A design for a memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., ostensibly paying tribute to fallen journalists, has been unveiled. Backed by The Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation, the project will cost $50 million, and the group has already raised $23 million privately. Barring any regulatory issues, the monument should be ready by 2028.
New monuments and memorials added to the National Mall and other federal properties in Washington, D.C., often undergo extensive regulatory reviews. The Fallen Journalists Memorial, however, appears to have received little scrutiny. Designed by John Ronan Architects, it is a garish glass stadium structure with a concrete floor, and the First Amendment etched into a glass slab in its center.
The architect claims the design evokes a classroom or press room. According to the Washingtonian magazine, the memorial consists of a “massive structure composed of numerous separate glass elements” that are “haphazard” in their placement, “indicating disconnected data points that come together to form a story.” The memorial will contain over 300 individual glass elements and, at a $50 million price tag, could have long-term upkeep costs given the construction materials.
“We started out with looking at ice cubes,” Ronan says of the design. “Journalism is about transparency, and the memorial needed to take up the themes of transparency and light.” […]
— Read More: thenationalpulse.com
