Daniel Libeskind's New York architecture firm has revealed plans to build a museum in Kenya's Rift Valley, comprising tapered and pointed structures that resemble stalagmites.
Studio Libeskind was enlisted to design Ngaren: The Museum of Humankind by Kenyan paleoanthropologist, conservationist and politician Richard Leakey. It will be built on a cliff edge in Rift Valley, where Leakey found the most complete skeleton of early man, known as the Turkana Boy.
The museum is intended to provide an "unprecedented educational and scientific experience", covering two million years of human history.
Museum to "anchor all walks of life to Africa"
It will track evolution, biodiversity, overpopulation, war, disease, the effects of climate change and the pivotal role of Africa. "The museum will be a place for discovery, wonder, and contemplation," said Libeskind. "Through the architecture and exhibitions, Ngaren will anchor all walks of life to Africa: the epicenter of human existence."
The museum comprises two pointed structures that resemble hand-carved tools
Libeskind's design comprise two structures modelled on some of the earliest hand tools used by humans to make carvings. In renderings, these appear to be built of stoney blocks sculpted into a tapered and pointed shape that resemble stalagmites.
A third, dome-shaped building will complete the museum.
A sloped walkway featuring large planters and walls decorated with greenery will be carve...