The site for establishing Washington D.C.’s current location as the nation’s capital was the result of Congress’ Residence Act of 1790. The idea to move the nation’s capital to a site with no historical or urban significance at the time was a deliberate move. It grew out of a compromise between Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. At the time, New York served as the nation’s temporary capital, and was a leading contender with Philadelphia to hold the title. Philadelphia may well have claimed won the contest to become the capital if it had been for the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783. On June 20, 1783, Congress held a meeting inside Independence Hall when hundreds of soldiers protested outside the building and demanded their payment. Violence did not erupt but the event did cause concern among political officials, claiming that the city of Philadelphia did not do enough to protect the members of Congress. As a result, the need to establish a special federal district, free from any state jurisdiction, was established as a response to help ensure the safety of Congress. Conflicts arose again as leaders searched for a location for this new federal district. Most of the nation’s population lived in the north, so it was assumed the location would be located near New York or Philadelphia. Hamilton had a plan to consolidate all the states finances to pay back the debt the nation accumulated during the Revolutionary War, but the southern states opposed, believing it would force them to pay an unfair share of the debt burden and concentrate too much power in the north. As a compromise to get his financial plan passed, Hamilton agreed to move the capital to a more southern location, and away from Pennsylvania, which the south disliked for its anti-slavery stance and large Quaker population. The site for Washington D.C. was chosen in an area that was a swamp off the Potomac River by George Washington himself, whose hometown of Mt. Vernon, VA was nearby. Before the establishment of Washington D.C., the physical location had already contained a small settlement named Georgetown, which was part of the state of Maryland. Georgetown was a port city founded in 1951, 39 years before the establishment of the federal city. Washington and his appointed commission paid the appropriate landowners a fee for the federal purchase of the land.

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DESIGNING THE CITY
When it came to deciding on a blueprint for the design of a new capital city, President George Washington and his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson had stark differences in ideas.  Washington proposed a grand capital city, similar to the European models of London or Paris, with royal and embellishing architecture and monuments. Jefferson on the other hand, had been to Europe and believed that modeling after the grand European cities were contrary to the Federalist ideals that had been the foundation of the Constitution. He believed the royal European capital cities were symbols of monarchy, which was a system they had just fought a war to escape. Jefferson instead envisioned a more simplistic, minimalist design for the new Federal City. Washington believed that a strong centralized government would be the key to a strong nation, whereas a nation of Confederate states would only look after their local interests and be weak as a whole. In accord to his view, Washington stood by his vision of a grand capital to exhibit the grandeur of a strong central government. He then chose an architect who shared his vision to make it a reality.



L’Enfant’s Plan for a Grand City:
Washington DC’s current design is a product of Pierre Charles L’Enfant, an architect from France, who was personally chosen by George Washington. L’Enfant was born in France but lived in the American colonies at the time, and even fought in the Revolutionary War. His father was a painter for King Louis XIV, so he spent much of this time growing up in Versailles and was surrounded by its famous geometric-radial gardens and Baroque architecture. Drawing from Baroque architecture famous in France during that time period, the design of Versailles in France, as well as Baron Haussmann’s redevelopment style of Paris, L’Enfant envisioned a city of grand tree-lined boulevards, public spaces, and governmental monuments. Thomas Jefferson also provided a rough version of how he wanted the city to be designed. It consisted only of a conventional rectangular grid and was simplistic in design, and did not fit with the vision of Washington or L’Enfant.

 

The fact that the capital city of the United States would be planned, and that most of the site had no existing infrastructure created were great attributes that would help L’Enfant establish his plan for a grand capital. He was quoted as saying:
No nation perhaps had ever before the opportunity offerd [sic] them of deliberately deciding on the spot where their Capital city should be fixed, or of combining every necessary consideration -  and altho' the means now within the power of the country are not such as to pursue the design to any great extant [sic]. It will be obvious that the plan should be drawn on such a scale as to leave room for that aggrandisement & embellishment which the increase of the wealth of the Nation will permit it to pursue at any period however remote -.

