Building an Identity: The Architecture of Washington DC

Blog overview

“One can learn much about a political regime by observing closely what it builds”, MIT Professor Laurence Vale once wrote. The architecture of Washington DC is a great example, with more classic ancient-style structures than just about any major city. In this blog series, we explore why and how the US capital took so much inspiration from the ancient world, and what it means.

Eternal City

By Mieke Bleeker

June 15, 2023

Democratic icon, advocate for liberty, equality, freedom of speech and religion, principal author of the Declaration of Independence: as one of the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson seems to be larger than life in the American psyche. So it’s no surprise then, that the memorial for the third president of the United State resembles the Pantheon …...

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Temple of Justice

By Mieke Bleeker

June 8, 2023

In 1932, at the laying of the cornerstone of what was to become the US Supreme Court building, Chief Justice Hughes said: “The Republic endures and this is the symbol of its faith.” And faith they had needed, as it took 146 years for the US Supreme Court to have its own building. Up until …...

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Belonging to the Ages

By Mieke Bleeker

June 1, 2023

Only six days after the surrender of the Confederate Army which meant an end to the Civil War, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln while attending Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC on April 14, 1865. As the news spread, the first reaction of most Americans was disbelief and shock, which turned into grief once Lincoln’s …...

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Grandeur for the Greatest

By Mieke Bleeker

May 25, 2023

The Washington Monument is an iconic structure, built to honor the first president of the United States, George Washington. But why is it shaped like an ancient Egyptian obelisk? Although the obelisk was always part of the plan for the monument, the original design by Robert Mill looked very different. It seems to have been …...

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Architecture of Power

By Mieke Bleeker

May 18, 2023

“There is but one way for the moderns to become great, and perhaps unequalled … by imitating the ancients.” German historian Johann Winckelmann (1755) No one took this more to heart than Pierre L’Enfant. With Rome in mind, his design for Washington DC contained monumental buildings like the White House and the US Capitol connected …...

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How to Shape a Capital

By Mieke Bleeker

May 11, 2023

1790, Philadelphia. In the temporary capital of the United States, President George Washington must make an important decision. The War of Independence has been over for several years, and the new Constitution requires the government to establish a federal territory for the nation’s capital. But representatives from the north and the south have been bickering …...

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