National Museum of Lebanon
Beyrouth, Liban
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF LEBANON
Architect: ANTOINE NAHAS, PIERRE LEPRINCE-RINGUET
Muséography: WILMOTTE & ASSOCIÉS
1 500 sqm
2000
Interior design and museography of the National Museum.
Opened in 1942, in a neo-Egyptian style building, the National Museum of Beirut is the main archaeological museum in Lebanon. Following the civil war, the museum was heavily damaged and had to undergo a complete exterior and interior renovation. The work was completed in several phases in 2000.
Wilmotte & Associés designed the museum’s museography and interior layout. The ground floor and the first floor present to the public more than 1,300 archaeological pieces from prehistory to the Mamluk period. The museography inscribes the museum in the Lebanese contemporaneity without competing with its past: the architecture of the museum being very present, the monumental size of the spaces is totally put at the service of the works. The project has given back to the museum its dignity and prestige, allowing visitors to apprehend the majesty of the admirable archaeological pieces that are part of an architecture that is both strong and obvious, charged with a certain emotion.
Specific showcases have been developed to house the objects. Light also plays a special role. By blocking out the changing natural light to provide constant artificial light, it becomes an integral part of the display, which encourages an extraordinary perception of the works.
