The city of Washington, famed the world over for its ability to turn a square into a parallelepiped still manages to get one thing right...all the time: the architecture. Washington is beautiful. Designer Pierre L'Enfant along with Thomas Jefferson and Washington himself laid out a grand plan which has only become more elegant and regal with time. From the Capitol building at the east end of the National Mall to the new United States Institute of Peace; building, height, architecture and suitability have always trumped fashion and whim. (It can't be an accident that the Institute of Peace is as far from the Congress as it's possible to get.) Every new monument and memorial is chosen with great care and deliberation. The city honors very few politicians or statesmen. Of the 44 Presidents thus far elected, only a handful have monuments in D.C. (Some like Woodrow Wilson have a bridge but it wasn't built for him. Reagan has an airport and a building. I have no idea why.) There is, only now, a monument planned for John Adams. Apparently a best-selling book and an HBO special can work wonders.
As you might expect, each attempt to memorialize a famous person or event carries its own challenges. The Vietnam Memorial, near the Lincoln Memorial, was highly controversial. Currently considered one of the most evocative structures in the entire Capital, Vietnam was roundly condemned when first proposed. Reagan's Secretary of State James Watt refused to issue the building permit. The newest major memorial, dedicated to America's casualties of World War II was lambasted in the Philadelphia Inquirer as "a design favored by Hitler and Mussolini". Everybody's a critic. Thankfully, because decisions are not made lightly or quickly, the National Capital Planning Commission gets it right almost all the time.
Monuments and statues are not erected in every available square inch of open space. The ridiculous, out-sized adoration of Ronald W. Reagan notwithstanding, time is allowed to pass before the Capital builders and planners reach for their pencils and trowels. (Geez, Reagan wasn't even dead in 1998 when Clinton authorized the airport name change.) This brings us to the planning for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial. Congress approved the formation of a committee to design a suitable tribute and decide where to put it. That happened in 1999. (I told you this stuff takes time.) The committee set to work and immediately got into trouble. (Well, almost immediately.) They chose a site in 2005 and hired Frank Gehry in 2009 to design the monument. If you have been to Chicago (Millennium Park), Bilbao, Spain (Guggenheim Museum) or Los Angeles (The Walt Disney Concert Hall) you have seen Gehry's incredible work. OK so maybe it looks like he gets a deal on curved aluminum sheeting but so what.
As you might expect, each attempt to memorialize a famous person or event carries its own challenges. The Vietnam Memorial, near the Lincoln Memorial, was highly controversial. Currently considered one of the most evocative structures in the entire Capital, Vietnam was roundly condemned when first proposed. Reagan's Secretary of State James Watt refused to issue the building permit. The newest major memorial, dedicated to America's casualties of World War II was lambasted in the Philadelphia Inquirer as "a design favored by Hitler and Mussolini". Everybody's a critic. Thankfully, because decisions are not made lightly or quickly, the National Capital Planning Commission gets it right almost all the time.
Monuments and statues are not erected in every available square inch of open space. The ridiculous, out-sized adoration of Ronald W. Reagan notwithstanding, time is allowed to pass before the Capital builders and planners reach for their pencils and trowels. (Geez, Reagan wasn't even dead in 1998 when Clinton authorized the airport name change.) This brings us to the planning for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial. Congress approved the formation of a committee to design a suitable tribute and decide where to put it. That happened in 1999. (I told you this stuff takes time.) The committee set to work and immediately got into trouble. (Well, almost immediately.) They chose a site in 2005 and hired Frank Gehry in 2009 to design the monument. If you have been to Chicago (Millennium Park), Bilbao, Spain (Guggenheim Museum) or Los Angeles (The Walt Disney Concert Hall) you have seen Gehry's incredible work. OK so maybe it looks like he gets a deal on curved aluminum sheeting but so what.
Anyway Gehry designs the monument. Planned for a four acre site south of the Mall on Maryland and Independence near the Air and Space Museum, the memorial was to feature a series of large columns and framed steel tapestries detailing Ike's many accomplishments. The focus is Eisenhower's boyhood home in Kansas. There will also be a statue of a farm boy sitting on a plank. The design was unanimously approved by the Eisenhower Memorial Commission and the Architects of the Capital. Then the plans were presented to the Eisenhower family. The response was predictable
Decedents, like the Eisenhowers, see their ancestor as this Homeric figure mounted on a white charger vanquishing the enemy. They care nothing for aesthetics or, God forbid, art. No doubt the Eisenhower offspring envisioned their grandfather as crushing the Nazis and Japanese with one hand while signing the National Highway Act with the other. Where was the statue of Ike with his five stars? Where was the 34th President negotiating the truce in Korea? Where was the President who used the National Guard to desegregate Alabama schools? They wanted Abe Lincoln and they got Opie..
There is a reason that family members aren't involved in the design of monuments...they are a monumental pain in the ass. Anyone who watched the survivors of 9-11 preen and insinuate themselves throughout every phase of the memorial planning knows why blood and art don't mix. (Seriously, I know this is N.Y. heresy but on what planet should surviving spouses and siblings pass judgement on public architecture?) What we need from the relatives is to show up at the ribbon-cutting, say something profound and go home.
David Eisenhower, who actually was on the Commission for a time, quit when his vision wasn't being realized. Susan Eisenhower has been blogging non-stop regarding her objections. Naturally, it's bad form to attack a world famous designer like Gehry on artistic grounds so she has instead criticized such things as the cost of building materials and specific references in the text to Hitler, Mao and Stalin. Mr. Gehry, who needs this like he needs a second Medal of Freedom, was sanguine and, in fact, made a few changes. This has mollified the heirs a bit however they are still unhappy with the overall plan. At this rate the memorial will be completed just in time for the D-Day Centennial in 2044. City architects are being patient but they appear close to suggesting a replacement tribute to Warren Harding. He may have been a crook but at least most of his relatives are dead.
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