Design of New US Memorial in Iceland

The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), an independent agency of the United States Government (www.ABMC.gov), is conducting a three-stage competition to select a design team for a new United States memorial in Iceland. The current programmed cost for this monument is approximately $1M.

The competition is open to teams of architects, landscape architects and artists, headed by an architect licensed in a United States state or jurisdiction.

Stage 1 is registration for the competition and the submission of qualifications. This submission is an 8-1/2"x 11" portfolio, not to exceed fifty pages, and digital media with the same information. The portfolio must include the identity of the lead professionals/designers and a biography of the lead architect and the lead landscape architect and any other key member of the team. Design philosophy and examples of work that demonstrate the team's ability to create places of commemoration and reflection are also required. A review committee will select multiple teams to proceed to Stage 2, based on evaluations of the portfolios. The Stage 1 submissions are due on June 1, 2015. The criteria used to make the selections for Stage 2 will include: professional qualifications, specialized experience, capacity to accomplish the work, past performance, knowledge of Icelandic construction and culture and capacity to inspect ongoing work during construction.

Stage 2 will be the submission of enhanced portfolios and a presentation to a selection jury. ABMC will select teams for Stage 2 by July 1, 2015 and presentations/interviews will take place between July 1 and July 17.

Stage 3 is the development of a concept design and a presentation to a jury. A small stipend is being considered to cover a portion of the design costs in this stage. ABMC will invite several teams to compete in Stage 3 by August 3, 2015. The concepts must be received by October 12, 2015.

This specific announcement covers stages 1 & 2. A separate announcement will be used to solicit concept designs and presentations from selected teams in Stage 3 and award the design competition stipend.

ABMC will use Harry G Robinson III, FAIA, as its professional advisor for the competition. ABMC has a contract with Mr. Robinson to serve as its Executive Architect.