OMA completes remodel of the gallery of the kings in turin’s museo egizio

Aluminum walls for OMA’s museo egizio gallery remodel in turin

OMA finishes the remodeling of the Gallery of the Kings at Turin’s Museo Egizio. Following designboom’s interview with OMA’s David Gianotten and Andreas Karavanas, and the collaborating architect Andrea Tabocchini, the renovation was inaugurated by the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, during the museum’s bicentenary celebration. The unveiling of the Gallery of the Kings is part of OMA’s full renovation of Museo Egizio, expected to be completed in 2025. In the revamped space, dark ambiance is gone, replaced by reflective aluminum walls.

Bright lights pour into the space: sometimes through the windows and the bulbs hanging from the ceiling, other times coming from behind the walls as underlighting. In 2006, scenographer Dante Ferretti renovated the Gallery of the Kings with the motif of a black box. OMA ushered in the change from dark to light to illuminate the space and allow the visitors to visibly see the ancient Egyptian statues. From the reflective aluminum walls to the shower of lights, the audience may appreciate the statues more in the light, letting them observe their details and learn more about their original place of creation in Thebes, or the modern-day Luxor, without squinting or adjusting their visions.

Unveiling original architecture dating back to the 17th century

It’s not just the effects of a lighter ambiance that inspired OMA to remodel the gallery inside Turin’s Museo Egizio. The design teams, in collaboration with Andrea Tabocchini Architecture, are informed by the curatorial and research efforts of the museum’s team. They interpret them by bringing forth the historical concept of light, which symbolized the process of creation in ancient Egypt. It’s also often associated with kings and gods, a rightful approach to the statues the space attempts to highlight. When visitors enter the remodeled Gallery of the Kings, they pass first through a dark entryway with digital projections depicting the history of the Karnak.

From here, they see two luminous openings, and as soon as they step in, they are bathed with both daylight and museum lighting in the two main exhibition halls. OMA reveals the original architecture of the monumental statuary in this area with the vaults and high windows, all of which date back to the 17th century. Natural light cast its beam upon the statues as they were in their original context at Karnak. On the reflective aluminum walls, OMA and Andrea Tabocchini Architecture display the historical information about the statues.

OMA’s renovation of Turin’s Museo Egizio scheduled in 2025

A new arrangement is in place to narrate and display the history of the monumental statues and ancient Egyptian structures in a chronological and visually aligned order. In the first exhibition hall, two sphinxes face each other at the center, flanked by standing and seated statues of the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet. The statue of Seti II, which was originally placed in front of the king’s chapel at the Temple of Karnak, stands at the hall’s end to mark the conclusion of the tour. After this area, visitors go through the second hall, which OMA and Andrea Tabocchini Architecture designed to refer to the temple’s interiors with statues of kings and gods.

In this very hall, Amenhotep II is seen offering wine to other statues of kings. There’s a group of statues of kings and gods arranged chronologically, and at the center of the hall, the renowned statue of King Ramesses II comes through. The display concludes with effigies of the god Ptah and a statue of the god Amun, represented as his animal avatar, a ram. The gallery’s entry area is directly connected to the Arcade urban room through an arched portal that frames an ancient Lotus Column. The renovated Gallery of the Kings is only a part of OMA’s full renovation of Museo Egizio, which is scheduled for completion in 2025.

project info:

name: Gallery of the Kings

location: Museo Egizio, Turin | @museoegizio

architecture firm: OMA | @oma.eu

partner: David Gianotten

project architect: Andreas Karavanas

competition: Rui Pedro Couto Fernandes, Giovanni Nembrini

model team: Marc Heumer, Alisa Kutsenko, Tijmen Klone

model photography: Arthur Wong

design development: Giuseppe Dotto, Vincent Kersten, Michael den Otter, Rui Pedro Couto Fernandes. Giovanni Nembrini

collaborating architect: Andrea Tabocchini Architecture | @andrea_tabocchini_architecture

structural engineer: Buro Milan

MEP, fire engineer, security engineer: Studio Lagrecacolonna / Melato

lighting engineer: Effetto Luce srl

visualization: ATA, Jeudi Wang

photography: Marco Cappelletti | @_marcocappelletti