Maybe it was the 11 years it took to build, maybe it was because the design wasn’t edgy like Maya Lin’s, but this project hasn’t received the recognition it deserves.
Friedrich St. Florian designed a classically arranged monument with framed views of the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. The World War Two Memorial is located at the end of the long reflecting pool which runs up into the National Mall, and finally to the Capitol.
This $174 million project, finally completed in 2004, has a domed pavilion on either end of the circular fountain, representing the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The 4,000 gold stars on the west wall represent the 400,000 Americans killed in the war. Granite monuments laden with wreaths and bronze radiate from the fountain. Marvelous eagle monuments are contained inside the main entrance pavilions.
Exhibits can be shown further outside the granite monuments.
(wolfsavard– flickr/creative comons license)
(Kevin Burkett– flickr/creative commons license)
(Jeff Kubina– flickr/creative commons license)
(Jeff Kubina– flickr/creative commons license)
