SCALE MODELS
Marine Corps War Memorial, Arlington, VA 22209
& Laser Star Concept Image
U.S. Air Force Memorial Museum Design Competition, Arlington, VA 22209
Located adjacent to the Marine Corps Memorial, the ENR architects proposed USAF museum emerges from a subterranean vault toward a view of the sky above the National Mall. The symbolic transition from earth to handmade to high-tech is accentuated by the use of the brick, steel & mirror "airmen" heliostat/laser towers, to the perpetual synthetic star hovering over "missing airman" position amongst the heliostat towers.
Drawing from the heliostat technology of the Solar One collector, Barstow, CA, reflected solar rays are concentrated into a daylight "star" and supplemented upon sunset by a visible helium-neon laser concentration.
Just as the distant view of the Mall can be seen from the landscape of the proposed memorial, the "star" can be seen from the steps of the Capitol and beyond.
