Kengo Kuma has just been named as the lead architect for the forthcoming Global War on Terrorism Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Stating that his passion for the work stems from the loss of a personal friend on September 11th, Kuma said: "This Memorial will help the entire world contemplate the war of global significance that has followed that day of sorrow and the experiences of those who have participated in it."
The wartime experience of roughly 2.7 million American servicemembers who took part in the conflict since 2001 will indeed play a role, along with a consideration of the war’s impact on the broader society in whose name it was administered. According to a survey of 20,000 veterans and civilians from all 50 states performed by organizers at the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation, the following elements were preferred by a majority (80%) of respondents:
The Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation’s Board Chairman, Ted Skokos, said: "Our entire board of directors is thrilled to have an internationally renowned architect in Kengo Kuma leading the design of this Memorial. Over the course of a rigorous evaluation process, his professionalism, commitment to collaboration, and aesthetic vision convinced us to select him to lead our design team. We are excited to see what he and all the design stakeholders, including our Design Advisory Council, produce as this process accelerates."
Marlon Blackwell had previously been named as the Memorial's designer in July of 2023. Archinect reached out to Marlon Blackwell Architects and the Foundation; however, both declined to comment.
Blackwell hinted at his initial hesitation toward entering the design contest in a September 2023 interview with his alma mater, Auburn University, sharing, "Initially, I didn’t want to be involved. [...] We’d never done anything like that, and it’s a lot to wrap your head around. Growing up in a military family, I just wasn’t sure." Upon reaching the finalist round, the hesitation had vanished, he told the publication.
No timelines or further project details were made available with the Kuma announcement.
4 Comments
I doubt the memorial will also make space to honor the millions of innocent civilians killed by said service members. But I can dream.
Shameful that someone as revered as Kuma would take on this bullshit project. Not like he needs the work...
This is disappointing. I was excited to see Blackwell's work on the national mall.
A memorial like this isolates terrorism—whatever it is, and that may be a matter of point of view—and takes us out of the picture, blameless. How about a memorial to the failure of western powers to correct the instabilities that gave rise to terrorism, in fact their moves that helped create the conditions that gave rise to it? This one takes us back a century or more.
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