I just chaperoned a field trip to DC and saw a bunch of war monuments as well as Arlington Nat. Cemetery. The AF memorial was by far the worst. If you haven't seen it, the main element is three curved soaring metal structures that are visible from all along the Potomac. These are odd, but you can get the point. The most distasteful part of the monument, though, are the engraved black marble slabs that surround the monument. Most of the quotes have little to do with the sacrifices made by the airmen. Instead, we get to read jingoistic proclamations of the need for air power and defeating the enemy. And the sponsorship of the memorial by Lockheed-Martin and Boeing gets prominent position. Our Air Force must be extremely insecure to emphasize these sentiments. The contrast between the emotionally moving black marble of the Vietnam memorial and the belligerent marble of the Air Force memorial is striking and to the detriment of the USAF.
this is the worst part. brand-naming a stadium is bad. brand-naming a monument is obscene. the monument itself doesn't seem bad; in the pictures i looked at it catches light both artificial and natural very well. i certainly hope they keep the artificial light to a minimum because it interacts with the sky very well.
Yeah, well the Air Force has always had an inferiority complex to the Marine Corps Memorial and it was a case of putting up anything anywhere near Rosslyn. That it can be seen across the Potomac was a plus...
Don't know why this got bumped... but I'd never seen that memorial. The truth is, to me it looks like it should have been a NASA memorial to the Challenger or something. The near-vertical arcs look more like a shuttle takeoff path than an Air Force jet. From some angles it looks like Wolverine is clawing his way from underground.
Haven't been to see it yet in person, but you did make me google it to see what it was all about- all the pics only seem to concentrate on this element of it.
it does have a certain, well... symmetry. but they're going to have a helluva time making the lego version we're all waiting for.
Despite having been to DC several times, I've never seen it in person. From the photographs, I quite like it as a piece of modern art (at least the three vertical elements.) The corporate sponsorship? Not so much.
In person the Memorial is so unremarkable that it's just sad (I was in the Air Force). So much more fun/interesting stuff to do than go see this memorial. El-capitano's pic is a good enough proxy.