Arkansas-based architect Marlon Blackwell has been selected to design a memorial in Washington DC that will be dedicated to military and civilians who served in counter-terrorism efforts.
Blackwell was selected to design the Global War on Terrorism Memorial, which will sit adjacent to architect Maya Lin's Vietnam War Memorial and the in-progress Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial.
The process for the selection was unusual, as more than 150 architects and designers were contacted and asked to submit qualifications, but the shortlist and eventually the finalist, Blackwell, were chosen based on an interview process instead of visual designs.
Architect Marlon Blackwell has been commissioned to create a memorial for the Global War on Terror Memorial Foundation. Photo by Mark Jackson "We had to convince them that we could tell a story here that would create opportunities to unite people, to honour, to empower to heal," Blackwell told Dezeen.
"To me, I don't think we're designing a thing, we're designing a place."
Blackwell, who has family ties to the military, said that the fact that the project was privately funded ? via the The Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation ? and the "non-partisan" nature of the institution encouraged him to put himself forward.
He wasn't able to give details on the design, but he said that there was definitely going to be a mix of the analogue and the digital.
An open-ended war memorial
According to the architec...