Today I came across what I can only describe as the most detailed, publicly available presentation on the future development of a museum. The National WASP WWII Museum's
fundraising page has a "
design development" masterplan is a tour de force in every aspect of the design of a museum. From the material for the signage, to a floorplan with the intended site of every sign, to the specific models of electronics, to the design of the display cases, to the handouts to kids, to the a script for the orientation movie, to each page visitors will encounter on the touch screen, it is document that every museum should wish to emulate. Accompanying it is a "
fundraising packet" which, while significantly less impressive, includes a number of renderings that are still worth checking out.
Personally, I found the outrigger design of the "Freestanding Floor Fixture Graphics" on slide 94 to be particularly inventive. How to make signs that are mobile when you want them to be (e.g. when you need to clear the hangar to tow out an airplane), but at the same time static (e.g. so a guest leaning on one doesn't accidentally push it into said airplane) while keeping the method unobtrusive is a difficult problem to solve. I was also particularly happy to see that there is a dedicated space for artifact/archival storage in the design, since so many museums unfortunately seem to neglect it. (For a similar concept, check out the signage at the Lone Star Flight Museum. An example is visible in the lower left corner of a
picture from the website
Texas Highways.)
On the older side of things, Wright State has posted some "what could have been" renderings of the then United States Air Force Museum, including an
aerial view and a
hangar design.
EDIT (22-05-08): A 19 November 1964
article from the
Dayton Daily News has a couple more pictures of the proposed USAFM canopy. According to the details, it was huge. Designed by Kevin Roche of Eero Saarinen and Associates, the canopy was to be 8 acres in area and feature a 700 foot clear span at its widest point!
EDIT (22-05-09): Apparently the USAFM went through a number of designs. A 29 August 1960
article from the
Journal Herald shows a model designed by Herbert Bayer that involves no new buildings, but "only" a reconfiguration of the existing building at the time.
EDIT (22-07-11): The March 1969 issue of
Air Force and Space Digest has a better up close shot of the proposed building on
page 106.
_________________
Tri-State Warbird Museum Collections Manager & Museum Attendant
Warbird Philosophy Webmaster