timeless cube - national museum of afghanistan by matteo cainer architects
paris and london-based firm matteo cainer architects have produced the 'timeless cube', a proposal for the national museum of afghanistan international competition. the construction of the afghan museum will celebrate the richness of the nation's cultural heritage and the spirit of its peoples. in a nation devastated by war, the wealth of its cultural background and the spirit of its peoples are embodied here. in spite of the years of conflict and turmoil, the underlying strengths of the country remain intact, embedded in the earth and rising from it.
through powerful symbolic references, the new proposal awakens the country's history, where physical fragments and traces inform users of the past. this concept is well illustrated in the negative spaces of the artist and sculptor rachel whiteread that highlight the memory of an object, rendering the invisible visible through a reversal of solid and void. here this absent presence is found in the day-lit foyer, a tranquil and serene space filled with water and greenery. entering the main hall, each visitor defines
their own experience of the museum, ascending the monumental stairs from the foyer at its heart, aware of the depth of knowledge
expressed in the deep recesses of its masonry walls.