TOM'S ARCHITECTURE BLOG: Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial

Here's the latest entry in Tom's Architecture blog. This time it features: Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial

I have never been a fan of Frank Ghery’s work.  Once again, he has elicited my total shock and abject horror by successfully managing to win yet another commission of a monumental project:  designer/architect of the proposed Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial.  

As with his proposed design for the addition to the Corcoran Museum (not constructed), his concept for the memorial is grossly out of scale, demonstrates the inability to make proper material selections, exhibits a tremendous waste of resources, is unsympathetic to the environment (The proposed site is on Independence Avenue, directly across from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum), lacks contexturalism, and is not a welcomed addition to the urban fabric.  

The images below have been taken from the internet.  Note how small the scaled figures (which represent people in the model) are in comparison to the huge piers.  Although the Department of Transportation Building by Edward Durell Stone is no prize, it does not warrant screening in this manner.