Gehry Revises National Eisenhower Memorial Design

Frank Gehry's design of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial south of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., has sparked criticisms from the Eisenhower family and architectural traditionalists. The complaints are less about its formal aspects than for figural depictions of the 34th president of the United States as a young boy in Kansas. Opponents have said these depictions—featured on metal tapestries as a backdrop for bas-relief sculptures—overshadow Eisenhower's later accomplishments. Gehry's latest revisions maintain the tapestries but incorporate large stone sculptures of Eisenhower's later military and presidential career in lieu of the bas-reliefs. If this redesign is well received, the National Planning Commission can give design approval as early as July.  jh