NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFGHANISTAN

THE PROJECT IS BASED ON 3 MAIN CONCEPTS AND 2 CONSEQUENTIAL: THE SHAPE OF THE AFGHAN GEMSTONE AQUAMARINE The shape and the structure of “our” museum resembles the shape of aquamarine gemstone. The building will symbolize the precious cultural revival and the preservation of the historical memory of Afghanistan. THE WRECKAGE OF THE WARS THAT HAVE RAVAGED THE LAND OF AFGHANISTAN The prisms will emerge from the rubble of the war and will be oriented towards the symbolic places of Afghanistan and Islam. To represent this concept we wish to have the “wounded” soil from the symbolic cities of Afghanistan (especially those represented in the galleries) transported into the site so that everyone will know that the museum is built on the soil transported from each region or town of the country. THE ORIENTATION TOWARDS THE SYMBOLIC PLACES OF AFGHAN CULTURE AND ISLAM The cities and the symbolic places that we have chosen are the following (clockwise): Ghazni Kandahar Mecca Herat Bamiyan Sheberghan Mazar e Sharif Balkh and Bagram. The doors of each gallery will be placed at a distance (scaled) from the center of the museum represented by Kabul. Only Bagram will be in a set back point to allow a better utilization of the atrium of the museum. Afghan architecture and style will be readable in many details and obviously in colors. Each gallery will represent a town or a symbolic place and it will be easy to recognize some architectonical details of this special place. THE CROSSING OF THE BORDER Another important concept is the “crossing of the border”. In fact the line on the floor of the galleries hat will be directed towards each door (and therefore the chosen location) will continue until the bottom of the halls and will indicate the main towns or places that it will meet on its imaginary extension. Towns and places that are beyond the borders of Afghanistan. The lines on the floor as well as the names of places well be made in stainless steel and will be translated into three languages (Farsi Dari and English). UNPREDICTABLE SHAPE The unpredictable shape will be very useful for improving the defensibility of the building. The unpredictability is also read in the mismatch (desired) between the external and internal areas. It is important to emphasize the fact that the rough lines and sharp edges of the outside are intended to represent the dynamics of a “creative explosion” while inside the curved shapes refer to the concept of wrapping and protection of the maternal womb. The decision to eliminate the corners and turn them into smooth curves is also dictated by the search for the diminishing of the dry shadows.