Imperial War Museum North

Infobox Museum
name = Imperial War Museum North

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imagesize = 150
map_type =
latitude = 53.469722
longitude = -2.298889
established = 5 July 2002
location = Trafford, Greater Manchester, England
type = War museum
visitors =
director =
curator =
website = [http://www.iwm.org.uk/north/index.htm Imperial War Museum North Website]
network = IWM

The Imperial War Museum North is a war museum at The Quays, Trafford Wharf, Trafford Park, Greater Manchester M17 1TZ, England, a part of the country that was attacked during the Blitz and again by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in 1996. Located in an historically impoverished area, the museum is world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind's first building in Britain. Opened on July 5 2002, it is one of five branches of the Imperial War Museum, and the first outside of southeast England. [Citation
last=McLaren
first=Leah
author-link=
title=Triumph over adversity
newspaper=The Globe and Mail
volume=
issue=
pages=R5
year=2005
date=July 6, 2002
url=]

Museum

The museum focuses on individuals and their relation to wars, past and present. In particular, according to its website, the museum "tells the story of how war has shaped the lives of British and Commonwealth citizens since 1914". [cite web
last = Imperial War Museum North
first =
title = History of the Imperial War Museum
url=http://north.iwm.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.991
accessdate=2008-06-17]

Its main exhibition space houses the "Big Picture Show", a collection of projected images and sounds that play every hour, on the hour. The museum also houses war machinery and hosts rotating exhibitions. [cite web
last = Imperial War Museum North
first =
title = Special Exhibitions
url=http://north.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.148
accessdate=2008-06-17]

Architecture

Inspired by the notion of a globe, shattered by conflict and then reassembled, Libeskind's design for the building fragments the museum into three enormous parts. Each "shard" bears a curvature identical to that of our planet, so the ostensibly distorted angles the museum's walls make with the floor are actually at exact right angles to the earth. The three shards correspond to the three arenas of war: Earth, Air, and Water.

The Earth Shard, the floor of which curves, forms the base of the building. Atop the vertical Air Shard, which resembles an airplane hangar, sits an observation deck where visitors can see the city of Manchester. The Water Shard tilts like a boat at sea and contains a restaurant overlooking the Manchester Ship Canal. [cite web |title=About the Building and its Architect |publisher=Imperial War Museum North |url=http://north.iwm.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.993 |accessdate=2008-02-03] [cite book
last = Libeskind
first = Daniel
title = Breaking Ground
publisher = Riverhead Books
location = New York
date = 2004
pages = 232
isbn = 1-57322-292-5 ]

After multiple budget cuts and design modifications, the building was built for £28 million ($65 million) in collaboration with Sir Robert McAlpine and an engineering company, Arup. Admission to the museum is free.

Recognition

* Silver Award for "Large Visitor Attraction of the year" (2008) [cite web
last = Imperial War Museum North
first =
title = Imperial War Museum North wins Large Attraction of the Year for England's Northwest
url=http://north.iwm.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.4276
accessdate=2008-06-17]
* Royal Institute of British Architects Award (2004)
* British Construction Industry Building of the Year (2003)
* Visitor Attraction of the Year, Northwest Tourism Board (2003) [cite web | Marketing Manchester | title= Greater Manchester's Tourism Industry Celebrate in Style | publisher= Marketing Manchester | url= http://www.marketingmanchester.com/news/newsdetails.xsql?id=109 | accessdate= 2007-10-15]

References

External links

* [http://www.iwm.org.uk/north/index.htm Imperial War Museum North Website]