Design accepted for World War I Memorial

A 25-year-old Chicago architect on Tuesday won an worldwide design competition for a World War I memorial planned near the White House.

“The Weight Of Sacrifice” by Joe Weishaar and Sabin Howard as the lead designer was chosen as the victor of the World War I memorial design competition.

The memorial features relieaf sculpture, quotations from soldiers and a freestanding sculpture. More than 4.7 million Americans served in the First World War, according to the Congressional Research Service, including more than 116,000 who died during the war from various causes.

The raised figurative walls visually express a narrative of the sacrificial cost of war, while also supporting a literal manifestation of freedoms enjoyed in this country: the open park space above. So far, roughly $1 million has been raised for the completion of the memorial, which would take over 1.8 acres of Pershing Park, named after famed General John J. Charles Birnbaum, of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, is among those leading the call for the M. Paul Friedberg-designed park to be protected or at least incorporated into the new design.

As it stands, World War I is not recognized on the National Mall alongside World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War – an omission that has galled historians and descendants of veterans.

The memorial joins a number of projects that will reshape public space in Washington, D.C., including the National Museum of African American History and Culture by David Adjaye and a massive revamp of the Smithsonian by Bjarke Ingels Group.

A portion of the winning WWI Memorial design. “Instead, they opted for conflict over collaboration”.

Commissioners said contestants submitted their final designs in December 2015 after consulting with representatives from the Centennial Commission, the National Parks Service, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission.

Johnsen Schmaling Architects of Milwaukee was one of five finalists selected from more than 350 entrants seeking to design a memorial as an overlay for Pershing Park.