mr. gehry's availability. he's gone out of his way with his many projects around the world to make himself available. he continues to be in that mode. if you look at that letter for the record, it expresses that view in writing which he has submitted. i'd like to make one brief comment about delay. when we began our work, our vice chairman who probably knows more about memorialization, has done more for memorials for the united states congress, than any other member of the united states congress, senator daniel inway. at one point someone said we're taking a lot of time here. he said when i joined the fdr commission i sat at that end of the table and after 30 years i sat at that end of the table and we don't want to go through this again. very recently he brought to my attention that he and other members that served in world war ii would like to celebrate this memorial. that was also affirmed by his fellow combat veteran, the chairman and of course senator stevens felt that way as well. delay is not always you

mr. gehry, previously you've been quite forthright publicly about your design philosophy. if i may quote something you've previously said. you said life is chaotic, dangerous and surprising. buildings should reflect that. likewise, thinking of this center, you said i think of this in terms of controlled chaos. i always relate it to democracy. democracy is pluralism, the collision of ideas. our cities are built on a collision of thought. look out there. there's a bridge, a huge hunk in the distance. if it wasn't for democracy, it would all look like one thing. given your stated predilection for chaos and danger in architecture s this project a continuation of that or a departure, and moreover, did you explain your design philosophy while applying to the commission? [ laughter ] >> you know, it's like you pick -- i've got a nose hair here if you want to -- you guys, i don't remember the context of that talk. i probably was talking to a bunch of students who were not -- who were afraid, and i usua

mr. gehry does not typically spec this type of material. it's my understanding the fence is promoted by the gehry team as larger than the hollywood sign. in urban environments, acid rains bird droppings will disintegrate the feature and most likely cause security issues for pedestrians below. the only positive thing i can say about it is most likely very few people would go there so there is less chance that a piece of kansas would fall on someone's hand. trash collects in public spaces. the wind blows an visitors are careless. gust also blow standard city trash all over the 600-foot-long fence. we have to clean our millennium gate park every day and the cost to clean this simple place is expensive. the cost to clean the gehry enormous structure every day will be more expensive. though eisenhower belongs to all of us, he truly belongs to the eisenhower family and their opposition must be honored. successive generations of this family have continued to serve our country and we owe them respect as much for that service as we do for their herit

collaborating with mr. gehry is theater artist robert wilson. mr. wilson has shaped the look of theater and opera through his signature use of light and classical rigor of the scenic and furniture design, he articulates the force and originality of his vision. he attended the university of texas and moved to new york and attended pratt institute in brooklyn. he became a leader of manhattan downtown art scene and turned his attention to large-scale opera. with philip glass he created the monumental einstein on the beach in 1976 which won worldwide acclaim. he worked increasingly with major european theaters and opera houses and collaborated with internationally renowned writers and performers, and he's won numerous honors for his work around the world. in my previous life as director of the new york public library, i was proud to be responsible for the robert wilson audio and visual collection at the library for the performing arts in new york, so it's nice to be working with robert wilson again. so, please welcome frank gehry and robert wilson to th

mr. gehry, thanks for coming to speak with us today. i just want -- a certain analogy popped in my head as we were watching this and watching your explanation. i don't know if you're familiar with the story "the emperor has no clothes," but they're weaving together a suit of invisible clothes until a little barefoot boy says the emperor has no clothes, and i just think -- you said it's not necessarily post-modern what you're doing, but it just seems to strike me as post modern. i don't know if you're familiar with c.s. lewis and the space trilogy, but in that age, they have metal trees. they no longer have real trees, metal birds, and a place where there is a huge amount of space, and can you use real trees and you do use real trees, why do you think of making metal trees and doing something that seems so ridiculous? it seems to me like the emperor has no clothes, and how is this a memorial reflecting his great deeds and great works? i think as you said, the lincoln memorial, the washington monument, things that are so striking and that

. >> can you tell me if the fee for mr. gehry as far as a percent of the overall project is in line with other fees that have been done for federal monuments? >> it is in line with other fees. >> can you tell me roughly what that percentage would be, not necessarily a dollar amount. >> it's roughly 10% and is made up of a number of different things, including the testing that's going on right now with the scrims. >> are you aware of how much money physically from 2012, of the 2012 appropriation has been spent? >> i do not know that. >> do you have any idea what the obligations from existing contracts wobble if they were cancelled? >> right now we have, with the architect, about $9.8 million of contracted work. they have spent about $7.2 million. >> thank you. general, if i could ask you a couple of questions. an important principle of the commemorative work act is consensus. with the concerns that have been raised, especially by the family, can this committee conclude that there's any consensus around this design? >> the input th

mr. frank gehry who has graciously interacted with members of the eisenhower family. the public debate has demonstrated that the american people overwhelmingly endorse the memorial, but they are saying it's time to go back to the drawing board, and we agree. aside from all the things that have been said in the press and in the internet, we have been inundated as family members with letters about the unmet challenge of creating a fitting memorial. given this, mr. chairman, the eisenhower family sees no remedies, one to redesign the eisenhower memorial and two to nhowll memorial commission to review its staff management and stakeholder policies. first, let me address myself to the design. great monuments in our country make simple statement that encapsulate the reason the memorial has been erected in the first place. george washington is remembered as the father of our country. the lincoln memorial declares that he saved the monument to c columbus at union station says he gave to mankind a new world. one of the main one of the main flaws is that eisenhower's contributio