LONDON — International architecture, design and planning firm Gensler today, unveiled its design for the Museum of Bond Vehicles and Espionage, which is slated to open in Momence, IL, in 2012, on the 50th anniversary of the first James Bond movie, Dr. No.
The 14,000 square foot museum will house the exclusive collection of the Ian Fleming Foundation, including the world’s largest collection of vehicles used in Bond films. A partnership between the Ian Fleming Foundation, the Kankakee County Museum and the City of Momence, this Gensler-designed museum will also feature cultural artefacts of espionage with exhibits exploring contemporary culture’s impact on the Bond films as well as Bond’s influence on popular culture.
With projections of 20,000 visitors per year, the museum hopes to revitalize Momence, Illinois, a historic border town located 50 miles south of Chicago.
The project itself is a bit of a double agent, says Gensler Design
Director Brian Vitale. At face value, we¹ve designed a showcase for a world-class collection of James Bond vehicles and the culture that surrounds them. But its real mission is to become a powerful catalyst for the revitalization of a once-vibrant city.
With a limited budget, Gensler focused on a single bold design move to make a statement against a simple backdrop. The result is the 007 window (named so because the windows angled jamb resembles a 7), located at the buildings prominent corner. The window does quadruple-duty, providing exhibit display space, signage, a day lit interior, and an iconic backdrop for photographs. The remainder of the building is clad in black horizontal corrugated metal. It’s a mysterious silhouette that reveals very little of the museum’s content, much like James Bond himself, said Vitale.
Get more info at the Museum Of Bond Vehicles Facebook Page
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Further speaking perhaps to ongoing interest in Museums related to the fictional James Bond character and related exhibit pieces, your readers may also be interested in knowing that the National Watch & Clock Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania, is CURRENTLY hosting a first-of-its-kind display of James Bond watches.
Centerpiece to this is the original, literary “most famous James Bond watch in the world,” the personal Rolex wristwatch owned by 007-creator Ian Fleming. This is the only Rolex he is known to have owned, worn in his life, a reference 1016 Explorer model, produced during the fourth quarter of 1960. It is on loan to our “Bond Watches, James Bond Watches” exhibit, which runs through April 30, 2011, by special arrangement with family heirs.
The watch has only been shown one other time previously in its history.
Additionally, beyond the representation of all Fleming-book- and Eon Productions-film-related Bond timekeepers, “Bond Watches, James Bond Watches” has on display the original manuscripts, papers, and author’s bound copies of several James Bond books by Ian Fleming. This are by special arrangment with the Lilly Library, Indiana University at Bloomington. Rather unprecedented to begin with, this marks the first time that the watch and the manuscript for the book which describes it on Bond’s wrist, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” have been together since the author passed away in 1964.
Thanks for allowing us to provide this additional information here.
If you plan to be in the area of the National Watch & Clock Museum, we’d be happy to have you tour this grand exhibit! There’s also the don’t-miss “James Bond Enthusiasts Weekend” slated for September 10, 2010.
Respectfully submitted,
Dell Deaton, Guest Curator
“Bond Watches, James Bond Watches”
National Watch & Clock Museum
June 18, 2010 – April 30, 2011
Author-creator
JamesBondWatches.com