National Civic Art Society Reponds to AIA’s Letter to House Subcommittee Regarding the Eisenhower Memorial
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 18, 2013 CONTACT: [email protected] or (202) 670-1776 Robert Ivy, CEO of the American Institute of Architects, submitted a letter to the U.S. House Subcommittee on Public Lands asserting that the trade organization opposes the bill proposed by Rep. Rob Bishop to scrap Frank Gehry’s design for the Eisenhower Memorial. The letter … Read more
Eisenhower Memorial Design Receives Major Setback as National Capital Planning Commission Delays Review Again
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 15, 2013 CONTACT: [email protected] or (202) 670-1776 Eisenhower Memorial Design Receives Major Setback as National Capital Planning Commission Again Delays Review In another resounding setback for Frank Gehry’s Eisenhower Memorial, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) yet again has delayed its review of the proposed avant-garde design. The Eisenhower Memorial Commission … Read more
Ike Memorial Design Testing Shows Govt. Materials Experts Have Serious Concerns About Durability and Cleanliness
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 12, 2013 CONTACT: [email protected] or (202) 670-1776 [See also the press release on an earlier NCPC technical report here.] Eisenhower Memorial Design Testing Shows Government Materials Experts Have Serious Concerns About the Memorial’s Durability and Cleanliness The National Capital Planning Commission today released the latest technical report on the planned national … Read more
National Civic Art Society Decries Manipulated Images in Eisenhower Memorial Marketing Campaign
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 7, 2013 CONTACT: [email protected] or (202) 670-1776 National Civic Art Society Decries Manipulated Images in Eisenhower Memorial Marketing Campaign Desperate for public support for the highly unpopular design of the National Eisenhower Memorial, the Eisenhower Memorial Commission has launched a website called “Ike 2012” (http://www.iLikeIke2012.com). A mock presidential campaign, it pretends that the former president is … Read more
Epoch Times: Classical Design Could Save Eisenhower Memorial
Evan Mantyk writes in the Epoch Times: New Design Could Save Troubled Eisenhower Monument Modern design is stalled, classical vision is put forward December 23, 2012 NEW YORK—A planned monument to President Dwight Eisenhower in Washington, D.C., funded largely by taxpayer dollars, has been put off until next year amid controversy over the design. … Read more
Former U.S. Fine Arts Commissioner Looks Ahead to a Modest Statue Replacing Gehry’s Eisenhower Memorial
According to its self-description, “The [U.S.] Commission of Fine Arts, established in 1910 by Act of Congress, is charged with giving expert advice to the President, Congress and the heads of departments and agencies of the Federal and District of Columbia governments on matters of design and aesthetics, as they affect the Federal interest and … Read more
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Ike Memorial Is Postmodern and Meaningless
Paul Greenberg, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, writes: I Like Ike LITTLE ROCK — Ordinarily, the news that a long overdue memorial to an historic American leader has been put on hold still again would come as a disappointment. But if you’ve seen the innocuous design for an Eisenhower memorial in the nation’s … Read more
***Senator Inouye Questions How Ike Memorial Can Go Forward Over Eisenhower Family Opposition***
In major news, Senator Daniel Inouye, vice chairman of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission, has questioned whether Frank Gehry’s $142 million avant-garde design can go forward over opposition from the entire Eisenhower family. (Sen. Iouye’s full letter can be found here.) That opposition includes a recent letter by John S.D. Eisenhower, the former president’s son and … Read more
Eisenhower Memorial Materials Testing Suggests it Is Impermanent and a Trap for Debris
A study which has since disappeared from the National Capital Planning Commission’s website concludes that materials for the Dwight D. Eisenhower memorial may be impermanent and a trap for unsightly debris. The law requires that the Eisenhower Memorial be permanent and durable. The National Civic Art Society has republished the missing report at http://www.eisenhowermemorial.net/docs/NCPC_eisenhower_memorial_tapestry_testing.pdf [24 … Read more
