Design Team Led by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Rene Gonzalez Architects Shortlisted for the National Pulse Memorial & Museum International Design Competition

The team is amongst six finalists chosen to propose a concept design in the second and final stage.

ORLANDO, FL – May 30, 2019 – onePULSE Foundation, the nonprofit established by the owner of Pulse nightclub following the June 12, 2016 tragedy, today announced the six renowned, architect-led design teams shortlisted in the open, two-stage international competition to design the National Pulse Memorial & Museum.

The National Pulse Memorial and Museum will honor the 49 angels who were killed in the tragedy and also support the families, survivors, and first responders left to pick-up the pieces. Scheduled to open in 2022, the memorial and museum will include the Orlando Health Survivors Walk and will be built on the site of the Pulse nightclub and nearby properties.

Launched on March 25, 2019, Stage I of the competition challenged architects around the globe to form and lead a visionary, multi-disciplinary team to include urban design, landscape design, and exhibition design professionals as well as artists. Teams were required to provide their credentials, showcase their relevant experience and state how they believe architecture might embody onePULSE’s mandate, “We will not let hate win.”

The competition, attracted submissions from 68 teams representing 19 countries. In total, 168 firms and 47 individual artists participated on the 68 submitting teams.

The six shortlisted teams (in alphabetical order) are:

• Coldefy & Associés with RDAI, Xavier Veilhan, dUCKS scéno, Agence TER, Prof. Laila Farah
• Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Rene Gonzalez Architects with Raymond Jungles, Inc.
• heneghan peng architects, Gustafson Porter + Bowman, Sven Anderson & Pentagram
• MASS Design Group, Ralph Appelbaum Associates, Sasaki, Sanford Biggers, Richard Blanco, Porsha Olayiwola
• MVRDV, Grant Associates, GSM Project and Studio Drift
• Studio Libeskind with Claude Cormier + Associés, Thinc, and Jenny Holzer

“Three years after the tragedy, the world continues to stand in solidarity with our community and in support of the 49, the survivors and the first responders. This is reflected in the significant response to our competition announcement and the interest from architects and designers from around the world,” said onePULSE Foundation CEO Barbara Poma. “We are humbled by the depth of talent represented among the submissions and the teams shortlisted for the competition. We will be able to create a historic institution honoring the sacredness of this event and supporting the mission of onePULSE, while bringing world-class architecture and design to Orlando.”

“As a survivor, I am very honored to be a part of the selection process, and it was humbling to receive so many demonstrations of love to the community through the design contest. The submissions really showed that Pulse resonates all across the globe, and I can’t wait for the final stage of this competition,” said Ricardo J. Negron-Almodovar, Survivor and onePULSE Selection Committee member. “I am very confident that the selected teams will deliver something that will truly reflect our strength and will honor with dignity our community.”

The six firms and their teams will have the opportunity to meet with onePULSE leadership, a victim liaison and a survivor while they develop their schemes. This June, they will attend a site tour and informational meeting in Orlando, and in July there will be an interim review of each team’s work to ensure their ideas align with those of onePULSE Foundation and the Pulse community.

A public exhibition of the shortlisted design team submissions will take place in early October 2019 at the Orange County Regional History Center in Orlando, Florida. This will be accompanied by a digital exhibition of the shortlisted teams’ proposals on the onePULSE design competition website. The public will have an opportunity to share their comments.

The winning design team will be selected by a blue-ribbon Jury comprised of onePULSE stakeholders, civic decision-makers, global thought leaders and world-renowned architects.

The winning team will be announced in October 2019.

About onePULSE Foundation

onePULSE Foundation is the official 501(c)(3) nonprofit incorporated to manage the design and construction of the permanent national memorial and museum dedicated to the PULSE tragedy. The National Pulse Memorial and Museum will honor the 49 people who were killed there and support families, survivors, and first responders left to pick up the pieces.

onePULSE’s mission is to create and support a memorial that opens hearts, a museum that opens minds, educational programs that open eyes and endowed scholarships that open doors. Its vision is to establish a sanctuary of healing and a beacon of hope by memorializing the lives taken, the lives saved and all the lives affected by the Pulse nightclub tragedy of June 12, 2016 – ensuring Pulse’s legacy of love lives on forever. For more information, visit https://onePULSEfoundation.org/.

About Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Founded in 1981, Diller Scofidio + Renfro is a multidisciplinary design studio with a focus on cultural and civic projects. Based in New York, the studio is comprised of over 100 architects, designers, artists and researchers, led by four partners—Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo Scofidio, Charles Renfro and Benjamin Gilmartin. Their work has been distinguished with the first MacArthur Foundation fellowship awarded in the field of architecture, Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential" list, the Smithsonian Institution's 2005 National Design Award, the Medal of Honor and the President's Award from AIA New York, and Wall Street Journal Magazine's 2017 Architecture Innovator of the Year Award. DS+R completed two of the largest architecture and planning initiatives in New York City’s recent history: the adaptive reuse of an obsolete, industrial rail infrastructure into the High Line, a 1.5 mile-long public park, and the transformation of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ half-century-old campus. This year, the studio will open two more projects significant to New York: The Shed and the renovation and expansion of The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Recent projects include the 35-acre Zaryadye Park adjacent to the Kremlin in Moscow; the Museum of Image & Sound on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro; The Broad, a contemporary art museum in Los Angeles; the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive at the University of California, Berkeley; the Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center at Columbia University in New York; and The Juilliard School in Tianjin, China. For more information visit dsrny.com.

About Rene Gonzalez Architects

Founded in 1997 in Miami, Rene Gonzalez Architects (RGA) believes that a building is inexorably linked to the cultural and natural environment beyond its physical footprint. The work intentionally blurs traditional lines and creates an active “design conversation” with a site’s ambient elements. Detail-oriented and contemporary, the firm specializes in the design of museum and gallery spaces, hospitality, commercial, retail and residential projects. Gonzalez is especially attuned to environmental issues that are affecting the world, which will drastically alter design practice in the coming years. The office is receiving widespread attention for its efforts to develop resilient solutions to sea-level rise, revealing a commitment to embracing and celebrating the environment, and thereby seizing the opportunity to enhance our future.

This strategy has won RGA a number of prestigious awards, including the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Miami’s 2012 H. Samuel Kruse Silver Medal for Design and, in 2011, the award for Firm of the Year. RGA has also won two national awards from the AIA and was the first Miami architect in 50 years to be honored twice by the organization for projects in the city – suggesting that he is having a profound impact on the quality of the built environment of Florida. RGA’s work has been published in more than 200 national and international publications including the 2018 monograph entitled Not Lost in Translation. For more information, visit renegonzalezarchitects.com.

About Raymond Jungles, Inc.

Raymond Jungles, Inc. (RJI) is a dynamic, creative, and ecologically sensitive landscape architecture firm practicing from its studio in Coconut Grove, Florida. Founding Principal Raymond Jungles leads the firm which has maintained a national and international presence since 1981. RJI has completed projects in eleven countries including the United States, Antigua, Anguilla, the Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, China, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.The firm strives to compose gardens that entice participation and soothe the psyche, believing that garden design is an art form and that art should elevate the human spirit. RJI’s informed designs tread lightly on the land, provide habitat and incorporate elements of surprise through sound ecological and sustainable practices. Their goals are to create inspirational spaces, and ultimately advance curiosity, knowledge, and appreciation of the relationships between people, nature, and art.

RJI is the recipient of forty-eight Design Awards from the Florida Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, including sixteen Awards of Excellence and five Frederic B. Stressau Awards. The firm has also received two Professional Awards from the National Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. For more information, visit raymondjungles.com.