The shard like forms of the architecture fracture the simple wheat field
The juxtaposition of the horizontal line of the canal against the architecture is preserved and strengthened by the horizontal stripe of golden wheat contrasting with the crashing forms of the museum beyond.
A cultivated wheat field grows within raised and tilted areas, contained by simple concrete walls inscribed with texts. Paths cut through the fields, allowing visitors to be overwhelmed by the wheat as they move through the space. Central to the field is a quiet memorial space.
From afar the there is an innocence and simple beauty in the summer months as the wheat grows and ripens- in winter this changes and the ground becomes bleak and dark.
Closer up the wheat field is seen to be fractured, the zone by the museum is an asphalt field of chaotic broken parts of planes and tanks, with plants valiantly growing in between. The proposal aims to introduce the message of the building through the landscape, to create a space for an emotional response to the museum alongside a place for memory.
Arts involvement through artists Alfredo Jaar and Jason Bruges Studio incorporate the projection of large images – poppies, dazzle camouflage and searchlight images.
2009
Manchester, UK
Client
Imperial War Museum North
Value
£2m
Artist
Alfredo Jaar
The shard like forms of the architecture fracture the simple wheat field
