national peace garden design competition

sponsored by national peace garden foundation
washington, d.c.
1989
citation of merit

This national competition was held to gather design ideas for a six-acre memorial garden designated by Congress to “honor the commitment of the people of the United States to world peace.” Hains Point, the chosen site, is located at the southern tip of East Potomac Park at the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers about two miles south of the Jefferson Memorial. In addition to the aesthetic challenges associated with the project, design challenges included an unstable site subject to flooding.

One of more than 2,000 entries, our proposal earned a Citation of Merit and focused on the solace of the American wilderness. The design was illuminated by this quote from Walt Whitman: “This is the grass that grows wherever the land is and the water is. This is the common air that bathes the globe.” Through evocative land forms and plantings, the scheme creates a scope of peace only the land can express.

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