( images above & below copyright Jaques Rougerie Architects)
Fiberglass tunnels will connect aboveground galleries, near the New Library of Alexandria, to the underwater viewing facility, where antiquities would be visible in their natural resting places at the site of Cleopatra’s legendary and now sunken palace. This incredible museum will be the first genuine underwater museum, in the sense that visitors will not need diving gear to view the exhibits as, for example they do at Israel’s “underwater museum” at the ancient port of Caesarea, which is in effect more of a (fascinating and unique) dive site.
With funding yet to be secured and the not inconsiderable engineering obstacles – including low visibility and powerful currents around the tunnels- to be overcome this ambitious project has a long way to go, but the developers sound confident that such challenges will be met.
