[Updated] NEW DESIGN COMPETITION FOR THE NATIONAL WORLD WAR I MEMORIAL

NEW DESIGN COMPETITION FOR THE NATIONAL WORLD WAR I MEMORIAL

[UPDATED]

We wanted to let you know that our WW1 Memorial Design Competition has
drawn over 350 submissions. The competition jury has begun the process
of reviewing them.

We invite you to take a look at the submissions --
http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/first-round-submission

People can leave comments for the jurors, as well -- These comments will
be taken into account during the judging process, but will not be
visible to the public.

Our design competition finalists will be announced in mid-August. In
the meantime, we invite you to follow us on our social media -
https://www.facebook.com/ww1centennial
https://vimeo.com/worldwar1centennial

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WASHINGTON, DC: On May 21st, 2015, the U.S. World War I Centennial
Commission opened a design competition for a national World War I
Memorial in Washington, DC.

The proposed memorial site is Pershing Park, located on Pennsylvania
Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets NW.

The design competition manual is posted at the Commission’s website
www.worldwar1centennial.org

The competition is a two-stage design competition, and is an open,
international competition -- open to any professionals,
university-level students, or any other interested participants.

In the first stage, participants will submit narrative and graphic
descriptions of a design concept responding to the competition’s
design goals.

Three to five submissions from Stage I will be selected as finalists,
and those entries will be further refined and developed in Stage II.

Both stages of the competition will be evaluated by a jury of
individuals representing the worlds of government, the military, the
arts, and the citizens of Washington DC. The jurors were selected by
the Commission, and the Commission will have final decision on the
selected design, based on the recommendation of the jury.

The deadline for Stage I submissions is July 21, 2015, and Stage II
finalists will be announced August 4, 2015. The Commission expects
to announce its selected design in January 2016.

ABOUT WORLD WAR I

World War I was a terrible global conflict that was fought between
July 28, 1914, and November 11, 1918. Some fifty countries were
involved in fighting that spanned across Europe, Asia, and Africa, and
on the seas around the world. The United States entered the war on
April 6, 1917. During 18-months of American involvement, over four
million Americans served in the military, and two million of them
deployed overseas. 116,516 American service members died during the
war, and 204,00 more were wounded. The United States played a
significant role in the peace afterward, helping to shape the Treaty
of Versailles.

The war, and its aftermath, made enormous impact on the world - it
dramatically shifted national borders, it brought new technology to
industry and transportation, it changed attitudes toward women in the
workplace, and it created new movements in the arts. The war’s
effects are still with us, today, one hundred years later.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL WORLD WAR I MEMORIAL PROJECT

Since 1982, the United States has erected memorials in the nation’s
capital to the veterans of the three other great wars of the twentieth
century – Vietnam, Korea, and World War II. But there is no such
memorial in Washington to the veterans of World War I. The World War
I Centennial Commission believes the soldiers, sailors and marines of
that war deserve no less honor than that we have accorded their
successors. More American servicemen and women died during World War
I than in Korea and Vietnam combined; after our Civil War and World
War II, World War I was our country’s costliest war, in terms of
lives lost.

The new national World War I memorial will be located on Pennsylvania
Avenue, “America’s Main Street,” one block from the White House
and overlooking the Capitol. The memorial will serve as both a
dynamic urban space and, more importantly, as a fitting memorial to a
generation of veterans whose service and sacrifice were no less
valorous and heroic than that of the veterans of later wars – a
generation that were the fathers and mothers of “the greatest
generation.”

The twin goals of the World War I Centennial Commission are education
and commemoration – goals which go hand in hand. Over the next
four years of the centennial period (2014-1 the Commission will
educate the American people about a cataclysmic event in world history
that began “the American century,” a war that not only shaped the
face of the world for the next century to come, but that likewise
changed the face of American society. But education is inspired by
commemoration, and so the goal of this design competition is to
achieve a timeless memorial that will duly honor the service of
America’s World War I veterans, while inspiring Americans today
and tomorrow to better understand this profound event in our
nation’s history.

ABOUT THE U.S. WORLD WAR I CENTENNIAL COMMISSION

The U.S World War I Centennial Commission is the United States
government’s official entity for marking the centennial of World War
I. The Commission was created by Congress via the World War I
Centennial Commission Act on January 16, 2013, and will exist from now
until 2019.

The Commission was created specifically to:

- Plan and execute commemorative programs and projects.

- Encourage private organizations and State and local governments to
organize and participate in commemorative activities.

- Facilitate and coordinate commemorative activities throughout the
U.S.

- Establish clearinghouse for information about centennial events.

- Make commemoration recommendations to Congress and the President

In addition, the Commission has been authorized by Congress to create
the national World War I Memorial, in Pershing Park, a site near the
National Mall in Washington, DC. The memorial will honor the
courage, sacrifice, and devotion to country, of those who answered
the call to serve. The Memorial will be built using public
donations.

You can follow the Commission’s activities on the web:

At our website    http://worldwar1centennial.org

On our Facebook    https://www.facebook.com/ww1centennial

On our Instagram   WW1CC

And on our Twitter @WW1CC, and using hashtags #WW1CC and #WWI