Nubian Museum

Aswan, Egypt

The Nubian Museum, recipient of the 2001 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, is a true illustration of landscape architecture that is sensitive to site topography and context.

In the late 1980s, UNESCO sponsored the establishment of a museum to display the history, culture and heritage of the Nubian people. The museum rests on a unique hilltop site overlooking the Nile River city of Aswan. Sites International’s design concept centers on creating several themed outdoor display areas and includes a long stream representing the Nile River as it flows through Egypt. The stream symbolically starts in the topographically rough landscape of ‘Upper Egypt’, descends through several cataract-style waterfalls and ends in the ‘Lower Egypt Valley’ with palm trees and greens of the Delta. The 43,000 m2 site contains numerous indigenous plants spread over natural rocks. An amphitheater is carved out of the steep adjacent slopes. A small Nubian village street brings Nubian culture and daily activities to life.