A Tribute to Eisenhower
Night view of the memorial tapestry from Independence Avenue, with Gehry’s sketch of the Normandy cliffs.
Explaining the contributions of a World War II hero and later President of the United States on a very modest site on Independence Avenue just off the Washington Mall is tantamount to asking an author to describe the life of this person in no more than one paragraph. But on September 17th, after a long and bumpy journey, lasting almost 20 years and navigating a warren of the DC approval processes and public scrutiny, the Eisenhower Memorial finally was dedicated and opened to the public. Designed by Frank Gehry, it has received mixed reviews, the majority being more positive. But most have pointed out that the memorial is more impressive at night than in full daylight. This is due primarily to the illumination of an almost block-long metallic tapestry—featuring a sketch by Gehry, which depicts his interpretation of the cliffs of the Normandy coastline where the Americans landed on D-Day. The Competition
In 2008, the groundwork was laid for the staging of a design competition. Although one of the Commission members suggested that Frank Gehry be given the commission outright to furnish a design, cooler heads prevailed, and an invited competition* with a shortlisting process resulted in entries from four finalists:
• Gehry Partners, Santa Monica, California
• Rogers Marvel Architects PLLC, New York, NY
• Krueck & Sexton, Chicago, Illinois
• PWP Landscape Architects, Berkeley, California
Contrary to the other presenters, Gehry arrived with three proposals, not just one. This was not regarded by the jury as a rules violation, and the commission to execute the design of the memorial went to Gehry. Gehry’s original proposal, as seen during a development phase after winning the competition, featured six columns bordering on Independence Avenue. It did recognize the difficulty of this rather cramped site to make such an important statement. Thus, the approach became an open area, leaving the tapestry as a backdrop to the blocks providing information about Eisenhower’s life. The only remaining columns openly visible from Independence Avenue were one at each end of the site. 
 Early 2010 development design after the close of the competition. Photos: courtesy ©Gehry Partners Dropping the idea of the majority of those columns on Independence Avenue actually became rather unimportant, as the others are now partially hidden and vaguely visible as part of the tapestry. The final use of columns, although having no support function, was on the rear side of the tapestry, facing the 1961 Department of Education building.** The relatively narrow space between the memorial and the Department of Education building was treated rather mundanely, with almost no vegetation to soften the impact of lots of stone.
But the more important features of this memorial, information-wise, were the inscriptions placed throughout the site, briefs narratives about Ike’s life, and the impressive visual interpretations of Eisenhower by sculptor, Sergey Eylanbekov. Conclusion
Capturing the multifaceted career of Dwight Eisenhower, from army general to university president and U.S. president, is no easy task. You might say he was an administrator at different levels; with his strengths and weaknesses in all of those pursuits. What he also can be remembered for is his talent for delegating tasks to experts with real expertise in the decision-making processes, a talent so lacking in our present day administration. Gehry may only have managed to suggest this on the surface: a total image reflecting such a talent cannot be easily projected solely with the landing in Normandy. But one certain strength of this memorial is its 24-hour access, where visitors can read about Ike’s most important accomplishments during an important period in our history. *Here it should be noted that Ed Feiner, head of the GSA’s Excellence in Architecture program, was a strong voice for an open competition, similar to that which resulted in the Vietnam Memorial. An article on the design competition was published in COMPETITIONS, Vol. 20, #4 (2010). See:
**This use of columns was reportedly a concession made by Gehry to obtain approval from Commission member, David Eisenhower. 
 
Current photos: ©Paul Spreiregen To access the original COMPETITIONS article about the competition, go to:
https://competitions.org/2011/02/new-article/?preview_id=17063&preview_nonce=269fd837f9&_thumbnail_id=17062&preview=true |
Since the recent realization of SMAR Architecture’s winning design we have now received images from a professional photo shoot. As an open competition for one of the more important projects in Europe at the time, we feel that full documentation of the process from start to finish was an important page in the history of architecture in the early 21st century. Documentation by us during the 2017 competition, with images from all finalists from the 144 entries is available at: https://competitions.org/2020/11/science-island-design-competition-finalists/ 
See more images… Preparation and Organization of Design Competitions 
[phase 1] Benjamin Hossbach / Christian Lehmhaus / Christine Eichelmann
210 × 230 mm, 192 pp.
over 600 images
softcover
ISBN 978-3-86922-316-2 (English)
ISBN 978-3-86922-240-0 (German)
Dom Publishers
€48 in EU (For price abroad, see below)
Founded in 1998 in Berlin, Phase 1 has been a principal player in the organization and facilitation of design competitions, not only in Germany, but abroad as well. The accomplishments of the firm have been well documented in three volumes—The Architecture of Competitions—beginning in 2i006. Whereas these books mainly focused on the results of the competitions they have administered, the present work, Fundamentals of Competition Management, takes one from the very beginnings of the competition process to its conclusion. The authors envisioned the publication as “three three books in one: one „blue book“ with example projects, one „yellow book“ with statements and the „white book“ with the actual guideline to competition management.”
