testimonials

"Both on representational and practical levels, the new Library of Alexandria will soon be recognized as one of the most significant architectural achievements of our times."

Richard Ingersoll for Architecture on the New Library of Alexandria

"It may be overly optimistic to claim that only through cultural operations on this scale can the terrain for international understanding be relocated, but it is undeniable that this new institution (BA) will become one of the most significant humanist endeavors in the Middle East, one that transcends ideology, religion and ethnicity.

The project is at once highly original in structure and form, ingeniously planned for its urban position and impeccably assembled with high-quality materials and details.

The soft wooden surfaces (of the interior), the acid-stained bronze paneling and the benign glow of the filtered light contribute to a resounding sense of serenity, the sort of peace that I hope will spread elsewhere."

Richard Ingersoll on Egypt’s greatest contemporary building for Domus

"It is extraordinary how the architects succeeded in creating intimacy within dimensions such as these, defined by the density of the columns, the stepping in height and the visual warmth of the plywood panels which clad the parapets of galleries and staircases."

Karin Tschavgova for Architekture Aktuell on the New Library of Alexandria

"As a vanity project, the Bibliotheca should have little trouble doing for Alexandria what the Opera House did for Sydney or, more recently, the Guggenheim Museum for Bilbabo. Its roof resembles a gigantic microchip 160 m. in diameter, to reflect the idea of conducting knowledge to Egypt and beyond, just as the original did."

Scott Macleod for International edition Time magazine on the New Library of Alexandria

"The wonderful stepped volume of the reading room is undoubtedly one of the finest spatial experiences of our times. Alexandria’s new monument is just as powerful, but it is gentle, enveloping, generous, welcoming and multivalent."

Peter Davey for Architectural Review on the New Library of Alexandria

"Here at last is something so resolutely and uncompromisingly modern that the existing urban fabric recoils slightly. Breaking the cardinal rule of the modern architectural and urban planning canon, the Bibliotheca stands magnificently at odds with its surroundings, like a giant challenge that seems to say: This is the benchmark, now go and build something better."

Warren Singh Bartlett for Wallpaper on the New Library of Alexandria

"The library is the best small building to be constructed in Los Angeles in decades."

Greg Golding for Los Angeles Magazine, about the Private Library addition in Hancock Park by Christoph Kapeller and Mitchell De Jarnett

"The symbolism of the library’s simple tilted disc form has a strong and universally recognizable resonance, as well as allowing for the creation of an impressive space without overpowering the visitor or the city behind it. Internally the library is large in size but always human in scale, clear in organization but flexible in use, grand in conception but beautifully detailed."

Architecture and Polyphony: Building in the Islamic World Today. The Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The 9th. Award Cycle

"Both on representational and practical levels, the new Library of Alexandria will soon be recognized as one of the most significant architectural achievements of our times."

Max Rodenbeck for Architecture