flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Gehry's Eisenhower Memorial plan gets OK from D.C. planning commission

Cultural Facilities

Gehry's Eisenhower Memorial plan gets OK from D.C. planning commission

Despite the thumbs up, disputes over costs may keep the $142 million work from ever being built.


By Lacey Johnson, Reuters | July 9, 2015
Gehry's Eisenhower Memorial plan gets OK from D.C. planning commission

Rendering: Gehry Partners, LLP

The design for the long-delayed Eisenhower Memorial by famed architect Frank Gehry received final approval from a Washington planning commission on Thursday, though disputes over costs may keep the $142 million work from ever being built.

Planned for years for a spot just off the National Mall, a short walk from the U.S. Capitol, the memorial has been plagued by delays and cost overruns. Congress has cut off construction funds for the project for three years in a row.

The National Capital Planning Commission passed the design by a 10-1 vote on Thursday.

"We think it's good urban design. It's good for the entire Southwest neighborhood," said Mina Wright, a commission member representing the General Services Administration's Office of Planning and Design Quality, who voted in favor of the design.

Despite the vote, funding for the project remains uncertain and faces deep congressional skepticism. Congress has already spent at least $65 million on the memorial. A report by the House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee last year described it as a "Five-Star Folly".

The design includes a pair of 80-foot (24-meter) columns and a 447-foot (136-meter) steel mesh tapestry depicting the Kansas plains where the 34th U.S. president and World War Two Allied commander grew up. It is expected to take up 4 acres (1.62 hectares).

Gehry's use of tapestries instead of traditional statuary has drawn the most criticism, especially from Congress and the Eisenhower family. The design approved by the panel scrapped two of the original steel tapestries but kept two supporting columns.

"Congress doesn't want this design. The public doesn't want this design," said Justin Shubow, president of the National Civic Art Society, an outspoken critic of the memorial project.

Congress authorized the memorial in 1999 and set a completion date of 2007.

Gehry, 86, is perhaps best known for the dramatic Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.

(Reporting by Lacey Johnson; Editing by Edward McAllister and Eric Walsh)

Related Stories

| Sep 3, 2014

New designation launched to streamline LEED review process

The LEED Proven Provider designation is designed to minimize the need for additional work during the project review process.

| Sep 2, 2014

Ranked: Top green building sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]

AECOM, Gensler, and Turner top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest green design and construction firms. 

| Aug 29, 2014

The new College Football Hall of Fame opens in Atlanta

Adjacent to the Georgia World Congress Center and Centennial Olympic Park, the three-story, 94,250-sf attraction is designed to celebrate the traditions of college football. 

| Aug 29, 2014

Phifer and Partners to design 'transparent' Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw

The design includes a stage that opens onto the city's Parade Square, so anyone passing by will be able to see performances. 

| Aug 25, 2014

Ranked: Top cultural facility sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]

Arup, Gensler, and Turner head BD+C's rankings of design and construction firms with the most revenue from cultural facility projects, as reported in the 2014 Giants 300 Report.

| Aug 25, 2014

Photographer creates time-lapse video of 1 WTC using 30,000 photos

Choosing from 30,000 photos he took from the day construction began in 2006 to the day when construction was finished in 2012, Brooklyn-based photographer Benjamin Rosamund compressed 1,100 photos to create the two-minute video.

| Aug 14, 2014

Museum of Mayan Culture draws inspiration from temple design [slideshow]

The Museo Maya de América in Guatemala City will be the world’s largest museum of Mayan history and culture, at 60,000 sf. 

| Aug 12, 2014

Design firms invited to submit qualifications for St. Petersburg, Fla., waterfront project

The city of St. Petersburg, Fla., invites firms to submit their ideas for a new and improved pier for Florida's fifth largest city.

| Aug 5, 2014

Shigeru Ban-designed Aspen Art Museum will open doors to public this week

After 18 month of planning and construction, the museum will open its new Shigeru Ban-designed facility to the public on August 9.

| Aug 4, 2014

Jean Nouvel commissioned to design Islam Museum next to WTC

El-Gamal's plans has been dubbed controversial by many industry professionals.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category



Museums

UT Dallas opens Morphosis-designed Crow Museum of Asian Art

In Richardson, Tex., the University of Texas at Dallas has opened a second location for the Crow Museum of Asian Art—the first of multiple buildings that will be part of a 12-acre cultural district. When completed, the arts and performance complex, called the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum, will include two museums, a performance hall and music building, a grand plaza, and a dedicated parking structure on the Richardson campus.


halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021