Imperial War Museum North Review
When some people think of history museums, or most museums for that matter, they instantly think, “ boring ”. A long, tiring and uninteresting, perhaps even pathetic way to spend a day, which could, regrettably be so much better. But this is not the case for the Imperial War Museum North.
Firstly, you might be interested to know that the museum is a very strange building indeed. Set out to represent broken shards of the earth shattered by war and conflict, it is a rather lets say, unusual design, but none the less visually impressive and eye catching. The entrance is also rather strange, as it is not obvious where it is. The three shards are Air, Earth and Water, representing war in the air, on land and at sea. The architect Daniel Libeskind was the designer.
As you reach the air shard and walk into the entrance you will notice a lift at the bottom, which will take you up to the viewing point. I should warn you that, if you’re scared of heights it is probably best if you do not look upwards while you are in this shard, as the very top of the building is visible surrounded by metal poles all the way down, and this may put you off the viewing experience slightly.
I must admit that, I myself am quite afraid of heights, but nether the less, entered the lift. I was rather shocked to notice that, the lift shook rather noticeably on ascent but to my relief, it did not have glass windows or a glass floor! When it reached the viewing point, I was surprised yet again that we weren’t as high up as I expected. I walked now, quite relaxed towards the viewing platform and looked out. Everything was fine until I looked down...
Anyway, that’s enough about that. The other two shards were the water shard (an eating area) and the earth shard. The actual museum part was split up into two parts, both fantastic and equally as interesting. The smaller one was filled with prisoner of war (or POW) information, artefacts and activities. The artefacts were fascinating including a wooden horse (remember The Great Escape?) and a reconstructed plane made out of prisoners’ sheets .
The larger section contained plenty of helpful facts and information, whilst keeping younger people entertained with hands on activities. Regular videos ingeniously projected onto almost all of the white painted walls were an extra treat and helped to simplify the information for those who don’t have time to or don’t want to read all the text. Various model exhibits such as a Harrier jump-jet and a Russian Tank are also featured in this section.
A guided tour was also brilliantly informative, explaining the meaning of the building’s structure. The gift shop was very well stocked and overall it was a very interesting and enjoyable trip, with added bonuses in the viewing point, guided tour, and projected films.
9/10.
When some people think of history museums, or most museums for that matter, they instantly think, “ boring ”. A long, tiring and uninteresting, perhaps even pathetic way to spend a day, which could, regrettably be so much better. But this is not the case for the Imperial War Museum North.
Firstly, you might be interested to know that the museum is a very strange building indeed. Set out to represent broken shards of the earth shattered by war and conflict, it is a rather lets say, unusual design, but none the less visually impressive and eye catching. The entrance is also rather strange, as it is not obvious where it is. The three shards are Air, Earth and Water, representing war in the air, on land and at sea. The architect Daniel Libeskind was the designer.
As you reach the air shard and walk into the entrance you will notice a lift at the bottom, which will take you up to the viewing point. I should warn you that, if you’re scared of heights it is probably best if you do not look upwards while you are in this shard, as the very top of the building is visible surrounded by metal poles all the way down, and this may put you off the viewing experience slightly.
I must admit that, I myself am quite afraid of heights, but nether the less, entered the lift. I was rather shocked to notice that, the lift shook rather noticeably on ascent but to my relief, it did not have glass windows or a glass floor! When it reached the viewing point, I was surprised yet again that we weren’t as high up as I expected. I walked now, quite relaxed towards the viewing platform and looked out. Everything was fine until I looked down...
Anyway, that’s enough about that. The other two shards were the water shard (an eating area) and the earth shard. The actual museum part was split up into two parts, both fantastic and equally as interesting. The smaller one was filled with prisoner of war (or POW) information, artefacts and activities. The artefacts were fascinating including a wooden horse (remember The Great Escape?) and a reconstructed plane made out of prisoners’ sheets .
The larger section contained plenty of helpful facts and information, whilst keeping younger people entertained with hands on activities. Regular videos ingeniously projected onto almost all of the white painted walls were an extra treat and helped to simplify the information for those who don’t have time to or don’t want to read all the text. Various model exhibits such as a Harrier jump-jet and a Russian Tank are also featured in this section.
A guided tour was also brilliantly informative, explaining the meaning of the building’s structure. The gift shop was very well stocked and overall it was a very interesting and enjoyable trip, with added bonuses in the viewing point, guided tour, and projected films.
9/10.
I went here aswell, it was architectually amazing, but i think that the whole 'shattered globe' concept was a load of rubbish. However, it was clearly designed to unnerve you, and it definately did!!!
ReplyDeleteThe design did seem rather strange when I first heard about it, but I think it's very imaginative as well.
ReplyDelete