From a brand marketing lens having been part of activations, arena/stadium events, conferences and festival designs since 2017 - not to mention deployments to the Middle East and Horn of Africa….. I think the GWOT memorial was a rushed and lazy job. Almost like the architecture and contractors slapped the designs together to satisfy a last minute request. I don’t blame the architects, because looking at Kengo’s work it’s always been an organic, nature inspired vibe to their builds. Which does work - but for other customers or end users, not millions of Americans impacted by the Global War on Terror.
The attention to detail, granular lifecycle planning, obsession and commitment you need to any of those listed designs above is borderline OCD. And that’s why any of the projects I have been part of succeeded so well. And not due to some grandiose budget or vibe, but because we cared. To me, ex-Army Captain with two deployments now in advertising, the renderings appear flat and incredibly lazy with just THREE pillars: “ the embrace”, “path of honor” and a “shallow reflecting pool”. A teenager with Chat could spit that out in 2 seconds. Doesn’t seem carefully curated since the time of COVID.
According to GWOT memorial this has been in data gathering since 2018 (with 20k Americans) giving inputs. If and when the architect was signed on to this contract then I can probably tell you that given their style of design, they would’ve made the questions incredibly easy and consistent with their design pattern to match what was already in the works.
I would be curious to see what those questions and options were for selection if the process began in 2018. Also, culture and taste changes immensely in almost 8-10 years, so I wonder what that feedback looked like. Just go back to what Instagram or Amazon looked like pre-COVID, you’ll notice how much taste and design alters over time. Also, America was still actively deployed and engaged in Afghanistan then. I would be curious to see the creative designs back then, and then most recently, what those final options looked like, pre/post Afghan withdrawal.
To me the design works as an open format, walkable amphitheater for community events, aka a park lol. Not a monument memorializing 7k dead that apparently has been in the works since 2018.
Today, we took the next step in our design process & unveiled the initial design concept to the world. Thanks to our Honorary Chair, President George W. Bush, for helping us mark this special milestone. Missed today's live event? Watch here:
bit.ly/4exaCTo @TheBushCenter