National Park Service Unveils Big Competition for the Future of DC's Memorials

The National Park Service is looking to totally re-imagine how memorials in D.C. will look in the future.

The NPS and the National Capital Planning Commission is launching the "Memorials of the Future" project in collaboration with the Van Alen Institute. The competition, which the White House announced last October, aims to "re-imagine Washington, D.C.’s traditional approach to permanent commemoration" and challenges entrants to figure out how future memorials can be "woven into the capital’s urban public spaces, largely located off the National Mall," according to a statement.

"Memorials enshrine what we as a society want to remember. But the places, people and stories that we choose to memorialize and the audiences who encounter them are constantly changing," the statement reads. "Memorials for the Future challenges entrants to imagine the possible future of memorials: How can they look forward and not only back? How can we commemorate in more adaptive, interactive and ephemeral ways?"

The New York-based Van Alen Institute, a design non-profit, will lead the development in the final stages of the project. A jury will select three finalists teams, who will each get $15,000 to continue research and design, and these finalists will be announced this summer with the winner unveiled in the fall.

"The results will inform NPS, NCPC and their partners on future memorial design and policy opportunities," the statement reads.

The Van Alen Institute will start accepting requests today, and the deadline is May 4. You can submit a design here: http://future.ncpc.gov

Photo: nasa.gov.