Story

The Grand Egyptian Museum was a two-stage international compeitition with 1,557 entries for the commission of a new 4+ million s.f. museum for Egyptian antiquities.  inFORM studio was selected among 20 finalists and was one of 8 firms to present a final design in Cairo.  The program required a sophisticated investigation into circulation patterns and adjacencies.  The concept of hypertext allows one to navigate through large volumes of documents and data, and connect these documents (objects) together in meaningful ways. The strength of hypertext is that the meaning can be fluid and is based on context and adjacencies. Hypertext also denotes continuity. The system cannot be exhausted, as it is nonlinear. Each alternative circulation sequence within the same space creates new associations and deepens the understanding and knowledge of the visitor to the museum. The circulation system is constructed of constant, gradually sloping floor plates. This allows visitors to move within three dimensional space effortlessly, fully immersed into the experience of the collection.  One is only disengaged by the experience as a matter of choice, not predicated by coming to the end of a linear sequence by having to shift to stairs or an elevator to another level.  The display circulation has no true beginning or end.   The circulation remains fluid on static architectural plates with no prescribed route but an endlessly evolving physical information system.