Completed
Phase 1, 2006; three new galleries, 2010
Photography
Nick Merrick; James P. Scholz; Ken Paul
Built at the high point of Semper Fidelis Memorial Park, Fentress Architects’s National Museum of the Marine Corps is an ambitious ongoing project first opened in 2006 but with three new galleries opened in 2010. It’s most prominent feature is its 210-foot-long central spire, which moves up and out of the lobby, supporting a ribbed, conical skylight while jutting from the building at an angle meant to evoke the image of Marines and a Navy corpsman raising the flag at Iwo Jima. The semicircular building is constructed largely of cast-in-place concrete and currently houses an orientation theater, office space, ample storage space for more than 60,000 artifacts, and gallery space to put more than 1,000 of them on display―along with roughly 1,800 photographs and historical documents. The half circle comprises about 120,000 square feet, but another 90,000 is planned to round it out with more galleries, a large-screen theater, and classrooms. And, the structure’s massive green roof and its bioswale retention system keep it as faithful to sustainability as to the Marine Corps itself. ABQ
Light pours in through the massive conical skylight above the museum’s lobby, giving the space greater atmosphere for the military functions it hosts. The interior flooring is done in a terrazzo material that depicts air, land, and sea patterns denoting the versatile combat arenas of the Marine Corps. Interior walls were done in Roman classic travertine, which was installed on site.Cast-in-place concrete surrounds a front entrance made of stainless steel and glass. The massive circular green roof, which will eventually cover 71% of the overall building, prevents rainwater runoff and filters pollutants. The slanted bermed-earth walls surrounding the entire museum help insulate the building and prevent erosion.Looking to evoke the most significant symbols of the Marine Corps in the museum’s architecture, the team at Fentress was drawn to and moved by one of the most enduring images of all time: Joe Rosenthal’s photograph of Marines and a Navy corpsman determinedly erecting the American flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima during World War II. This led to the museum’s iconic central feature, a 210-foot spire angled to evoke the famous snapshot.The museum and chapel are set in Semper Fidelis Memorial Park, a tranquil wooded preserve named after the Marine Corps’ motto, which, translated into English, means “always faithful.” The museum itself sits at one of the high points of the park. The chapel’s design incorporates a water feature that trickles down four levels behind the altar and widens as it passes through a water wall. It terminates in a reflecting pool, representing service at sea, that is still visible from inside the chapel.“The Chapel is designed to be simple and humble,” Curtis Fentress says. “Like a field chapel, it offers a private space for an introspective moment.” The 77-seat chapel hosts weddings and memorials and is made of natural fieldstone and timber. It remains intimately connected to the outdoors thanks to broad windows on all sides.A steeply sloped slate roof completes the simple chapel’s profile, reaching skyward.The Semper Fidelis Memorial Park master plan reveals the vast amount of land left untouched around the museum and the chapel.