Washington DC’s governmental buildings were planned and designed according to L’Enfant’s broader vision of a grand capital city. The main street design features geometric diagonal avenues radiating from central nodes that would be designated for public squares and monuments. L’Enfant did incorporate some of Jefferson’s idea into his plan. Using Jefferson’s proposal of a rectangular grid, L’Enfant layered a grid system over his grand diagonal avenues. So the resulting design is a hybrid of axial avenues radiating from central nodes, with a human scale grid system running in between. 


























































































 

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Capitol Hill, which includes the United States Capitol where Congress meets, was intentionally situated on an elevated hill to serve as a focal point for the city.

 

Before designing the city layout, L’Enfant asked Jefferson to submit to him plans of different cities, including: Paris, Versailles, London, New York, Philadelphia, Savannah, Annapolis, and Williamsburg. He took the design of these different cities into account before coming up with his plan for the capital. The final plan for his design for the city included radial diagonal avenues springing out of central nodes.  These radial axial avenues were then overlapped with the standard rectangular grid in-between, and were meant to connect the different focal points of the city. The grand diagonal avenues were meant to connect the different focal points throughout the city, such as connecting the White House with the United States Capitol. L’Enfant named each of these diagonal avenues after the states of the union at the time. He also connected the city’s three main buildings, the current sites of the White House, the Capitol, and the Washington monument, diagonally into a triangular shape. He did not personally design those buildings but designated those spaces for their appropriate uses. The purpose of the overlapping of axial avenues with rectangular grid was to exhibit grandeur with concerns to the main buildings and monuments, while still facilitating short blocks that were pedestrian-friendly. The rectangular grid system allowed for this sort of walkability that would have been diminished if the entire city consisted of just long and wide axial boulevards. This design shows that even though L’Enfant envisioned a grand city, he also did not disregard the need for human scale planning. L’Enfant’s designs ultimately came to resemble most similarly to Versailles and the rebuilding of London after the Fire of 1666.  From Versailles, Washington D.C. incorporated the grand diagonal avenues coupled with large planned open green spaces. London’s rebuilding was headed by planner John Evelyn, who superimposed diagonal avenues on top of a rectangular grid. L’Enfant’s designs resemble Evelyn’s plan almost identically.

















































































 

Included in the plan was also what is today known as the neighborhood of Southwest Waterfront. L’Enfant designated this area of the city for residential space as well as a natural green space along the waterfront for people to enjoy the natural landscape of the Potomac River. It consists of a pathway stretching 9 miles along the waterfront’s edge.

Pennsylvania Ave:

Pennsylvania Avenue is meant to be the premier avenue of the city, facing at a northwest diagonal slope, the avenue features one focal point of the now United States Capitol on one point, and connects it with another focal point of the President’s house, currently the White House. While not perfect in terms of positioning, Pennsylvania Avenue’s wideness allowed the current Capitol building to serve as a grand focal point for anyone driving towards the building as it faces back towards the avenue with no other buildings to block its view.
One of L’Enfant’s visions that was not implemented during the establishment of the city was a plan for a large open green space spanning the distance between the President’s house and the Capitol.



Central Squares and Open Space:
L’Enfant’s original design plan included fifteen “central squares” scattered throughout the grid, representing the fifteen states of the union at the time, and planned to utilize these fifteen spaces for monuments representing each state. He wanted each of the central squares to include a statue or monument. While the plan was not fully realized, these central squares still exist, and can be seen on a map where some radial avenues intersect. Today they serve as green spaces and public parks, such as Mt. Vernon Square, Logan Circle, and Dupont Circle. Mt. Vernon Square may be one of the most popular of these green spaces inhabiting the diagonal intersections. L’Enfant meant for it to be utilized as a community space for recreation to be made available in a dense urban core, but free of traffic. It’s location at the intersection of four diagonal avenues and four additional streets also create accessibility to the public in the surrounding area. All the major roads surrounding the square point and lead to its location, adding to the livable human scale of L’Enfant’s planning and design. Spaces like Mt. Vernon Square, as well as the other green spaces throughout the city, help to create a sense of place people need in an urban setting.

