Following a protracted battle with design revisions and family outcry over Frank Gehry, FAIA's proposal for a memorial to Dwight D. Eisenhower—now a joint venture between Gehry Partners and AECOM—the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) approved the final site and building plans [PDF] at a meeting held July 9. In the NCPC's recommendation, the commission confirmed that the final memorial design "satisfies NCPC’s adopted site selection design principles" and that the approval "will not have a significant impact on the human environment."
Concerns over the material used in a tapestry depicting landscape scenery of Abilene, Kan.—former president Eisenhower's hometown—were also addressed in the NCPC's decision. "The applicant has demonstrated that the tapestry material and welds will continue to meet the durability criteria enumerated in the Commemorative Works Act," Marcel Acosta, executive director of the NCPC, stated in the recommendation.
The proposal received preliminary approval from the NCPC in October 2014 before returning to the various other agencies governing the project. ARCHITECT Editor-in-Chief Ned Cramer, Assoc. AIA, summed up the impasse in his October editorial.
Read the full design submission below. For more images and information on the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial, visit ARCHITECT's Project Gallery.
Eisenhower Memorial Design Submission for Final Review, July 9, 2015
This post has been updated.
