The new Egyptian administrative capital is a city that was planned on a drawing board and built in the sand. The desert settlement is designed to create living space for around 6.5 million people and relieve the burden on Cairo’s infrastructure. Since the country’s military leadership is strategically planning to relocate its centres of power to the remote and exclusive location, the new city will remain sparsely populated, leading to increasing concern among the mega-project’s critics. Beyond the city’s horizon, Louis Roth’s long-term series fata morgana enquires into the practice of erecting monumental buildings and why this so often goes wrong for rulers and society.