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The
American Air Museum - Imperial War Museum Duxford, UK
Architect
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Foster + Partners |
Date Built
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1997
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Location
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Imperial War
Museum - Duxford
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Description
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The American Air
Museum was built on the site of the World War II
Duxford Air Base, now a branch of the Imperial
War Museum. It stands as a memorial to the
30,000 US Airmen who died in action in conflicts
during the 20th and 21st Centuries. It is
home to the largest collection of American
military aircrafts outside of the United
States. The centrepiece of the collection
is a huge B-52 Stratofortress which barely fits
into the building. The rest of the
collection is arranged around - under and
suspended above the B-52.
Foster + Partners describes the museum as
being, "Enveloped by a single
vaulted enclosure, the Museum’s drama comes
from the powerful arc of its roof - engineered
to support suspended aircraft - and the sweep
of the glazed southern wall overlooking the
runway.
Despite the fact that the structure is partly
sunk into the ground, its fully glazed
elevation and a continuous strip of glass
around the base of the vault washes the
interior in daylight. "
In 1998 the building won the Stirling
Prize. The judges described it as, "a
great big, clear span hangar of a
building...dramatic, awe-inspiring, an object
of beauty...simple yet replete with imagery."
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