March 02, 2005
Wednesday

During a press conference in Juneau Tuesday, members of the Capitol Planning Commission and the Alaska Capitol Design Competition Jury announced that Thom Mayne, FAIA, of Morphosis (Santa Monica) and Mike Mense, FAIA, of mmenseArchitects (Anchorage) have been selected to lead a team to begin designing a Capitol for Alaska.

"This competition has always been about selecting the best team to design Alaska's new Capitol. We had 4 teams full of extremely capable professionals, yet all the jurors felt very strongly that this is the team for Alaska and Alaskans at this time," said juror Meg Nordale of Fairbanks. "The team brings to the table not only extraordinary talent but also a deep commitment to working with Alaskans to create a remarkable capitol for all Alaska."

Thom Mayne, clearly thrilled at the thought of undertaking this assignment, said "I couldn't wait to get here yesterday to talk about this project. We worked for 3 weeks on some ideas, without benefit of a conversation with a client and we think we've got some good ideas to offer. Now we say to Alaskans, 'these are the things we propose: speak to us.'"

Mike Mense added that the team "can make a great building that the citizens of Alaska will love. I look forward to working with my fellow Alaskans to create a great building to inspire the state, a building with clarity, simplicity, and fit. We're immensely honored to be chosen to undertake this monumental task for the people of Alaska."

Win Gruening, a member of the Capitol Planning Commission, said "the Commission is confident that the jury selected the team most capable of giving Alaskans the best capitol possible. We are all extremely confident that Thom and Mike will work with Alaskans to create a capitol the whole state can be proud of."

The Capitol Planning Commission and the selected design team will now work with the Legislature and the governor to secure funding for the project. "We have an incredible team ready to design and build a Capitol and we will do all we can to complete the project in time for Alaska's 50th birthday," said Juneau Mayor Botelho.

On the Web:

Capitol Building Web Site

Morphosis Storyboard Presentation

Four Design Finalists

Capitol Planning Commission

List of Committee Members

Source of News:

Capitol Planning Commission and the Alaska Capitol Design Competition Jury

 

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