Post conflict reconstruction

The Mosul Cultural Museum was designed by celebrated architect Mohamed Makiya and is widely considered a masterpiece of 20th-century Iraqi architecture. The museum, the second largest in Iraq, was purpose-built to display archaeological artefacts from across the region and as an affirmation of the ancient civilizations that once thrived there.

Following Mosul’s capture by Daesh (ISIS) in 2014, artefacts of global significance were destroyed, and the Museum was compromised in a deliberate attack aimed at erasing history and culture. Amongst others, the attack led to the destruction of the celebrated Assyrian ‘guardian’ figures (Lamassu) and the 9th century BC Assyrian throne base originating from the ancient royal city of Nimrud. This resulted in a large hole in the floor of the Assyrian Hall that destabilised part of the structure of the museum. Fires caused by burning over 28,000 rare books also caused the reinforcement within the concrete floor to buckle.

DIA was commissioned by the World Monuments Fund to lead an international design team for the museum’s post-conflict architectural regeneration, undoing years of detrimental changes and destruction, and restoring the building to Makiya’s original vision. The project's aim is to revive the museum as a modern, sustainable cultural institution, with upgrades including new exhibition spaces, sustainability measures (including energy generation), services, security and a much-improved access strategy which will deliver a more inclusive and flexible building, for both the staff and visitors.

The project, funded by the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage (ALIPH), is a collaboration of the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH), the Musée du Louvre, the Smithsonian Institution, and World Monuments Fund.