New National World War I Memorial

The World War I Centennial Commission is pleased to invite entries to the design competition for a new national World War I memorial to be located on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC.

World War I is America’s forgotten war. Since 1982, we as a nation have 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. This is a lamentable omission, for the soldiers, sailors and marines of that war deserve no less honor than that we have accorded their successors. 116,516 American servicemen and women died during World War I, more than in Korea and Vietnam combined.

The twin goals of the World War I Centennial Commission are education and commemoration – goals that go hand in hand. Over the four years of the centennial period (2014-18) we will be educating 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.

The World War I Memorial Design Competition will be conducted in two stages. Stage I is an open call to submit design concepts for the memorial. The Jury will select three to five finalists. In Stage II, the Participants will evolve their design concepts for the memorial and present their designs to the Jury.

The World War I Centennial Commission has established the following Design Goals to inform competition participants and the general public of the aspirations for the World War I Memorial. The selected design will undergo further review by several regulatory and advisory bodies, including the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, the National Capital Planning Commission, and the District of Columbia State Historic Preservation Office.

- Pershing Park will be a national World War I Memorial, in contrast to today's park that only incidentally includes a small memorial to General Pershing and the American Expeditionary Forces under his command.

- The Memorial should honor the heroism and valor of the American servicemen and women who served, fought, and died in World War I, and should commemorate the tragedy and magnitude of loss suffered by the United States in the conflict.

- The Memorial should be timeless and meaningful for future generations, which can be achieved through appropriate interpretive elements including (but not limited to) figurative or other sculpture, traditional monument forms, and relevant quotations or other texts relating to American participation in World War I.

- The Memorial shall not list names of individual servicemen and women who served or were killed in World War I. The Memorial should balance a sense of enclosure and dignity with openness and visibility that is inviting to passersby.

- The Memorial should provide open views of the U.S. Capitol Building, respect the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site, the Pennsylvania Avenue viewshed, and be contextual with adjacent sites including Freedom Plaza, the Federal Triangle buildings, Sherman Park, the Treasury Building, the White House Grounds, and the historic Willard and Washington Hotels.

- The Memorial should recognize and relate to its urban context. Because of its location and its role as both a Memorial and a park, the Memorial should play a part in public and private activity patterns in the immediate area.

- Pershing Park currently includes a variety of existing elements, including the existing Pershing Memorial, which is a contributing feature of the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site. To generate a visionary design concept for the World War I Memorial, competitors should thoughtfully consider the range of appropriate enhancement strategies and transformation options—preservation, alteration, relocation, demolition—for addressing the Park's physical elements and integrating the existing Pershing Memorial elements and new commemorative features into the site.

- The Memorial should be designed primarily as open space; buildings or conditioned indoor space such as a ranger contact station, public restrooms, bookstore, or concession pavilion are strongly discouraged.

- The Memorial should be designed to be constructed at a cost no greater than $20-25 million, to be operationally sustainable, and to minimize maintenance requirements over time.

- The Memorial should adhere to principles of Universal Design and environmental sustainability.

Participants in Stage II will be required to have an office located in the United States and a license in architecture or landscape architecture issued by a licensing authority in the United States. Participants who are invited to participate in Stage II who do not hold such a license or U.S. office will be required to associate with a firm or individual who meets these requirements.

Competition Schedule
May 4-8, 2015 -- Public notice of upcoming competition
May 21, 2015 -- Competition kick-off and release of Competition Manual
July 21, 2015 -- Stage I Design Entries Due (electronic submission and entry fee paid)
July 22-24, 2015 -- Stage I Entry Conformance Review
July 28-30, 2015 -- Stage I Jury Session
August 4, 2015 -- Announcement of selected Stage II Participants/Concepts
August 12-13, 2015 -- Stage II Briefing
September 9-11, 2015 -- Stage II Mid-course Review 1
October 6-8, 2015 -- Stage II Mid-course Review 2
December 2, 2015 -- Stage II Design Submittal Due (Exhibit Boards, Project Narrative, Electronic file)
December 3-4, 2015 -- Stage II Submittal Conformance Review
December 5-20, 2015 -- Public Exhibition of Stage II Design Submittals
January 6-8, 2016 -- Stage II Jury Session (potential public presentations by Stage II Participants)
January 20, 2016 -- Announcement of Selected Design/Design Team

Futher Information: www.WorldWar1Centennial.org/design-competition