Evening star., 1961-01-15
Roosevelt Monument
Model Is on Display
BY ROBERT J. LEWIS
star star Writer

NOOOl - OU
BY ROBERT J. LEWIS
star star Writer
This Is the first week end the
man-in-the-street will have Q
chance to take q close look at
the controversial design for the
Franklin D. Roosevelt Monu-
ment. already q Nationwide
sensation.
Up to now, the winners Of
the competition have heard
In the words of Milton:
r"On all sides, from irrunter-
able tongues
"a dismal sniuers0l hiss. the
sound
"0t public scorn."
Gallery Crowded
But public reaction has come.
so far, from pictures alone.
With the models themselves
now on display at the Corcoran
Gallery. the prize winning
architects are hoping that
Shakespeare was right when
he said:
"ScorR at first makes after
loue the more"
All day yesterday. the gal
lery was crowded. B. Y. Ste
venson, the superintendent,
said. '"They all want to see the
winner"
Today between Q and 5 PM.
another big turnout is ex-
pected.
Sharing attention with the
$4,000 grand prize winner will
be five runners-up. 20 others
who received honorable men
tion, and all the paintings be-
ing shown in the Corcoran's
9th biennial exhibition. which
opened yesterday.
A storm engulfed the memo-
rial design from the moment Of
It's first announcement two
weeks ago. It has been mocked,
fidiculed and derided, almost
INCREASINGLY. since then.
Object Of Derision
Letter-to-t o-the-editor writer's,
editorialists. professional crit
scs and amateur commentators
ieered. sneered. gibed at and
scoffed at the choice made by
Q distinguished board Of judges.
One Of the eight shaft-like
concrete elements of the memo
fial would rise 1853 feet high
50 feet higher than the average
Washington office building. Yet
she design impressed critics
ss-among other things:
"a bleached skeleton Of a
long-dead cow"
"A broken-down box"
"A set Of book-ands."
Eight tombstones."
One writer said the monu-
ment. designed for q site in
East Potomac Park between the
Lincoln and Jefferson Memo
sials. left him in q state Of
festhetic shock"
DESIGNERS Surprised
All this has surprised and
puzzled the designers-William
y. Pedersen and Bradford s..
Filney. Of New York. They're
still trying to adjust themselves
b the uproar.
Even the losers area bit con-
fused at the vehemence Of the
condemnation. Rolf Myller,
bne Of the six finalists. said last
night:
Throughout history. the
work Of all the great architects
has been done In the vocabu-
larry Of the day. The Greeks
were contemporary. The Ro-
mans were contemporary. In
all ages. the great work was
done with the concepts and the
technology Of their own time.
"The distinguished jury In
this competition had the cour-
age to come to an objective
choice. Within the framework
Of their own philosophy. the
winners have done q superb
job.
IL Years as Partners
Ine American public must
have the courage to be them
selves. and to be proud Of the
great products Of their own
culture. Otherwise. as q people,
we must fall back, and be
tmitators. Instead, we should
be proud Of the new solutions
to old problems. We don't
need to fall back on the Greeks,
Romans and other cultures.
We have our own, and It's a
culture Of which we can be
Justly proud"
Both Mr.. Petersen and Mr..
Tilney are fiftyish. quiet
spoken and modest. Both have
had distinguished architectural
careers. MIR. Petersen, a Navy
lieutenant commander station
ed here during the war, and
Mr.. 'Tilney. q former captain
In the Corps Of Engineers, have