museum of Benin. Located about two kilometers away from the Pyramids of Giza, the GEM is being built according to the international excellence standards to store and display its Egyptological collections. Its development was the result of an international architecture competition promoted by the Egyptian government, which selected three finalist projects: Rizzi, Himmelblau, and Peng. We understand that these proposals can be interpreted from three important figures that guided the development of contemporary architectural forms: the tomb, the temple, and the pyramid. We consider that the GEM project is linked to the consolidation process of the Egyptian museal structure, which may be related to the requests for repatriation (or even loan) of museum collections undertaken since 2002 in the country by the Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass. We believe that the GEM project, like the other examples cited, contributes to dismantle the argument of the lack of conditions for storage and research of museum collections.

KEYWORDS:
Contemporary Architecture; Museum Collections; Great Egyptian Museum; Repatriation