Underwater museum, a new kind of tourism

Alexandria is home to many of Egypt’s relics and historic sites. A soon to be added site is the underwater museum proposed to seat next to the Bibliotheca, Alexnadria is a wonder piece for a library in its own right and a place where Cleopatra once had a palace on an island in one of […]

Alexandria is home to many of Egypt’s relics and historic sites. A soon to be added site is the underwater museum proposed to seat next to the Bibliotheca, Alexnadria is a wonder piece for a library in its own right and a place where Cleopatra once had a palace on an island in one of the largest human-made bays in the world back in the day, submerged by earthquakes in the 4th century.

Reports on the National Geographic inform that “the proposed museum would be both inland and underwater. The dual nature is intended to create an experience like that of a traditional museum while also allowing visitors to witness artifacts in their submerged states.”

Designed by Architect Jacques Rougerie – an expert when it comes to space and underwater structures, and leader of feasibility study, the ruins were discovered years ago, and include several sphinxes, statues, Roman and Greek shipwrecks and pieces believed to be from the Pharos of Alexandria lighthouse (one of the seven ancient wonders of the world).

According to Rougerie, “when you go to an archaeological site, you have an irreplaceable emotion. It’s not like going to see a movie.”

These ruins haven’t been moved, since it would be a tremendous effort that could damage the ruins in the process. Also, it follows the 2001 UNESCO convention for the preservation of underwater heritage.

With that in mind, the museum is designed as both inland and submarine. The building will have four tall structures shaped like the Sails of Fellucas, the traditional sailboats used in the Nile. From the inland building, underwater fiberglass tunnels will take visitors to structures where they can view antiquities still lying on the seabed.

Sounds like a big challenge, but since the bay is only about 16 to 20 feet (5 to 6 meters) deep, the museum will not face strong water pressure on its walls, something that makes this idea more feasible. And with construction expected to take only three years, we could have this new concept of building ready pretty soon. But first, they need to secure funding.

The proposed museum would be both inland and underwater. The dual nature is intended to create an experience like that of a traditional museum while also allowing visitors to witness artifacts in their submerged states.

“It’s like the astronaut who cannot share with other people what it is like to be in space.”

Rougerie has designed a building with four tall structures shaped like the sails of fellucas, the sailboats (photo) that have journeyed the Nile since ancient times. These glass sails represent the four points of a compass and are illuminated with blue light in Rougerie’s illustrations.

“Those four points will be like the lighthouse of Alexandria that illuminated the library and the world,” Rougerie said, adding that “I want to do the same thing with this museum.”

The larger inland museum will have underwater fiberglass tunnels to structures where visitors can view antiquities still lying on the seabed.

But the bay’s murky waters could obscure the views of submerged monuments. The builders of the museum will either have to clean the water or replace it entirely with an artificial lagoon.

“As it stands, we have an ingenious idea,” said Amin, the Supreme Council expert.

“Try to picture a glass tube. And you simply put it over the main monuments that we need to highlight. It’s almost like putting each of these monuments in this tube.”

Logistical Concerns

The proposed museum is planned to be underwater not only for aesthetic value but also because it follows the 2001 UNESCO convention for the preservation of underwater heritage.

The convention decided that submerged artifacts should ideally remain on the seabed out of respect for their historical context and, in some cases, because water actually preserves artifacts.

But building directly over submerged artifacts could damage them—just one of a number of logistical issues that a feasibility team of archaeologists, architects, engineers, economists and bureaucrats will examine in the next two years.

If the feasibility study concludes that the museum can be built safely, planners are optimistic it could be constructed in three years. The cost of the museum, however, has not been determined, and funding has not yet been secured.

“Underwater construction costs much, much more and has many more technical problems, so the idea was to divide the museum in two so it could host the maximum amount of people,” Rougerie said.

In addition to cost concerns, the logistics of visitor safety are under investigation.

The structural integrity of the building, however, is considered only a minor problem because the Alexandria bay is only about 16 to 20 feet (5 to 6 meters) deep, architects will not face strong water pressure on the walls of the museum.

Once completed, Egyptian authorities hope the museum will transform both Alexandria’s tourism industry and the city’s current landscape.

“It will not simply be a museum as such. It is part of a whole vision to revitalize the whole city and its heritage,” Amin said.

Egypt is not alone in this venture as Mexico too announced since 2008, its underwater museum project. It is the largest underwater museum and received its first exhibits last year. According to reports on odditycentral, the seabed of the Mexican Caribbean is now host to a series of life-size sculptures on display in Mexico’s Underwater Museum. But they are just a few of the 400 statues that will be lowered down to the bottom in the following months.

Odditycentral also states that located in the National Marine Park, the Underwater Museum aims to raise environmental awareness by creating an artificial reef. Scientists hope the statues will attract young algae that will color them vividly.

The location which is a popular resort place with tourists not far from Cancun, will, according to Mexican authorities, attract tourist- divers to the resort. “This will influence and the same time shift attention from the coral reefs that have already suffered from the excessive interest of divers.

“The thing is that each year, almost 300,000 tourists visit the National Park of the West Coast in Quintana Roo on the Yucatan peninsula. Inexperienced divers examining the coral reefs often are breaking the corals into pieces with the flippers and spoil the air. Furthermore, this area has not received the status of a national park resort so tourists can climb up on the reefs, walk on them, crush and carry away the pieces, destroying the unique ecological structure.

According to the director of the National Park of the West Coast, to restore the original state of reefs may be possible only when the attention of divers will be diverted by something which will attract the divers more. To achieve this, the park administration has decided to create an underwater park of sculptures. The project will be led by Jason de Keyrs Taylor, the creator of the world’s first underwater sculpture park, which is located in Granada.

The statues, which will be placed on the seabed, will be made of a PH-neutral concrete, which can house the algae and shellfish, thus developing and maintaining the ecosystem of the coral reefs. Eventually, thanks to the growth of corals on the sculptures their original appearance will be changed. The first four concrete sculptures in human height were set to be lowered to the bottom last November. And only then the new Submarine Park will be opened for tourists.

With additional texts from National Geographic and archdaily.com