The original Land of Mega, of jaw-dropping scale and colossal ambition, is tired of resting on its laurels. The new 85,000-square-meter Bibliotheca Alexandrina, designed by the Norway-based architecture firm Snøhetta, is rising on Egypt's northern coast, a few miles and many centuries away from the site of the ancient great library. When it is finished next year, the 11-floor hub of knowledge will house nearly 5 million books, not to mention a science museum and a planetarium. Reflecting the project's international spirit (more than a dozen countries contributed to its $170 million cost), the external granite wall is engraved in 350 languages, a detail that celebrates civilizations old and new.
And in a more-than-symbolic nod to antediluvian mishaps, the new library boasts an extensive sprinkler system.
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