Latest Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Revisions Submitted

By Steve Delahoyde on June 20, 2008 9:06 AM

We tend to lose track a little on where things are at at any given time with this project, given how contentious the whole situation has been from the start, but we were just caught up again in learning that the newest revisions to Lei Yixin‘s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial have been made and have been sent back to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts for review. Everyone is being tight lipped about the project, perhaps hoping not to jinx it, and no images have been released, but from the written descriptions, it sounds like both sides were able to meet somewhere in the middle (i.e. his arms are still crossed, which Yixin wanted, but his features are a little less rigid and fierce-looking, which was what the foundation behind the Memorial were after). Here’s a bit:

Ed Jackson Jr., the project’s executive architect, said designers softened King’s face slightly at the brow and the mouth. The updated design maintains King’s look of consternation but turns his mouth up slightly to resemble the hint of a smile.

“Whether it is a concerned look or a much more pleasant face, what’s most important though, to us, is you’ve got to capture this,” Jackson said, motioning to a photograph showing determination in King’s eyes.