Nat'l Mall Competition Calls for ''Beautiful, Sustainable, Useful Redesign''

Constitution Gardens is bounded on the west by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and on the south by the Reflecting Pool. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

On Sept. 8, 2011, the Trust for the National Mall launched a National Mall Design Competition. The 36-week contest challenges architects and landscape architects to devise creative, sustainable solutions to the Mall's restoration needs. The competition focuses on Union Square, the Washington Monument Grounds at Sylvan Theater and the Constitution Gardens.

Union Square is on the east end of the National Mall at the base of the U.S. Capitol Building, site of the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The competition manager is architect Donald Stastny, FAIA, FAICP, FCIP, who has managed over 50 national and international design competitions.

The competition will be 36 weeks long and consist of three stages:

Stage I: Lead landscape architects and lead architects will submit portfolios, design philosophy and project preference for review. The Jury will select 8 to 10 lead designer teams per location to be invited to participate in Stage II.

Stage II: The designers will form complete design teams capable of executing the project. (Team submittals are due Dec. 1st.)

After these teams are evaluated and interviewed, the Jury will select 4 to 5 finalists for each location to move on to Stage III.

Stage III: The finalists will create a design concept (due March 30th) for their assigned location. The design teams will have 10 weeks to complete their final design concepts. The Jury will select one winning design for each area.

The Sylvan Theater, a wooden stage and natural amphitheater surrounded by a grove of trees, is southeast of the Washington Monument. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The public will have the opportunity to view the finalist's designs prior to the jury's final selection. The designs will be on public display for several weeks in April 2012. The winning design teams will be announced in May 2012, at which time ''implementation of and fundraising'' for the winning designs will begin.

For further competition details, visit www.nationalmalldesign.org.