I beleive such a great institution deserves its own thread :cheers:

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Latin for "Library of Alexandria"; in Arabic: مكتبة الإسكندرية) is a major library and cultural center located on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. It is both a commemoration of the Library of Alexandria that was lost in antiquity and an attempt to rekindle something of the brilliance that this earlier center of study and erudition represented.

The dimensions of the project are vast: the library has shelf space for eight million books, with the main reading room covering 70,000 m² on eleven cascading levels. The complex also houses a conference center; specialized libraries for the blind :applause:, for young people, and for children; three museums; four art galleries; a planetarium; and a manuscript restoration laboratory. The library's architecture is equally striking. The main reading room stands beneath a 32-meter-high glass-panelled roof, tilted out toward the sea like a sundial, and measuring some 160 m in diameter. The walls are of gray Aswan granite, carved with characters from 120 different human scripts.

The collections at the Bibliotheca Alexandria were donated from all over the world. The Spanish donated documents that detailed the ruling of the Moors. The French also donated, giving the library documents dealing with the building of the Suez Canal.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina maintains the only copy and external backup of the Internet Archive. :eek:

Official Website:

http://www.bibalex.org/English/index.aspx

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/a01.jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/a01%20(01).jpg

http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/7320/46836479vq2.jpg

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2814809750084002517bnelzD

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/745/egypt003mi1.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/123/375685519_d4330eb92a.jpg?v=0

http://agakhan.fas.harvard.edu/images/Bibliotheca-Alexandrina.jpg

http://ic2.pbase.com/o6/93/779793/1/80528722.O6XkL9iH.librarymainbuilding.jpg

http://www.ewan.jeeran.com/ALEXLIB/0103feat0.jpg

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1349421966068332551HAKjsf

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/a01%20(03).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/a01%20(04).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/a01%20(05).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/a01%20(06).jpg

http://ocw.unu.edu/maastricht-economic-and-social-research-and-training-centre-on-innovation-and-technology/knowledge-for-development/knowledge-for-development/Egypt.Alexandria.BibliothecaAlexandrina.01.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/BA_outer_view.jpg/800px-BA_outer_view.jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/a01%20(07).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/a01%20(08).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/a01%20(09).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/a01%20(10).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/a01%20(11).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/a01%20(12).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/a01%20(13).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/a01%20(14).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/d.jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/d%20(01).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/d%20(02).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/d%20(03).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/d%20(04).jpg

]Inside the Bibliotheca Alexandrina[/CENTER]:

The only copy and external backup of the Internet Archive in the world:

http://de.academic.ru/pictures/dewiki/73/Internet_Archive_-_Bibliotheca_Alexandrina.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Internet_Archive_mirror_servers_-_Bibliotheca_Alexandrina.jpg



Reading and Studying Areas:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8d/BibliothecaAlexandrinaInside.JPG/800px-BibliothecaAlexandrinaInside.JPG

http://img5.travelblog.org/Photos/36747/310424/f/2693842-The-Alexandria-Biblioteca-library-1.jpg

http://www.amigotoursegypt.com/images/Egypt.Alexandria.BibliothecaAlexandrina.02.jpg

http://www.eurosis.org/conf/mesm/mesm2006/alexandria_library02.jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/b.jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/b%20(01).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/b%20(02).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/b%20(03).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/b%20(04).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/b%20(05).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/b%20(06).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/b%20(07).jpg
^^
Notice the Computer the woman is using, it magnifies books to help the visually impaired!!! :cheers:

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/b%20(08).jpg
^^
Equipment for blind:cheers:

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/b%20(09).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/b%20(10).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/b%20(11).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/b%20(12).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/b%20(13).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/b%20(14).jpg

Museums

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c.jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(01).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(02).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(03).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(05).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(06).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(07).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(08).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(09).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(10).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(11).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(12).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(13).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(14).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(15).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(16).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(17).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(18).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/c%20(19).jpg

Planetarium:

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/d%20(04).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/d%20(05).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/d%20(06).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/d%20(07).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/d%20(08).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/d%20(09).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/d%20(10).jpg

Science Museum:

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/d%20(11).jpg

Islamic Era:

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/d%20(12).jpg

Ptolemic Era:

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/d%20(13).jpg

Pharonic Era:

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/d%20(14).jpg

Conference Centre:

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/e.jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/e%20(01).jpg

The Great hall:

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/e%20(02).jpg

Middle Hall:

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/e%20(03).jpg

Bibliotheca Alexandrina Orchestra:

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/e%20(04).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/e%20(05).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/e%20(06).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/e%20(07).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/e%20(08).jpg

http://www.bibalex.org/English/gallery/images/e%20(09).jpg




And Finally check out the admission fees (USD$1 = EGP 5.48):

http://i49.************/fe2y4y.jpg

:applause:

It makes me so, so happy and proud, that these fees were made very cheap, so that everyone can use this world class facility at such a low price. Less than a dollar to get in!! Imagine the difference it makes to poor students who don't even have computers or books at home. Imagine how much good it does for them to come here and uses these facilities.

