June 9, 2010
Dear Coalition Friends,
An independent group of professors, historians, and designers has launched a national ideas competition for the Washington Monument grounds. See the press release below. We look forward to seeing what kind of creative ideas come from young people as well as professionals -- and everyone else, too.
PLEASE POST WIDELY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ellen Goldstein: 202-253-5694
or Adele Ashkar: 202-994-0047
National Ideas Competition for the Washington Monument Grounds www.wamocompetition.org
Do You – or Your Students or Colleagues – Have An Idea For the Washington Monument Grounds?
Seeking the public’s creative input to shape history at the heart of the National Mall
June 8, 2010 Washington, DC — An independent group of university professors, architects and designers, and civic leaders, partnering with The George Washington University, have come together to launch a National Ideas Competition for the Washington Monument Grounds (WAMO) in fall 2010. They hope that the American public, especially students, teachers, professors, and parents, will see this educational effort as an opportunity to tap their creativity and engage with history and civics on these historic grounds.
According to Competition Steering Committee Chair James Clark, AIA, President-Elect of the Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects, excitement is being generated for the competition, and has attracted a distinguished panel of jurors. “We are delighted to have enthusiastic support from prestigious organizations like George Washington University and expect to receive hundreds of exciting ideas from students, professionals, and others who have a profound interest in the future of this symbolic focal point in our nation’s capital.”
The idea for this Competition came out of a realization that while the Washington Monument continues as the defining feature of the Washington, D.C. skyline -- and the centerpiece of the nation’s most symbolic public open space -- at ground level its vast open space remains unfinished. While recent work on this cultural landscape by the Olin Studio has brought an unprecedented level of elegance, security and accessibility to the space, Competition leaders ask: “How can this landscape continue to tell our uniquely American story into the future?”
The Competition also hopes to heighten public interest in George Washington, the Revolution and other chapters in the larger American story, as well as the role of the Washington Monument grounds in the civic life of our democracy.
A panel of distinguished American designers and planners at the beginning of the last century recommended a vision for the entire Mall, including these grounds that they regarded as the “gem of the Mall system.” Their plans were never fully realized. The Competition is not intended to develop plans for the Monument grounds but rather to invite the public to provide creative ideas as to how the area might be shaped to better suit the needs of the American people in the 21st Century.
This summer the first “webinar” on the history of the Washington Monument grounds within the larger history of the National Mall will be available on the WAMO website. It will educate and help to stimulate ideas by competition entrants.
Registration ends October 31, 2010 and the first stage of the Competition will close in December 2010. The final stage concludes by the end of summer 2011 with a public exhibit of winning ideas in Washington D.C. For more information, including how to register and participate in the Competition, please go to our website: www.wamocompetition.org
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