Next 'Great Pyramid' made in Germany?

Image of proposed Great Pyramid of Germany

(Credit: Friends of the Great Pyramid)

Germany's pyramid would be 10 times larger than the Great Pyramid of Egypt.

(Credit: Friends of the Great Pyramid)

A group in Dessau, Germany, has received funds and famed architect Rem Koolhaas as an adviser in its quest to build the world's largest structure.

Dubbed a "monument for all of us" the new "Great Pyramid," which is estimated would take about 30 years to complete, would be about 1,900 feet tall and 10 times larger than the Great Pyramid of Egypt, according to the Great Pyramid's Web site.

Instead of being a monument to only a few individuals, Germany's Great Pyramid would be a communal tomb open to anyone regardless of nationality or denomination. It would offer burial space in the form of a "tomb container with ashes of the deceased" and engraved "memorial stones" with time capsules to store personal memorabilia.

A burial spot will cost about $960 (700 euros), Jens Thiel, an economist and one of the Friends of the Great Pyramid leaders, told U.K. construction magazine Building .

On Sunday, the group presented a stone prototype of the Great Pyramid at a Great Pyramid Festival in Streetz, a small village north of Dessau.

Pritzker-winning Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas is set to lead the jury for choosing a final design for the project, according to several reports. Students under Heiko Holzberger at Weimar Bauhaus University in Germany conducted a technology feasibility study that concluded the project is viable, according to the Great Pyramid Web site.

The project has been given starter funding by the "Future of Labor" program of the government-backed German Federal Cultural Foundation.

As part of the group's business plan, the structure would be built up and out incrementally so that stones are added only as people buy placement in the pyramid.

[sanjayb]

Morbid

Sounds kinda morbid. Who wants a pyramid of dead people? Just cuz it was the thing to do in the past doesn't mean it's a great idea today.

[airwalkery2k]

Space is limited

What do you suppose we should do with the dead? Space in Germany is limited. Burials are expensive, so it makes sense that some in Germany would find a way to make burials more economical by stacking it up, but remain somewhat mystical and respectful to the dead. I couldn't imagine anything other than a pyramid structure.

[Taher]

Lack of creativity

This project shows lack of creativity and is basically a hijacking of a great wonder. We all know that in the present time humans have the technology and capability to pile a rubble of stones and sand to form a large structure. This is done on a daily basis in mines and quarries around the world in search for gold, coal and various metals. There is nothing creative about it. Rather than coming with something original and creative they have decided to copy what the ancient Egyptions did, only bigger. If they consider this new structure to be art then please come up with a new idea.

[michieldank]

Idiot

Dude shut the **** up ! Where would you rather be buried ? in a stupid broing grave or be part of the new world's WONDER ! You see the maya's already predicted the revealing, the piramid stands for enlightment of our consciousness. HAIL GERMANY !!! This is the best idea ever ! The freaking best idea ever !! LOL i will surely be buried in this piramid ! Please come up with a new idea ... lol yes we need to come up with one since your too stupid to understand ! Nope lol there is nothing creative about building the world's biggest freaking piramid !!! it won't be huge it will be collosal. lol dude get some freaking damn respect for the egyptians we owe our culture and religion largely to them in a way...

[bluechao]

Non-denominational?

The intention to make it non-denominational is fine, only they make it impossible for anyone who is Jewish to ever be buried there. The religion does not allow one to cremate their remains, the body is supposed to remain as intact as possible for burial. It's one of those things they should have taken better care to be more sensitive about, especially in Germany. Normally, Germans have become much more sensitive to these kinds of issues, for obvious reasons, but in this case they didn't think it through very well, at all.

[monkeetrik]

Non-Denominational

What does your comment have to do with this structure being Non-Denominational.

[CheesyLouis]

NO! There building this pyramid to protect us from cosmics rays once planet x comes really close to earth switching the poles and cosmic rays will make us mutate at a very fast rate but we got pyramids to protect us from the rays if our magnetic poles do switch.