These are the best projects for Egypt, look at how much litarature value, and educational value it gives to the people of Egypt. Priceless. :cheers:

Great thread. Architictually speaking, Alexandria's library is the most impresive building of modern Egypt. My only criticism of it is the amount of shelves that are empty, although that is more an indication of a large amount of shelf space, rather than lack of books.

Can you please explain what you mean by copy and external backup of internet archive?

It is both a commemoration of the Library of Alexandria that was lost in antiquity and an attempt to rekindle something of the brilliance that this earlier center of study and erudition represented.


These are the best projects for Egypt, look at how much litarature value, and educational value it gives to the people of Egypt. Priceless. :cheers:

+1

Come'on I can't find the Teenager section, I hope we can find photos of that place too :D

BTW Nice picture, It's a totally different world from Alexandria.

It's Modern and I think it's up-to-date to international standards but my only concern a urban place like this have those old computer :( I hope they upgrade to new machines :P

Amazing! Totally Amazing! I would love to visit this place.

GREAT ! AMAZING ! INCREDIBLE ! :cheers:
This is the PRIDE of the MENA
thanx egyptians :)

Thanks alot guys :)



Can you please explain what you mean by copy and external backup of internet archive?


Its the only place in the world with the backup of every single web page ever created in the entire world!!!

well it's not the only place there is something called The Internet Archive in California I think... but they are the people who get these copies and they give it to us, if you want to see the Internet Archive program, and all these stuff just use the way back machine from the library website

from here

and here another pictures of the internet archive server in the library

http://www.bibalex.org/isis/UploadedImages/Module/Internet_Archive.png

more pictures

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v376/112/5/606170937/n606170937_1545123_2988.jpg

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v376/112/5/606170937/n606170937_1545124_3750.jpg

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v376/112/5/606170937/n606170937_1545122_1926.jpg

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v349/74/44/1207758536/n1207758536_162607_9838.jpg

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v182/112/5/606170937/n606170937_741281_1891.jpg

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v182/112/5/606170937/n606170937_741279_5132.jpg

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v182/112/5/606170937/n606170937_741277_4166.jpg

http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v168/179/64/671920628/n671920628_272342_3508.jpg

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v168/179/64/671920628/n671920628_272343_3742.jpg

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v171/179/64/671920628/n671920628_257054_9021.jpg

I hope I didn't duplicate any picture, BTW there is tours all the In the library I think every 5min two tours starts, and they actually pretty good, I took the chance to enter the adults Area by joining a tour they take you to the main places and they explain why that place designed like that and they take you into history you get to see those museums and simple all the main stuff. BTW the guy said that the library is designed to use less power he said something about the diagonal roof anyway.

There is also Activities every 10mins or so they go after each other and they also repeat them if you came late or miss one. but they are awesome they teach you how to print books they make alot of performance, that day There was a workshop about making aircraft but I forgot to sign up after a week or saw I saw the first helicopter they made in the Library, it was pretty awesome, and they open aircraft museum speaking of workshop they have alot of workshops too.

I used to enjoy my day there I spent at least 3 hours there and I never get bored :D

there are alot of shelves compared to the amount of books... that's true.
I went there this year, and if my memory serves, they have 800,000 books, while they'r capacity is a whooping 6 million!

only if my memory serves though :|

idk maybe in the adult section but for me in the teenagers section they needed more shells :P

I agree completely with egypt69, this is an excellent example of how others big project should be like. It contributes greatly to education, culture, and tourism and is not just another flashy expensive building that's designed to look nice.

As a guitar player I also appreciate all the concerts that gave a chance for many Egyptian bands to showcase their talents.

Woow I found this in there website

http://webcast.bibalex.org/Home/Home.aspx

You can watch some of there event live from that url, I have to try it one day :D


_____________________________

The Internet Archive

You can access it live from here

http://www.bibalex.org/isis/frontend/archive/archive_web.aspx

_____________________________


TBH I always wondered How SSC looked like back days and The library gave me the answer

here when this website have launched

http://web.archive.bibalex.org/web/20020925094449/http://www.skyscrapercity.com/


and here is how the forum looked like at the start :D

http://web.archive.bibalex.org/web/20021010094708/http://skyscrapercity.com/

there was

"Asia and Middle East Skyscraper Forums " no African Shame :D

Let try and find the first African forum

I have FOUND IT

here

http://web.archive.bibalex.org/web/20040320163328/http://www.skyscrapercity.com/



TBH SSC looked way better in the past :d

ohh and you can see the dates for each one of these.

BTW here is Google, Yahoo, MSN, Microsoft when they first lanched

they look extremely funny compare to the amount of dynamic engineering they now today.


