Frank Gehry design revealed for National Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission met today to unveil the preferred design concept created by Frank O. Gehry for the National Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Gehry’s design calls for a series of 80-foot-tall columns and "tapestries" of stainless steel mesh as centrepieces of a national memorial to former US president and World War II general Dwight D. Eisenhower. It will be built on a four-acre site at the base of Capitol Hill at Maryland and Independence avenues between Fourth and Sixth streets SW.
"The approach to the design was to create a cohesive and important civic space and urban monument in the heart of the capital region that provides a quiet and contemplative space for learning about the vast accomplishments of President Eisenhower," said Gehry. "He was a masterful but modest leader. My aim was to capture that spirit with the design."
The Los Angeles-based architect, who began the design process in January, had submitted three designs to the commission and all the plans included a landscaped plaza and maintained the views to and from the US Capitol and the historic Maryland Avenue corridor.
The design must be approved by several government agencies and the commission overseeing the memorial must raise millions toward the estimated $100 million cost. A statement from the commission said the monument is slated for completion in 2015.
In March 2009, the 12-member bipartisan commission chose Frank Gehry Partners, LLP from the group of 44 architectural firms that competed to design the memorial. Gehry has also designed the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park in Chicago, and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, Canada. In addition to Gehry's firm, the design team comprises landscape architects EDAW, Inc., lighting designers L’Observatoire International, and information designers ESI Design.
Jennifer Potash
News Editor
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