An AP story today leads with the following:

A federal commission charged with building a national memorial honoring President Dwight D. Eisenhower voted unanimously Wednesday to approve architect Frank Gehry’s design for a park near the National Mall, allowing the project to move forward over the objections of Eisenhower’s family.

Apparently Gehry was selected back in 2009 and the Eisenhower family just never liked his design. One of the committee said it well, “The family deserves to be heard, but they do not deserve to be obeyed”.

Gehry was selected by winning a design competition that included 44 entries. The design concept for the $112M US project is shown in the photo below.

This will be the first Mall memorial site that uses a phone app to intensify the experience for visitors. Wikipedia describes it below:

View historical footage, speeches, and events in the context of the physical memorial through augmented reality, akin to a video game. The off-site component is web-based and provides further information on and interpretation of Eisenhower’s legacy, including links to the six legacy organizations and information about their programs. Both components are flexible enough to be updated as the Eisenhower legacy continues to be interpreted.

We should all consider this type of component for projects we work on. Whether it’s just better info on Google Maps or a dedicated phone app, the future belongs to those that think this way. I think Ike would love it.