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After more than a year of silence regarding updates about an actual design, it was announced this week that Japanese architect Kengo Kuma will serve as lead designer of a memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., that will serve as an “inclusive, reverent, and apolitical place of honor for all who have served and sacrificed in the ongoing global war on terrorism, as well as the countless civilians, family members, and others who have supported them.”

In July 2023, the nonprofit Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation revealed Marlon Blackwell Architects had been selected by its board of directors from a shortlist comprising four other finalists—James Corner Field Operations, Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Designers, Butzer Architects and Urbanism (BAU), and Kuma’s Tokyo-based studio—to design a future memorial in an area located opposite the Lincoln Memorial and between Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial and OLIN’s Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial, which is expected to be dedicated next year. The commission marked the first memorial project for the Fayetteville, Arkansas–based firm. “Our firm will create a place of reverence, reflection, and restoration which fulfills the foundation’s vision and mission,” said Blackwell, who told RECORD at the time that he was nervous about taking on the project, having grown up in a military family.

Early this year, word circulated that the 2020 AIA Gold Medalist was no longer involved with the memorial. Speaking to RECORD this past June about an unrelated project, Blackwell confirmed that he and the foundation had parted ways but declined to speak further about the matter. (Press releases about Blackwell’s initial commission have since been removed from the foundation’s website.)

Blackwell’s previous involvement is not mentioned in the announcement of Kuma’s selection, which comes after what Global War on Terrorism Foundation president and CEO Michael “Rod” Rodríguez described as an “exhaustive search for a lead designer.”

“His heart for the project, understanding of the Memorial’s global significance, humble approach, and eagerness to work with other stakeholders in the design process is beyond question, said Rodríguez. “All who come to honor, heal, be empowered, and unite at the Memorial will engage with a powerful design that all who served and sacrificed in this war can be proud of.”

Kuma’s firm has been previously awarded other memorial projects, including the Singapore Founders’ Memorial in 2020.

“My passion for this project stems from my personal connection to 9/11 when I lost a dear friend,” Kuma said in a statement. “This memorial will help the entire world contemplate the war of global significance that has followed that day of sorrow and the experiences of those who have participated in it.”

Planned site of the memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Image courtesy Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation

The foundation, which was established in 2015, has also published a short Q&A with Kuma, whose extension of Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian in Lisbon was published in RECORD last month.

Kuma and his studio will work closely with the foundation’s larger design team, including the Board of Directors and the Design Advisory Council, which consists of more than 20 Gold Star family members, veterans, and active-duty service members, “to inspire, educate and advise on the importance of the Memorial.”

No timeline for the Global War on Terrorism Memorial’s design or construction process has been announced. Engagements between Kuma and his team and the Design Advisory Council are set to conclude later this month. Following that, a Board of Directors–approved concept will need to be rubber-stamped by federal authorities before the design development process can commence.