Boston Globe’s Architecture Critic: Eisenhower Memorial Design Should Be Scrubbed
Robert Campbell, the Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic for the Boston Globe, wrote a hard-hitting article detailing numerous irredemiable flaws in Frank Gehry’s avant-garde design for the Eisenhower Memorial. It’s way too big. It’s too cartoony. Someone should scrub the design and start over. It’s the proposal for a memorial to Dwight Eisenhower, the World War … Read more
Stars and Stripes: Critics Continue Assault on Eisenhower Memorial Design
Stars and Stripes reports: Critics Continue Assault on Eisenhower Memorial Design By C.J. Lin Published: September 18, 2012 Critics of the planned memorial honoring former President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Washington D.C. continued their assault on the design by famed architect Frank Gehry on Tuesday, calling instead for a smaller memorial within an urban park … Read more
Stars and Stripes: Colonel Who Served Under Eisenhower Calls for New Memorial Competition
Writing for Stars and Stripes, Ralph Hauenstein, a retired army colonel who served under General Eisenhower in WWII as chief of the Intelligence Branch in the European theater, calls for scrapping Frank Gehry’s avant-garde design in favor of a new competition: Honoring Ike – a veteran’s perspective A memorial honoring President Dwight D. Eisenhower should reflect the values and qualities that … Read more
TriCities: Eisenhower Memorial Is a Monumental Headache
Marcia Mercer writes at TriCities: On Veterans Day 1954, President Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower and his family – brothers, wife, son and grandchildren – gathered in Abilene, Kan., for the dedication of the Eisenhower boyhood home and museum. Ike emphasized that the museum would focus on promoting good citizenship. Nothing else, he stressed, “could ever … Read more
Retired Air Force Colonel: Ike Memorial Fails Miserably
Writing for The Weekly Standard, a retired Air Force colonel calls the planned Eisenhower Memorial design a “monstrosity.” Ike—and Me Irving B. Schoenberg July 14, 2012 10:00 AM The memorial to Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed by architect Frank Gehry fails miserably to capture the essence of our 34th president. Bruce Cole’s article “Doing Right by Ike” … Read more
The Guardian: “A Memorial Is not a Biography in Stone”; Look to the Lincoln Memorial as a Model for Ike Memorial
The British Guardian newspaper published an excellent piece by Nicolaus Mills, a professor of American studies at Sarah Lawrence College and author of Winning the Peace: The Marshall Plan and America’s Coming of Age as a Superpower: Rethinking the Eisenhower Memorial: what is a fitting tribute to Ike? The Frank Gehry design has proved controversial, … Read more
Former Chairman of NEH: Gehry’s Ike Memorial Design Is “Unintelligible”
In The Weekly Standard, Bruce Cole, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, calls for scrapping Frank Gehry’s design for the Eisenhower Memorial: Doing Right by Ike Let’s give him the memorial he deserves. Bruce Cole July 2 – July 9, 2012, Vol. 17, No. 40 Only in Washington: After 12 years of study … Read more
National Review: Monstrosity by the Mall
National Review published a learned and insightful article by architecture critic Catesby Leigh: Monstrosity by the Mall June 21, 2012 12:00 A.M. By Catesby Leigh Back in 2004, the National Gallery of Art hosted a scholarly symposium to explore the wonders of its East Building, which earlier that year the American Institute of Architects had honored … Read more
Landscape Architecture Mag: Per Acre, Ike Memorial Might Be Most Expensive Landscape Memorial Ever
Landscape Architecture magazine compares the cost of the planned Eisenhower Memorial to previous memorials: MONUMENTAL PRICES June 20, 2012 by Daniel Jost Gehry Partners, LLP / Eisenhower Memorial Commission Among the many concerns being raised about Frank Gehry’s proposal for the Eisenhower Memorial is its price tag, currently estimated at $142 million. That’s not the most costly memorial ever built in … Read more
Human Events: Eisenhower Memorial a “Monumental Mistake”
Human Events published a comprehensive front page story on the Eisenhower Memorial controversy: MONUMENTAL MISTAKE View of the Eisenhower Memorial from the historic Maryland Avenue cartway. Image courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP, May 2012 By: Audrey Hudson 6/19/2012 02:30 PM It has been described as sentimental kitsch, a “McMonument” flanked by Soviet-style iron curtains with towering … Read more