Google

http://web.archive.bibalex.org/web/19981111184551/http://google.com/

or

http://web.archive.bibalex.org/web/19981111183552/google.stanford.edu/

Yahoo

http://web.archive.bibalex.org/web/19961017235908/http://www2.yahoo.com/

Msn

http://web.archive.bibalex.org/web/19961022175327/http://msn.com/


Microsoft

http://web.archive.bibalex.org/web/19961022175331/http://www.microsoft.com/

Have fun guy, and share with me the coolest websites and the weirdest :D

Amazing!!!! Great Find!!! Wow, you can see any website how it looked ages ago!

Yahoo looks so different than today, same with the others

i've visited the Alex library 2 years ago. I was amazed by the huge size and modern architecture! I've seen only a very small part of it but it's huge! A great building i love it! a true Icon for Alexandria.

Amazing, great presentation, egypt69 :) many thanks for the photos of this thread

great place.since im a book lover this goes on my "places to visit" list:cheers:

Thanks guys :)

This is an amazing structure, Egypt really found a way to bring the past into the present here. I wish Ethiopia had something like this.

One (little small) photo of Library of Alexandria:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/4281618056_05800e0aef_o.jpg
from flickr
(Is the photo that i told about, egypt69)

Nice!

Awesome!

Great place! And great pics :)

Wonderful pictures! It's a pitty that I haven't visited Alexandria yet.

:) I would say wait two years until it get better so you can see more of it :P

but thanks anyway and I hope you do visit Alex :D

2 photos of Library of Alexandria:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3384/3483323462_a184aeccb2_b.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigkitty/3483323462/

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/4196593975_7ed0f1b235_o.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/caduandrade/4196593975/

Awesome find. the street look calm and that is not usual :)

Thank you very much, xAbd0o

humm greeeeat project
there's no panoramic picture of the building ?

Let's see...
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4573497809_f047113b46_o.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/beaker314/4573497809/

that is the only photo so far, i will search for more...

Speechless.

Well done Egyptians! We need more of these projects in the Arab world.
Edit: Egypt you probably should have put some historic informations about the original Alexandria library!

Thanks everyone. ^^ there is information indeed. and Let me tell you this. there also have books and papers from the old Library some of the stuff didn't burn or didn't burn completely they have it there too. as you get alot of tours about a two tours every 5mins. and they mention alot of stuff about the history and also how the building architecture designed and why is it like that.

it's also nice to say that the library is designed to use less electricity in day time. so they use electricity at night.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/4627179269_e301e69446_b.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mandadorough/4627179269/

Nice, I'd assume this shot was taken in the winter or in autumn it's very windy.

or that egyptian construction workers are too underpaid and unhappy to quite do their job right :D

Nice, I'd assume this shot was taken in the winter or in autumn it's very windy.
Probably yes...

Check this guys,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectural_design_competition


523 Designs Entries O_O That's a lot!!! 3rd largest entry collection in history! I wanna see them designs one by one :)

Some more pictures of the library:
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library.png
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_2.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_GraniteWall.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Planetarium.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Planetarium_Entrance.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Planetarium_Night_View.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_5.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Planetarium_1.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_East_Harbor.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_6.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_8.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_10.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_11.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_13.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_14.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_15.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_children_readers.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_childrensofa.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_GroupViewingRoom.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_Library_Pillars.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_Multimedia_Library.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_Night_View.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_Plan_Show.jpg
http://touristcup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alexandria_Library_YPLibrary.jpg

Old Computers :ohno:

The pictures could also be old. :dunno:

Fine new pics then. I'm sure the computers are still like that :(

http://www.bibalex.org/ImageGallery/BA_Gallery_EN.aspx?ID=48&Name=Taha%20Hussein%20Library%20for%20the%20Blind%20and%20Visually%20Impaired

^^ better computers(more like monitors :lol:) in the Taha Hussein Library (aka Visually Impaired library)

This looks like a nice place also

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8527/8577091763_847e496dda_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8102/8577092199_5ca2dae0a1_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8530/8500958502_4f9c916c3e_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8309/8040698315_41f0c8f3c2_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8226/8404625331_989d072d7e_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8305/7896337566_8698b6de05_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8387/8668771635_748e0b666e_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8406/8668777227_191c928f9f_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8503/8309464453_c4e386c5e8_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8319/8040647466_fecc5e3418_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8373/8578194086_245ef074f6_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8309/8040680519_e5220e7be3_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8039/8040683904_c027a6ff72_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7264/7571273538_01047a40a9_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8017/7183070669_f758609555_b.jpg

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5194/7368300524_5934e73280_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7045/6925759076_dc3d5d4cd7_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7228/6890385702_3c0c985b7f_b.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7244/6890335254_52bb9af805_b.jpg