Terra Tales Museum of Natural History

Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria University in Alexandria

Project idea

The Terra Tales Museum is a natural history museum that takes its name from the museum's focus on the earth's natural history (tales of the earth). The museum narrates the life cycle of all creatures and emphasizes that they all begin and end on earth. This has been supported by the Holy Quran.

The project's goal is to enhance understanding of the natural world and provide the community with natural history culture. It emphasizes the importance of all creatures, as the loss of any species not only leads to the destruction of the ecosystem but also the painful loss may destroy cultures.

Therefore, the earth was chosen as a design concept for the project, as the life of any animal begins and ends on the earth, and also due to the close association between paleontology and geological layers.

The design was derived from nature to create a calm and balanced aesthetic and to create an atmosphere of warmth, welcome, tranquility, development, and emphasizing that the earth is the source of everything and confirming its importance in the design. All natural materials were used, including wood, stone, metal, natural colors, and earthy tones.

Project description

The design lines are calm, balanced, and straight to signify the stability of the earth and the continuity of the life cycle on it, calling for attention to the natural world to create a balanced and stable environment.

The museum's location was chosen in the new administrative capital, which is the most prominent example that embodies the true translation of the green economy strategy aimed at achieving Egypt's 2030 strategy in sustainable cities, where the best and highest environmental preservation standards are applied, and waste management systems and sustainable development goals are considered in the simplest architectural design details in the city.

The museum's functions are educational and recreational and consist of two floors:
The ground floor:
- The visitor starts his journey by entering the lobby, which includes all the services that the visitor may need, such as booking and inquiry offices, security offices, ATMs, interactive screens, and display units to promote the beginning of the journey to the museum exhibition halls.
- The educational area includes a conference hall and an introduction to the natural world.
- It also includes a building for museum management.
- An exhibition hall for wild animals.
- A lobby area with a souvenir shop.

The first floor:
- The visitor continues the journey through the rest of the museum exhibition halls, starting with the marine animals' hall, passing through the plant's hall, and finally the earth layers and rocks hall.
- The tour ends with a cafe affiliated with the museum.
- There are also embalming rooms and maintenance workshops on this floor, which is a separate part for museum employees.

Technical information

The museum building is structural.
It consists of two floors, the ground floor is four meters high, and the first floor is six meters high, making the total building height ten meters.

The interior design of the museum includes lighting. Artificial lighting was used while allowing natural light to enter the building through glass units in the design called the skylights, to add vital diversity to the place and connect visitors to the external environment, giving them a sense of vitality. Harmony and pleasant atmosphere.

To take advantage of natural lighting while considering its drawbacks, such as heat or harmful rays entering the exhibits in the museum's foyer, low-E glass has been used in the portholes and is designed to reduce the amount of UV and infrared radiation passing through while allowing visible light to pass through. This helps protect the exhibits from fading and damage and increases their preservation and integrity. Also, to increase the preservation and safety of the outdoor exhibits under the skylight, they are coated with a protective layer of acrylic.

Artificial lighting in the exhibition halls of the museum used searchlights, taking into account the use of reflectors, filters, and light filters on lighting devices to prevent glare and reflections. Also, exhibits displayed in glass display units use anti-reflective glass to minimize unwanted glare and effectively block out about 99% of UV rays to help protect the exhibits.

The ventilation in the museum relies on central air conditioners.

The internal movement paths depend on the platform and the space, which means moving from the primary starting point and nucleus of the place (represented in the atrium of the museum) to the other parts of the surrounding spaces. Movement paths in the museum are horizontal and vertical, first entering the lobby and then into the main buildings of the museum. A staircase leads from the lobby to the upper floor halls and the café.