Design and Implementation of Scale Models for the Museo Nacional de Aviación: a University Project on Social Community Service

Abstract

This paper will address the valuable contribution that academia has made in the field of university community service. Specifically, we describe the project that allowed the School of Architecture to provide a solution to a specific need for the national museum sector. The Museo Nacional de Aviación (National Aviation Museum, MNA given its Spanish acronym) of the Salvadoran Air Force is a non-profit organization aiming at conserving the nation’s historical aviation heritage. The MNA has a vast collection of aircrafts and other items referring to the historical aviation records in El Salvador. However, it falls short in the museum catalog in terms of the number of pieces exhibited within its exhibition rooms, either because the items are too large to be displayed in a museum room, or due to the delicacy and age, reason why they cannot be exhibited to the public. Under this type of circumstances, Scale Modeling serves as support to provide visitors with a faithful representation of a real object, thus serving as a visual guide in 3D space. The following describes the design and implementation project of scale models of aircrafts, part of the catalog of the Museo Nacional de Aviación. A social outreach project that seeks to contribute to the diversity of the museum’s catalog from academia specifically from the School of Architecture. The project was implemented for four years and produced 27 scale models of aircrafts and 6 of military clothing, which have become part of the permanent exhibition at the MNA.

Revista Entorno No. 76 2023: 11-20