When a new nation was born in 1776, there was a new need for a capital city to be built. The federal city needed to house the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government and would be America’s official seat of power. George Washington gave Pierre L’Enfant the green light to create a plan for this new city because of his prior schooling in France, where he became versed in the arts and various mathematical concepts.
L’Enfant’s plan for the new federal city was very calculated and was representative of American democracy itself by way of symbolism. As was intended by L’Enfant and others who had a say in the planning of Washington DC, the capitol is clearly the focal point and most important building in the city. Like the rest of the buildings that were planned in the city, every single detail of the Capitol building is symbolic of something.
The reason why the United States Capitol stands out is because the founding fathers and L’Enfant intended for it to be that way. America is a country controlled by “We the People”. Because of the way the Constitution was written, “We the People” elect individuals to Congress to essentially make decisions for us, and it is no secret why the “people’s house” was clearly intended to be the center of Washington DC. It represents the importance of the average citizen in our government.
L’Enfant had a blank canvas to build a city on. He was clearly a visionary, and his first task was to find a starting point. He did his job as an urban planner and architect and surveyed the uninhabited land upon which he would build. He needed somewhere to start, so he chose Jenkin’s Hill, the highest point in the area, as the center of the city. This is what we now know as Capitol Hill, and the United States Capitol building stands at its peak. The decision to plan the city in this manner is very symbolic. There is a reason why the White House and Supreme Court were not chosen to sit atop the hill. It signifies that “We the People” are at the highest level in Washington DC and throughout the rest of the nation.
He used techniques of the Ancient Romans to lay out the rest of the city, and followed mathematical principles like the Golden Mean as explained by Will Selman of Congress for a New Urbanism:
“Circles can be divided into five parts of equal size, resulting in a pentacle. L’Enfant then divided his circles thus, resulting in pentacles inside each, with the points heading east. The number five, represented by the pentacle, symbolized the earth and its people in ancient cosmology. L’Enfant used this to symbolize the citizens as represented in the Capitol Building. The angled sides of the stars determine the alignment of avenues.”
This layout determined the location of several prominent buildings in Washington DC.
The outside of the United States Capitol building itself is an architectural marvel, but the inside is equally impressive. There are two very notable works of art inside the building. The first is a mural painted on the inside of the rotunda titled The Apotheosis of Washington, painted by Greek-Italian artist Constantino Brumidi in 1865. It features Commander-in-Chief and first president of the United States, George Washington ascending to the heavens surrounded by figures from classical mythology. Above Washington are 13 maidens representing each of the 13 original colonies. Two of the maidens hold a banner that reads E Pluribus Unum meaning "out of many, one". The symbolism of this is extremely important: The center of this dome for all intents and purposes represents power and authority as we know it in the United States. The top of this dome is theoretically the pinnacle of power in the United States, except there is quite literally nothing painted at the epicenter of the mural. The two closest things to that divine but empty center are George Washington, and two women holding a motto that represents ALL people. George Washington is perhaps the closest thing to a noble figure the United States has had, except he gave that power BACK to the people.
Another much smaller version of a city that mirrors the general plan of Washington DC is Madison, Wisconsin. The focal point of the city is the State Capitol. The design of the building itself is very similar to the US Capitol. The Capitol is 284 feet, 5 inches tall from the ground floor to the top of the Wisconsin statue on the dome. Local legend holds that the architects of the Wisconsin State Capitol could have made the structure much taller, but they did not want it to exceed the height of the United States Capitol in Washington for symbolic reasons. Today, the US Capitol stands at 288 feet tall, only 3 feet, 5 inches taller than Wisconsin’s.
Similar to Washington DC, the dome is meant to be the most prominent and symbolic structure in the city. The city prohibits any buildings within a mile of the Capitol from exceeding the height of the dome’s base columns.
Washington DC's skyline also shows the importance of public buildings and monuments. The photo above was taken from the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington VA - over 4 miles away from the Capitol Building. Yet, the entire building can be seen clearly. Not just the dome or the top of the dome, the entire building including both legislative chambers. Even hundreds of years after Pierre L'Enfant drafted his plan, his vision still holds true. Because of the vision of Pierre L'Enfant, a 22 year old political science major can park his car atop a hill and stare at what was clearly intended to be the most important building in the city of the people: The House of the People.