UAF Museum Expansion
UAF's museum underwent an extensive expansion in 2004, as part of the "lets build stuff since we're completely broke" phase that most Universities are constantly going through (Sure they say the money is coming from "seperate sources" who will "only pay for new buildings", but they never quite explain how they'll staff the new buiildings, pay for utilities, pay for new parking, etc). As usual, a crack team of stoned architecture students were allowed free reign with the drafting board, and the result looks like a couple of ships colliding with eachother. The construction crew got a shell up during the summer, leaving a big indoor playground for explorers sitting empty during much of the winter, when I was fortunate enough to explore the place. Not posessing Big Shiny Balls of Steel©, I have yet to actually UE the active museum itself and discover the joys of being arrested for suspected artifact theft, but I ran hrough most of the new expansion and checked out all the nooks and crannies that will soon be sealed away behind drywall and "staff only" doors.
The concept and proposed floor plan for the building. The expansion
is the part that looks like a shipwreck, and the original building is the
part that looks more normal.
Various stages of construction over the summer and winter.
Inside the Atrium area in the larger shipwreck, which starts on the
second floor and goes up three more floors.
Inside the smaller ship there's a stairway to nowhere, and a good view
of what's supposedly the "secret pot experiment" greenhouse, which may
explain the design.
Internal stuff, probably an elevator shaft and a hallway in the basement.
The old entrance to the museum, now indoors.
This is supposed to be a steam tunnel, but they somehow forgot to actually
attach it to the tunnel system. It goes up to and touches the wall of the
tunnels, but even though there are pipes in it and it was built at the
same time as the tunnel it leads to, there's no connection for man or pipe,
just a blank wall. I swear they feed the architects crack on this campus.