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CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT’S HOUSE

L’Enfant did design the United States Capitol building, but designated the area for a meeting place for Congress. It was named in L’Enfant’s plan simply as “Congress House.” In 1979, Thomas Jefferson proposed a contest for people to design the building’s architecture. The contest was won by a Scottish-trained physician named Dr. William Thorton, who proposed a building of three sections composed of a central dome and two rectangular wings on either side. Thorton’s design provides the iconic image of the Capitol’s grand dome, inspired by neo-classical architecture, which serves as one most iconic landmarks in the city. Architect James Hoban, who also designed the White House, oversaw the first stages of construction project. The Capitol building serves as one of the main monuments in L’Enfant’s plan of a “grand avenue” of green space that would later become the National Mall. It was intentionally built upon slightly elevated land to embellish its grandeur and purpose as a focal point. It lies on one end of the mall and faces towards the Washington monument on the opposite end, adding more to the sense of grand scale for any visitors to experience walking down the Mall.
L’Enfant’s Capitol Street is designed to perfectly align with a grand building such as the dome of the U.S. Capitol. Capitol Street, Pennsylvania Avenue, and Maryland Avenue are the three radial avenues that come together and intersect at the front of the Capitol building, providing vistas of the grand focal point.





































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The White House also was not designed or built during L’Enfant’s plan, but he did incorporate the location of what he referred to as “the President’s Palace” into his site map and designated the location for its future construction. It was designed to be located right across from the Washington Monument, perpendicular to the “grand avenue” of green space (the National Mall). The architectural design of what came to be known as the White House was also chosen through a contest in 1792, won by Irish-born architect James Hoban of Charleston, South Carolina. Similar in fashion to the Capitol building’s design, Hoban’s design exhibited the grand neo-classical architectural style. It has two facades on its north and south face, with the north face exhibiting a square shaped portico, while the south face holds a round portico. The first President to occupy the White House was John Adams in 1800.
Essentially, Washington D.C.’s design involves the idea of a grand European city. L’Enfant’s plan was to create a grand capital for a newly established nation. Everything from the width and of the streets, the streets’ diagonal designs leading to central focal points, the assigned spaces for monuments, to the architecture of the government buildings, all invoke grandeur from the Baroque style planning of Europe. The country had a great advantage with deciding to build its own capital in an undeveloped location. This lack of existing infrastructure allowed for L’Enfant’s ideas to be fully realized, for the most part.





Work Cited

 

1 "Washington DC Genealogy: Early Georgetown." USGenWeb Sites. http://www.theusgenweb.org/dcgenweb/history/early_georgetown.shtml (accessed March 7, 2013).
2 Dougherty, J.P. "Baroque and Picturesque Motif's in L'Enfant's Design for the Federal Capital." American Quarterly 26, no. 1 (1974): 23-36. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2711565 (accessed March 7, 2013).
3 Harris, C.M. "Washington's Gamble, L'Enfant's Dream: Politics, Design, and the Founding of the National Capital." The William and Mary quarterly 56, no. 3 (1999): 527-564. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2674560 (accessed March 7, 2013).
4 Jackson, Donald E.. "L'Enfant's Washington: An Architect's View." Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington D.C. 50 (2980): 398-420. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40067829 (accessed March 7, 2013).
5 Peets, Elbert. "L'Enfant's Washington." The Town Planning Review 15, no. 3 (1933): 155-164. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40101062 (accessed March 7, 2013).
6 Fletcher, Kenneth. "A Brief History of Pierre L’Enfant and Washington, D.C. | Arts & Culture | Smithsonian Magazine." History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian Magazine. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/brief-history-of-lenfant.html (accessed March 7, 2013).
7 Peets, Elbert. "L'Enfant's Washington." The Town Planning Review 15, no. 3 (1933): 155-164. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40101062 (accessed March 7, 2013).
8 Peets, Elbert. "Famous Town Planner: III. L'Enfant: The City of Washington." The Town Planning Review 13 (1928): 30-49. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40101727 (accessed March 7, 2013).
9 Grant, U.S. "The L'Enfant Plan and its Evolution." Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington D.C. 33, no. 31 (1932): 1-23. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40067462 (accessed March 7, 2013).
10 "History of the U.S. Capitol Building | Architect of the Capitol." Home Page | Architect of the Capitol. http://www.aoc.gov/history/us-capitol-building (accessed March 7, 2013).