Showcasing IAF heritage will help more reach for the sky

IAF HERITAGE MUSEUM IN PRESS BUILDING

Reaching for the sky...

By Rajnish Wattas

There is a hidden aviator in all of us. Remember the thrill of flying kites, launching them into the wind, manoeuvring in the sky or perchance a ‘dog fight’ with another, brought down by your lethal string.

The recent news that the Chandigarh administration and Indian Air Force (IAF) have reached an agreement to create an IAF Heritage Museum at the government press building in Sector 18 is very exciting. The IAF plans to “showcase its vintage aircraft, armaments and memorabilia from different wars, including the 1971 Indo-Pak War and Kargil War, at the museum.” Other attractions will be a flight simulator, audio video galleries and a space for showcasing documentaries related to IAF history.

With the tricity of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula boasting a large population of defence veterans and many of its youth joining the armed forces, the museum will engender greater interest in the world of aviation and the glorious role of our defenders of the skies.

The museum is to be housed in the city’s heritage Government Press Building, one of the earliest edifices that was built in Chandigarh in 1953. It was designed by Edwin Maxwell Fry, part of Le Corbusier’s four-member European team, which included Pierre Jeanneret and Jane Drew.

Though the IAF will surely hire the finest of talent to develop its display of exhibits, some thoughts on the adaptive reuse of an existing heritage building merit consideration.

Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

I would like to recall my visit to the world famous Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington. Its amazing exhibits, imaginative displays and evocative themes make it an experience beyond a mere walk through time and space of American aviation and space explorations. It engages the visitor, whether a curious child or a war veteran, with the same thrill and wonder. In 2018, the museum saw approximately 6.2 million visitors, making it the fifth most visited museum in the world.

Though a comparison between the Chandigarh and the Washington museums is odious; sharing some ideas, display techniques and methods is worthwhile.

Being located close to the National Mall, White House and the Capitol, the Smithsonian opted for a design that would be architecturally impressive but which would not impinge on the historic style of the national icons. Gyo Obata, an American architect of Japanese descent, designed the museum as four cuboid blocks with marble cladding, connected by three spacious steel-and-glass atria housing larger exhibits such as missiles, airplanes and spacecraft.

As you enter the Museum from the muted exterior, you find yourself in a voluminous space with a full height glass wall. It is called the ‘Boeing Milestones of Flight hall’. Vintage aircraft hang from the glass ceiling, suspended in mid-air, simulating flight! My own favourite is Charles Lindbergh's 1927 solo trip across the Atlantic in his Spirit of St. Louis! One had read so much about the legendary flight and seen movies about it. There are of course, many other milestone-making aircraft and spacecraft exhibited there.

Then you move on to “The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial”. The 1903 world's first successful airplane serves as the centrepiece of this exhibition. The airplane has been displayed on the floor, so you can get a close-up, eye-level look at the historic craft that ushered in the age of flight.

The other sections, ‘Moving beyond Earth,’ asks the question, what is the Universe like? It presents the Universe as discerned by the naked eye, then shows how the telescope, photography, spectroscopy, and digital technology revolutionised our view. The other significant sections are on ‘Space Race’ of the cold war era, and one on ‘Time and navigation’.

Limitations and Constraints of Press Building

While we cherish the heritage value of the Press Building, recognising that it was made in an era of concrete for a limited purpose, adapting it to a museum that requires large spans will not be easy. The building is built on a tight grid of columns and beams that allow very limited space to showcase full-size airplanes, even of the vintage era. At best, most displays inside will be of audio visual nature, photographs or replica models of air planes. Even outdoors, there is limited open space for full size displays.

Then why not be little more innovative? Even the Smithsonian, when faced with the problem of exhibiting larger number of displays, established a second campus of the Museum at the Washington Airport. Why can’t we then not also think of building an additional campus of the proposed IAF Museum simultaneously? A location like the PEC Campus, which has large open spaces and established one of the first courses in aeronautical engineering would be ideal. A museum like this will not only strengthen the institution’s research base but also bring citizens in closer contact with the engineering and scientific marvels of the campus. In fact, the IAF Museum should not be limited only to the theme of exhibiting the history of IAF, but also rope in ISRO to help set up a ‘Space Gallery’. We should proudly showcase our recent scientific achievements in the realm of space exploration and beyond. This might inspire many more Kalpana Chawlas to emerge.

The Press building can house the already proposed Heritage Furniture Museum and a Tree Information Centre in addition to the IAF Museum to make full use of the vacant building.

Let Chandigarh, the ‘city of tomorrow,’ spread its wings to fly high in space.

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Rajnish Wattas is former principal Chandigarh College of Architecture, an author, critic & modern heritage expert.