A modern take on Egypt’s thousands of years of history
in collaboration with Zaha
Hadid Architects.

The Egyptian Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 opened with the theme “Cairo, Mother of the World: A City that Keeps Reinventing Itself”. Working directly for Zaha Hadid Architects, MET was engaged as exhibition designer to communicate the theme of the pavilion using a series of artefacts and exhibits which highlighted both the country’s ancient past and the current role of Cairo in the Arab world.

MET’s Chairman Alex McCuaig travelled with a Director from Zaha Hadid Architects to the Egyptian Museum, Cairo to tour the museum with its Director and select eight important antiquities for transportation from their location in the museum to the Shanghai site. The treasures on display in the pavilion included a statue of the pharaoh Amenhotep IV, the father of Tutankhamun, and the Mask of Sheshonq II, another Egyptian king.

In support of the narrative and artefacts, we used film, music recordings, and other objects to demonstrate the development of Cairo over the centuries. Visitors could view exhibits on technological and economic progress in Egypt, as well as the vast changes that have occurred in Egyptian society since ancient times.