Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Competition Collection
1959-1960
Lawrence Halprin (1916-)
In the late 1950s the United States Congress established the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Commission, which organized an open design competition for a site in West Potomac Park, Washington, DC. The 1959 design competition was won by the firm of Pederson and Tilney; however, the design did not meet approval from the Federal Commission of Fine Arts. After several decades of official indecision, the memorial commission was given to Lawrence Halprin and the completed memorial was dedicated in 1997. This collection summarizes the 1959 competition’s purpose, registration procedures, conditions of participation, and the official program.
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