You are here

Virginia: Tidewater and Piedmont » Hampton Roads » Hampton » Virginia Air and Space Center and Hampton Roads History Center

Virginia Air and Space Center and Hampton Roads History Center

-A A +A
1992, Rancorn, Wildman, Krause and Brezinski, with Mitchell/Giurgola. 600 Settlers Landing Rd.
  • (Richard Guy Wilson)

The huge gull-like or airplane hangar–type wings that make up the main visual impression of this museum are clearly intended to symbolize the contents, both literally and metaphorically. The curved roofs, supported by bananashaped trusses, contrast with the glazed infill and the lower red brick supporting structures, which have a more human scale along the major access road. Steven M. Goldberg of the New York office of Mitchell/Giurgola, who was the main designer, seems to have looked back to the German Expressionist designs of Erich Mendelsohn. The extruded tower on the east facade between the two hangars recall Mendelsohn's Schocken Department Store (1926) in Stuttgart. The exhibits include suspended aircraft and rockets and multiple levels of displays.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Richard Guy Wilson et al.
×

Data

What's Nearby

Carousel
St. John's Episcopal Church
Hampton University
Little England Chapel
Hampton Roads Coliseum

Citation

Richard Guy Wilson et al., "Virginia Air and Space Center and Hampton Roads History Center", [Hampton, Virginia], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/VA-01-HR55.2.

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,