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Arkansas Native Selected To Design WWI Memorial

WASHINGTON D.C. (KFSM) — A University of Arkansas graduate will be the architect behind a World War I memorial in the nation’s capital. 25-year-old Joe We...

WASHINGTON D.C. (KFSM) -- A University of Arkansas graduate will be the architect behind a World War I memorial in the nation’s capital.

25-year-old Joe Weishaar`s design for the memorial was selected from a pool of more than 350 submissions.

“There was a one in a million shot [at being selected],” Weishaar said. “But, that was a lot better than not entering.”

Weishaar will be designing one of the most important projects he may see in his career.

“It is almost unfathomable that I have made it here at such a young age,” Weishaar said.

His design has meaning behind every item. Even the trees, and the colors of their leaves, reflect a part of the war.

The $35 million memorial is set to be built by 2018. 2018 is 100 years after the final day of the war.

Fay Jones School of Architecture Dean Peter MacKeith said it was great to hear a former student was given such a large honor.

“The only true architecture is the tomb stone, and the memorial,” Mackeith said. “Those are the most distilled condensations of lives on Earth. And, of who we are as a community and country. It is so important for him. We understand this to be life changing. And, of course, it is going to change the face of the nation in many ways too.”

Weishaar said he hopes this project is only a stepping stone, for a career filled with big projects as well.

“Now I have so many possibilities of where to move forward in life,” Weishaar said.

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