One of the most iconic architectural typologies in history is set to be resurrected in Cairo!
Four and half millennia after the Pyramids of Giza were completed on the outskirts of the city, the Ministry of Housing has unveiled a proposal for a tower, Zayed Crystal Spark, to anchor the planned development of Sheikh Zayed City. The 49-story mixed-use building will rise to around 200 meters, over 60 meters taller than the Great Pyramid a few miles to the east.
While Egyptian pyramids of old conjure images of monumental stone edifices, the Zayed Crystal Spark is likely to employ a slightly more modern material palette of steel and floor-to-ceiling glazing. Its style also diverges somewhat from its illustrious architectural neighbors, more closely resembling a cross between San Francisco’s Transamerica Pyramid and the obsidian Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas.
The project is due to be formally unveiled at an economic development conference later in March, an event designed to encouragement investment and stoke recovery in Egypt’s struggling economy. Should it be built as planned, the building would become the third tallest in Africa — though it is likely to be dwarfed by the 540-meter supertall skyscraper proposed for Casablanca, with construction set to start in Morocco later this year.
Next up: Athens constructs a postmodern Parthenon, Rome builds a deconstructivist Coliseum, and Beijing 3D prints a fresh Forbidden Palace. You heard it here first.
Yours archaeologically,
Images via FastCo