| Architect |
Feilden Clegg
Bradley Studios |
| Date
Built |
2006 |
| Location |
RAF Cosford,
Shropshire |
| Description |
|
This striking building is an imposing
presence on the RAF Cosford Museum
site. It is home to the National Cold
War Exhibition and houses an impressive
collection of aircraft and military vehicles
arranged around and suspended above the
multi-media exhibits. The architects explain
that their design, " ... gives
physical expression to the two opposing
forces locked in the Cold War. Two
curvilinear triangular volumes are
forced 30 metres up out of the ground
creating a 130 metre long ‘fault line’
along their adjoining edges with the
metaphor continued in the twisted plane
geometry of the roof. The display hall
is split onto two levels with high level
viewing access to provide multiple views
of the museum’s collection. ...   ... The industrial aesthetic of the interior is one of stark contrasts: dark structural steel supports bright galvanized decking while daylight entering via a continuous strip of rooflights along the central spine provides a constantly changing dynamic of lights and darks. The ancillary facilities, including an auditorium and classrooms, are buried in the ground below ... ".   The museum's website adds that the, "Exhibition highlights the ideologies of both sides, the social history of the era, the technological achievements which evolved from the competition between East and West and the eventual dissolution of the Warsaw Pact resulting in the world we live in today. The story of the Cold War is therefore much larger than one of aviation alone; this national exhibition aims to inform and educate present and future generations about the immense threat posed to world peace and security during this significant period of the 20th century."      |
|
|
National
Cold War Exhibition, RAF Cosford Museum, UK
 |
