April 30, 2004

Four distinguished teams have been selected in the second round of competition for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Education Center. The underground building will complete the assemblage of structures on Washington, DC’s National Mall. The teams are:

Ann Beha Architects with Krent/Paffett/Carnety, Inc. (exhibit design); Sasaki Associates, Inc. (landscape design); Robert Silman Associates, Vanderwell Associates, and Froehling & Robertson, Inc (engineering); and Belstar, Inc. (construction management).

ARO with Michael van Valkenburgh Associates (landscape design), Inc.; Ralph Applebaum Associates (exhibit design), assisted by museum professional Ann F. Farrington; Guy Nordenson and Associates (structural engineering); and ARUP.

Michael Graves & Associates with Ralph Applebaum Associates; EDAW (landscape design); Lord Cultural Resources Planning & Management, Inc. (programming); URS Corporation (associate architect, engineer); and Fisher Marantz Stone, Inc. (lighting design).

Polshek Partnership with Ralph Applebaum Associates; Hargreaves Associates (landscape design); and Robert Silman Associates, PC and Vanderwell Engineers.

According to Jan E. Scruggs, President of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the teams are awaiting completion of site analysis before submitting final designs. The expectation is that the 20,000-square-foot facility of exhibition and support spaces will be dug into an elevated area halfway between the memorial and Constitution Gardens. In June, the jury, which includes Maya Lin, will choose the team that seems to work best together, says Scruggs, and "whose architectural excellence and brilliance will produce a work of art that best suits and enhances our nation’s Mall." He hopes to raise $25 million for the center’s construction within three years, break ground in 18 months, and complete the building in 2009.

Andrea Oppenheimer Dean

ADVERTISEMENT