NEW DESIGN COMPETITION FOR THE NATIONAL WORLD WAR ONE MEMORIAL
WASHINGTON,
DC: On May 21st, 2015, the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission will
open a design competition for a National World War I Memorial in
Washington, DC.
This
represents a rare opportunity for the public to witness - and
participate in - the creation of a National Memorial in the Nation's
Capital.
A formal kickoff press event will take place at the National Press Club in Washington DC on Thursday, May 21st, at 2:00 pm.
Details
for the design competition will be presented and discussed. The press
event will then be followed by a walking tour of the proposed memorial
site at nearby Pershing Park, located on Pennsylvania Avenue between
14th and 15th Streets NW.
The competition manual will be posted at the Commission’s website www.worldwar1centennial.org by May 21.
The
competition will be a two-stage design competition, and is an Open,
International competition -- open to any professionals, university-level
students, or any other interested participants.
In
the first stage, participants will submit narrative and graphic
descriptions of a design concept responding to the competition’s design
goals.
Three
to five submissions from Stage I will be selected as finalists, and
those entries will be further refined and developed in Stage II.
Both
stages of the competition will be evaluated by a jury of individuals
representing the worlds of government, the military, the arts, and the
citizens of Washington DC. The jurors were selected by the Commission,
and the Commission will have final decision on the selected design,
based on the recommendation of the jury.
The
deadline for Stage I submissions is July 21, 2015, and Stage II
finalists will be announced August 4, 2015. The Commission expects to
announce its selected design in January 2016.
Following
is a link to a presentation on the memorial site and objectives given
by Edwin Fountain, the Vice Chair of the World War I Centennial
Commission, in August 2014, which sets forth in broad outline the
Commission’s objectives in establishing a World War I memorial in the
nation’s capital:
http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/press-media/video-library.html
ABOUT WORLD WAR ONE
World
War I was a terrible global conflict that was fought between July 28,
1914, and November 11, 1918. Some fifty countries were involved in
fighting that spanned across Europe, Asia, and Africa, and on the seas
around the world. The United States entered the war on April 6, 1917.
During 18-months of American involvement, over four million Americans
served in the military, and two million of them deployed overseas.
116,516 American service members died during the war, and 204,00 more
were wounded. The United States played a significant role in the peace
afterward, helping to shape the Treaty of Versailles.
The
war, and its aftermath, made enormous impact on the world - it
dramatically shifted national borders, it brought new technology to
industry and transportation, it changed attitudes toward women in the
workplace, and it created new movements in the arts. The war’s effects
are still with us, today, one hundred years later.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL WORLD WAR ONE MEMORIAL PROJECT
Since
1982, the United States has erected memorials in the nation’s capital
to the veterans of the three other great wars of the twentieth century –
Vietnam, Korea, and World War II. But there is no such memorial in
Washington to the veterans of World War I. The World War I Centennial
Commission believes the soldiers, sailors and marines of that war
deserve no less honor than that we have accorded their successors. More
American servicemen and women died during World War I than in Korea and
Vietnam combined; after our Civil War and World War II, World War I was
our country’s costliest war, in terms of lives lost.
The
new national World War I memorial will be located on Pennsylvania
Avenue, “America’s Main Street,” one block from the White House and
overlooking the Capitol. The memorial will serve as both a dynamic
urban space and, more importantly, as a fitting memorial to a generation
of veterans whose service and sacrifice were no less valorous and
heroic than that of the veterans of later wars – a generation that were
the fathers and mothers of “the greatest generation.”
The
twin goals of the World War I Centennial Commission are education and
commemoration – goals which go hand in hand. Over the next four years
of the centennial period (2014-18) the Commission will educate the
American people about a cataclysmic event in world history that began
“the American century,” a war that not only shaped the face of the world
for the next century to come, but that likewise changed the face of
American society. But education is inspired by commemoration, and so
the goal of this design competition is to achieve a timeless memorial
that will duly honor the service of America’s World War I veterans,
while inspiring Americans today and tomorrow to better understand this
profound event in our nation’s history.
ABOUT THE U.S. WORLD WAR ONE CENTENNIAL COMMISSION
The
U.S World War One Centennial Commission is the United States
government’s official entity for marking the centennial of World War
One. The Commission was created by Congress via the World War One
Centennial Commission Act on January 16, 2013, and will exist from now
until 2019.
The Commission was created specifically to:
- Plan and execute commemorative programs and projects.
- Encourage private organizations and State and local governments to organize and participate in commemorative activities.
- Facilitate and coordinate commemorative activities throughout the U.S.
- Establish clearinghouse for information about centennial events.
- Make commemoration recommendations to Congress and the President
In addition, the Commission has been authorized by Congress to create the National World War One Memorial, in Pershing Park, a site near the National Mall in Washington, DC. The memorial will honor the courage, sacrifice, and devotion to country, of those who answered the call to serve. The Memorial will be built using public donations.
You can follow the Commission’s activities on the web:
At our website http://worldwar1centennial.org/
On our Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ww1centennial
On our Instagram WW1CC
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