John Ronan Architects will design the Fallen Journalists Memorial on the National Mall in Washington

The planning team behind the new Fallen Journalists Memorial in Washington, D.C., has announced its selection of John Ronan Architects to design the foundation’s namesake memorialization space inside the National Mall.

The 25-year-old Chicago-based studio beat out other proposals from Höweler + Yoon, NADAAA, and MOS Architects & Hood Design Studio that were included in the four-entry shortlist that was presented in January. Paul Goldberger, Milton S.F. Curry, Blair Kamin, and Mia Lehrer were among the ten-member Selection Committee, which concluded based on Ronan's demonstrated sensibility to transparency and overall clarity of the concept.

“Following a rigorous design team selection process, John Ronan Architects was selected because of his sound grasp of our vision for the memorial, as well as his creativity and attention to detail,” David Dreier, Chairman of the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation, said at the announcement. “Equally important, we were inspired by his unique and compelling design concept, which calls for the use of transparent materials to convey themes of clarity and light to reinforce the importance of the work of journalists, photojournalists, and a free press.”