Once again, Egyptian women in architecture set the bar high in the field. Dalia Sadany recently won the golden prize in A’Design award and competition. That is in appreciation for her recent project, the Cyber Security Hall Museum at the Greek Campus in Cairo. A’Design competition is one of the largest and most significant competitions awarding best design concepts and products. Every year, about 13000 designers from all over the world compete for this award in about 105 design fields.

Dalia Sadany is one of the most significant names in the architecture field. Besides being an award-winning architect and design/build specialist, she’s also a motivational speaker and writer. She is the founding Chairman of Dalia Sadany Dezines LP, Chairman ASDA Sustainable Development Association and President of the International Association of Designers (IAD) in Italy.

Sadany has always been passionate about the Egyptian ancient science in different fields. She believes that the Egyptian architectural identity is rich with elements and unique techniques. Therefore, Sadany is always keen on showing the true Egyptian spirit in her designs.

The discovery of a new pharaonic secret

The main incentive behind the museum was the Sadany’s great discovery that pharaohs were the first to invent the rules of information protection. Concepts of password, anti-virus, and Firewall that are common in the present time were originally developed by ancient Egyptians. All these systems work for protection against information intrusion.

Applying the same concept, ancient Egyptians used misleading symbols, maze designs, and more approaches to deceive thieves and protect their possessions. Just like the firewall, the design of the temples can let different classes of people into certain spaces and hide others.

Egyptologists along with Cyber security professionals studied closely the similarities between Ancient Egyptian security systems and modern cyber protection. Modern day encryption seemed to have a lot in common with pharaonic approaches. Sadany collected all the symbols of protection and stones from the 28 governorates of Egypt exhibition.

“The idea behind the museum was a pure coincidence” Sadany expressed while telling the story of her discovery. The whole idea began during the process of renovating the new headquarters of Trend Micro’s offices.

The building was originally a university theater that dates back to 1960s in the Greek Campus. During the process, the excavators found theater turntable. The turntable’s main function was changing the scenes as a theatrical element. This discovery truly changed the game and was a great source of inspiration. Consequently, Sadany decided to represent the turntable in the museum as a time machine. This highlights the concept of going back in time and the discovery of the unknowns.

The museum interior

The interior of the museum is a journey of its own.  First, you’ll stop at the great mural with the drawing of the Egyptian writer along with symbols highlighting the importance of knowledge. You’ll then notice another mural of the God Horus that is considered the God of protection in pharaonic culture. Important to notice that Sadany didn’t prefer to use traditional sand stones. She believed  stones will have the same essence of the existing temples. Instead, she used Egyptian grey marble to give a new modern appearance.

As time passes, research unleashes more secrets from the ancient Egyptian history. Who knows what we are yet to discover years from now.