WEBVTT - How Did an Amateur Design the U.S. Capitol?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, the production of iHeart Radio. Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Bogelbaum. Here the U. S Capital stands

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<v Speaker 1>now as the foremost architectural symbol of America. But more

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<v Speaker 1>than the White House, more than the various monuments that

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<v Speaker 1>dot Washington, d C's landscape. The Capitol Building perched magnificently

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<v Speaker 1>for more than two centuries on a hill overlooking the city.

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<v Speaker 1>In many ways is America. It's where the legislative dirty

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<v Speaker 1>work of democracy is done. The Capitol Building, befitting its status,

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<v Speaker 1>is visited under normal circumstances by more than three million

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<v Speaker 1>people every year, tourists, school kids, and international visitors bingle

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<v Speaker 1>over the roughly four acres of grounds on which the

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<v Speaker 1>Capitol Building sits. The builders envisioned that kind of interest,

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<v Speaker 1>if not in those numbers, perhaps they saw that the

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<v Speaker 1>capital would become a symbol for the nation, and thus

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<v Speaker 1>decided that it should reflect the majesty of the ideas

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<v Speaker 1>the United States represents. For the article, this episode is

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<v Speaker 1>based on How Stuff Works. Spoke Ya email with Christopher J. Howard,

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<v Speaker 1>a professor in the School of Architecture and Planning at

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<v Speaker 1>the Catholic University of America in Washington, d C. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>as a new nation, it was important to set a

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<v Speaker 1>tone and establish a physical manifestation of the ideas and

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<v Speaker 1>aspiration that this new nation represented, important for its own

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<v Speaker 1>sake but also relative to the world. In projecting a

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<v Speaker 1>confident identity of democratic values in a new republic meant

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<v Speaker 1>to endure and be timeless. Settling on exactly how those

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<v Speaker 1>ideals should be architecturally expressed, though, was hardly self evident.

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<v Speaker 1>In the end, it was the result of a competition

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<v Speaker 1>dreamed up by Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and judged

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<v Speaker 1>by Jefferson, President George Washington, and the commissioners of the

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<v Speaker 1>District of Columbia. French engineer Pierre Charles Lamfont, who laid

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<v Speaker 1>out the blueprint for Washington, d C. And the placement

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<v Speaker 1>of the capital on what was then known as Jenkins Hill,

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<v Speaker 1>was expected to design the capital building, but after he

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<v Speaker 1>refused to submit plans he was said to have it

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<v Speaker 1>all planned out in his head. Jefferson suggested an open competition.

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<v Speaker 1>The judges received seventeen entrants, they weren't thrilled with any

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<v Speaker 1>of them. The plans came from French, German, and Italian

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<v Speaker 1>architects among others, and all tried to reflect what they

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<v Speaker 1>thought the fledgling country stood for. From the Library of

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<v Speaker 1>Congress Archives quote, Most competitors drew upon Renaissance architectural models,

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<v Speaker 1>either filtered through the lens of eighteenth century English and

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<v Speaker 1>American Georgian traditions, or based directly on buildings illustrated in

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<v Speaker 1>Renaissance treatises. The Capital Competition coincided with nascent neo Classicism

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<v Speaker 1>in America, in which forms and details from Greek and

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<v Speaker 1>Roman architecture were revived. Three of the competition entries were

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<v Speaker 1>inspired by ancient classical buildings. Many of those plans, if

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<v Speaker 1>they had been realized, would have given a distinctly different

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<v Speaker 1>flavor to the building from what we have come to know.

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<v Speaker 1>Irish architect James Diamond's vision, for example, featured a string

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<v Speaker 1>of arched windows on the first floor, and the building

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<v Speaker 1>was capped by a modest dome. A Frenchman, Stephen Hallett,

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<v Speaker 1>provided a fancy plan in the neoclassical style that was

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<v Speaker 1>relatively well received but would have made snowy DC winters difficult.

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<v Speaker 1>William Thornton, a physician trained in Scotland, submitted a late

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<v Speaker 1>idea allowed by the largely disappointed judges that envisioned a

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<v Speaker 1>three section building, a center portion topped by a low

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<v Speaker 1>dome in the style of the Pantheon in Rome, and

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<v Speaker 1>two sections on both sides of it, one for the

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<v Speaker 1>House of Representatives and one for the Senate. Washington lauded

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<v Speaker 1>Thornton's work for its quote, grandeur, simplicity, and convenience. The

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<v Speaker 1>amateur architects plans were ultimately chosen, and Thornton one five

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<v Speaker 1>hundred dollars and a plot of land in Washington, d C.

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<v Speaker 1>For his efforts. Howard said Thornton was able to step

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<v Speaker 1>in with an inspired design idea that clearly resonated with

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<v Speaker 1>the selection commission. A part of that success, I believe

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<v Speaker 1>is attributed to showing a design that resembles what had

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<v Speaker 1>already been implied and Pierre Leon Fonts plan for Washington,

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<v Speaker 1>d C. Which already had purchase in terms of the

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<v Speaker 1>physical imagining of what a capital building might promise. Work

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<v Speaker 1>on the U S Capital began in sevente By eighteen hundred,

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<v Speaker 1>though the building wasn't anywhere near finished. The Congress, the

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<v Speaker 1>Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, and the courts of

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<v Speaker 1>the District of Columbia moved in. The Congress and Supreme

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<v Speaker 1>Court had been meeting at Federal Hall in New York

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<v Speaker 1>City and in Congress Hall in Philadelphia, and with that

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<v Speaker 1>American Democracy had its permanent home. Through the years, the

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<v Speaker 1>Capital has undergone many changes, though never straying far from

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<v Speaker 1>Thornton's neo classical vision. The building was out of flame

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<v Speaker 1>by the British in the War of eighteen twelve, almost

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<v Speaker 1>burning to the ground on August eighteen fourteen. In the

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<v Speaker 1>second half of the nineteenth century, a major renovation and

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<v Speaker 1>expansion took place of more than doubling the length of

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<v Speaker 1>the Capital In eighteen fifty six, and almost four thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>five hundred ton iron dome replaced a much smaller, copper

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<v Speaker 1>covered wooden dome over the center section of the building.

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<v Speaker 1>In eighteen sixty three, the nineteen and a half foot

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<v Speaker 1>that's six meter nearly fifteen thousand pounds or seven thousand

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<v Speaker 1>kilo Statue of Freedom was hoisted to the top of

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<v Speaker 1>the new dome. Terraces were added over the years, grounds

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<v Speaker 1>were improved, renovations were made, and in two thousand and eight,

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<v Speaker 1>the largest project in the capital's history opened, A five

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and eighty thousand square foot that's fifty four thousand

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<v Speaker 1>square meter visitor center located completely underground on the east

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<v Speaker 1>side of the capital as so not to ruin Thornton's

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<v Speaker 1>original vision, Howard said, the end product, in many ways

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<v Speaker 1>seems inevitable by virtue of the many people involved being

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<v Speaker 1>guided by the same essential good idea and language, along

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<v Speaker 1>with basic principles and goals for our nation in mind.

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<v Speaker 1>This is truly a democratic building and it shows that

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<v Speaker 1>as a result. I do think it still stands for

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<v Speaker 1>what Thornton and Jefferson envisioned because it is not a subjective,

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<v Speaker 1>arbitrary application of architectural language. It is what it was

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<v Speaker 1>always intended to be and will continue to do so.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article how the US

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<v Speaker 1>Capital's design was chosen by public competition on how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>works dot Com, written by John Donovan. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works

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<v Speaker 1>dot Com, and it is produced by Tyler Klain. For

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<v Speaker 1>more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the i Heart

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