The Commission, which has been working on the idea of building a memorial to President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the US capital since 1999, finally chose the final project from three options developed by Gehry. The money for construction has not yet been raised ($ 100 million) and the project itself has not been approved by the city authorities, known for their conservative taste, but the opening date has already been set for 2015.
The memorial will be located on 1.62 hectares on Independence Avenue, at the foot of the Capitol Hill. It will consist of 25-meter columns, behind which will be installed steel shields with photographs illustrating the life and achievements of Eisenhower. Oaks will be planted around and rectangular "steles" with images and texts will be placed. Gehry sees this responsible assignment as an occasion to create a full-fledged public space, conducive to reflection and silence, and reflects the modesty that distinguished the 34th President of the United States.
Gehry's other recent work is his project for a theater for the New York troupe Signature, which will be located on the first floor of a large mixed-use complex on 42nd Street, so the architect was limited by the overall design of the building. Gehry added only a glass canopy over the main entrance to the theater to the solution of the facade. In addition to technical rooms, the Signature Center will consist of 4 spaces: a two-tiered foyer and three auditoriums of different configurations. In the design of all of them, the sculptural forms characteristic of Gehry are made not of titanium or other valuable material, but of plywood, which, however, should not affect their expressive qualities. There is an unambiguous positive point in this: plywood is easy to paint, and it is planned to take advantage of this by creating complex tone transitions in each of the halls, reflecting the dichotomy “stage - audience”.
