Chicago architecture studio Jahn has used massive steel trusses and a glass envelope for a military archive building with a structure informed by amphibious landing vehicles.
The Pritzker Military Archives Center is a facility for the storage, preservation and exhibition of documents and artefacts from participants in the US military, especially from the two world wars.
Jahn has completed a military archives building in Wisconsin
It sits on a plot of land off a major interstate that connects Milwaukee, Wisconsin with Chicago, Illinois.
Jahn, founded by late architect Helmut Jahn, aimed to implement military-informed design motifs throughout the structure.
It has a glass envelope supported by massive red trusses
"Everything has some military inspiration," Jahn managing director Philip Castillo told Dezeen. "We really wanted a building that was rough and tough like a piece of military equipment. The welds on the trusses are not ground. The bolts are exposed."
It houses archives and offices for the Pritzker Military Museum & Library
The archives have a series of large, steel, red-painted trusses with hinges where they meet the foundation. These were installed flat and lifted into place to support the glass structure.
The colour of the trusses was chosen due to red's status as a "colour of courage," according to Castillo.
It has heavily fritted glass to maintain low UV levels inside
To mirror the form of the amphibious military vehicles ? inclu...