Although there have been a number of handbooks covering the administration of designcompetitions a study covering the entire process in such detail is a welcome addition to the the literature in this field. As a contribution to this important democratic process that has yielded exceptional design for decades, this volume is not only valid for Europe, but a current overview of the process for those globally who wish to raise the level of design by virtue of a design competition. -Ed Foreign institutions wishing to obtain a copy of the book will recieve a discount to cover the cost of foreign shipping.
To obtain a copy for that offer, go to: [email protected] 
Completed IMEX by Tuck Hinton Architects. Photo courtesy Anecdote
It is not often that we look back to a competition that occurred three decades ago that was also covered in detail by COMPETITIONS (Vol. 4, #4; pp. 14-27). What made the Chattanooga IMAX different back in 1994 was that the article covering that competition was authored by Prof. Marleen Davis, then Dean of the University of Tennessee’s School of Architecture and a member of the jury panel. This was not just a short article, covering the high points of the competition with a few talking points about the winning design. This 4,000+ word document also described in detail the jury’s observations about all the finalists, including the honorable mentions—one of the few times we have gained such a detailed glimpse in this country from the inside of the competition process. Read more… 
Winning entry by Luca Poian Forms Image ©Filippo Bolognese images
Good design seldom happens in a vacuum. And so it was with an international competition for a new mosque in Preston, U.K. A mid-sized city of 95,000, and located in Lancashire near the west coast and almost equally distant from London and Glasgow, Preston has a storied past, going all the way back to the Romans and the late Middle Ages, where it was the site of significant battles. During the Industrial Revolution, the city prospered, and it was not until after World War II that Preston experienced the British version of the U.S. Rust Belt. In the meantime, the city has experienced an upswing in economic activity, with an unemployment rate of only 3%. Aside from the appearance of new industries, the city has benefitted from the establishment of Central Lancashire University (CLU), which employs over 3,000 faculty and staff, and, as such, is one of the regions major employers. Any new university requires new facilities, and one of the most outstanding examples of this at CLU was the new Student Centre and Plaza, a result of a 2016 RIBA-sponsored competition won by Hawkins/Brown
Read More
 Changdong Station winner – image ©D & B Partners Architects
Whereas international competitions for real projects have become a rarity lately, Korea is a welcome exception. Among the plethora of competition announcements we receive almost weekly, several have ended with foreign firms as winners. But the history of welcoming international participants does go back several years. One notable early example was the Incheon Airport competition, won by Fentress Bradburn Architects (1962-70).
Among the more recent successes of foreign firms was the Busan Opera House competition, won by Snøhetta (2013-) and the Sejong Museum Gardens competition, won by Office OU, Toronto (2016-2023).
Read more… 
1st Place: Zaha Hadid Architects – night view from river – Render by Negativ
Arriving to board a ferry boat or cruise ship used to be a rather mundane experience. If you had luggage, you might be able to drop it off upon boarding, assuming that the boarding operation was sophisticated enough. In any case, the arrival experience was nothing to look forward to. I recall boarding the SS United States for a trip to Europe in the late 1950s. Arriving at the pier in New York, the only thought any traveler had was to board that ocean liner as soon as possible, find one’s cabin, and start exploring. If you were in New York City and arriving early, a nearby restaurant or cafe would be your best bet while passing time before boarding. Read more… 
Helsinki Central Library, by ALA Architects (2012-2018)
The world has experienced a limited number of open competitions over the past three decades, but even with diminishing numbers, some stand out among projects in their categories that can’t be ignored for the high quality and degree of creativity they revealed. Included among those are several invited competitions that were extraordinary in their efforts to explore new avenues of institutional and museum design. Some might ask why the Vietnam Memorial is not mentioned here. Only included in our list are competitions that were covered by us, beginning in 1990 with COMPETITIONS magazine to the present day. As for what category a project under construction (Science Island), might belong to or fundraising still in progress (San Jose’s Urban Confluence or the Cold War Memorial competition, Wisconsin), we would classify the former as “built” and wait and see what happens with the latter—keeping our fingers crossed for a positive outcome. Read More… |
