The Monuments That Were Never Built
In a new exhibit at the National Building Museum, imagine Washington D.C. as it could have been
- By Megan Gambino
- Smithsonian.com, November 23, 2011
(Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-31534)
“Unbuilt Washington,” the newest exhibition at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C, highlights over 100 architectural projects proposed for the nation’s capital since 1791. All of the monuments, bridges, museums and other buildings were never executed—at least not according to plan. Yet, from their sketches and models rises a quirky, arguably influential cityscape that curator G. Martin Moeller calls the “the Washington that could have been.”
A close approximation of Robert Mills’ winning competition entry for the Washington Monument, for instance, is prominently figured in a lithograph (above) of the National Mall, made in 1852. The architect envisioned a 600-foot obelisk with a circular structure at its base. The pantheon would be 100 feet high and 250 feet in diameter, with 30 Doric columns, one for each state in the Union as of 1845. On top, he planned to mount a statue of George Washington in a horse-drawn carriage.
Though Mills’ design was accepted in 1845, and begun three years later, construction ground to a halt in 1856. When it resumed after the Civil War, the pantheon was scrapped, the obelisk’s dimensions height was lowered to 555 feet and its point was sharpened.
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You wrote: "Though Mills’ design was accepted in 1845, and begun three years later, construction ground to a halt in 1856. When it resumed after the Civil War, the pantheon was scrapped, the obelisk’s dimensions height was lowered to 555 feet and its point was sharpened....." ....and instead, my ancestor, Joseph Christmas Ives is credited as the Architect & Engineer on the completed Washington Monument.
Posted by Sue Wemett on November 2,2012 | 04:47 AM
How about a monument to all the foreign victims of America's wars? Probably not, for reasons of space if nothing else, as look at what size the Vietnam Veterans memorial is and it only holds the names of ~58,000 dead Americans while ~2 MILLION Vietnamese died in the war, many of them civilians killed in American carpet bombing of the North. The memorial would have to stretch all the way around the city and then some if it was to have their names on it, if it was even possible to find out the victims' names.
Or maybe one for the quarter of a million dead Filipinos from the brutal suppression of the Philippine Insurrection in the early 1900s. Or the who-knows-how-many dead from the illegal war in Iraq which involved the U.S. Air Force dropping four joint direct attack munitions on downtown Baghdad and wiping out several residential city blocks in an instant (and their inhabitants of course) in an unsuccessful assassination attempt against Saddam Hussein, based on false information given to the C.I.A. by an Iraqi janitor? Remember that? Probably not, even though it was all over the news for about a day right after it happened before being buried by other news.
But at least Germany has had the decency to erect a holocaust memorial in Berlin dedicated to its victims. But then again, even Nazi Germany never stooped so low as to name its sports teams after victims of its genocide like America has (Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, Washington Redskins etc.) so I doubt any of this will come to pass. The U.S. just isn't that kind of grown-up, mature, introspective and compassionate country. Never has been.
Posted by Brutal Truth on February 27,2012 | 10:56 PM
The Mothers Monument looks like something Stalin and his people would have come up with.
Posted by Paul Hillmann on January 22,2012 | 02:39 PM
Every time I look at the "Main elevation of Capitol competition entry by James Diamond, 1792" I laugh. The bird on top seems really out of proportion and it reminds me of a chicken.
I enjoyed looking at all the selections of monuments that were never built. Some very interesting ideas were proposed.
Posted by Kathy on January 11,2012 | 01:11 PM
The proposed Lincoln and and Motherhood were like ancient monuments: meant to make the viewer feel small. A very un-American attitude!
Strange: I always felt the Washington Monument was somehow stark, almost barren. In light of the original concept, it is.
Posted by Shir-El on January 7,2012 | 09:29 AM
Franklin Webster Smith's 'National Galleries of History and Art' was the precursor of EPCOT and the World Showcase. I wonder if Walt Disney was ever exposed to Smith's ideas?
Posted by Shir-El on January 7,2012 | 09:18 AM
The Mothers' Monument looks eerily like the Voortrekker Monument in South Africa (built 1938-56). That one is also in a certain way dedicated to "moederheid" and "gesin" (motherhood and family) of the nation, for very similar reasons.
Posted by Historicus on January 2,2012 | 02:45 AM
I would have liked to see some of these buildings with there grand designs built. We do have some fancy buildings in Washington,such as the orignal Smithsonian buildings and some of the are galleries and the Archives building. Not that I am all that unhappy with what we have.
Posted by George J. Lucas on December 27,2011 | 05:19 PM
I would have liked to see some of these buildings with there grand designs built. We do have some fancy buildings in Washington,such as the orignal Smithsonian buildings and some of the are galleries and the Archives building. Not that I am all that unhappy with what we have.
Posted by George J. Lucas on December 27,2011 | 05:19 PM
I am Glad that the monument was built like it is because I feel like it has an important role in my life the way it is. (I like driving past it everyday because it gives me a since of patriotism.) Also I agree what Haden Sever (my favorite Sever) said about the precipitation thing. ( Like my use of Vocab??)
Posted by Sasha Brown on December 15,2011 | 09:00 PM
I think the unbuilt kennedy center should have been built.I like the way it looks and where it is.
Posted by Olivia Ceccato on December 14,2011 | 06:01 PM
im glad the lincoln memorial was not built like that because the way it is now resembles him more. it shows more power and his personality.
Posted by Olivia Ceccato on December 14,2011 | 05:58 PM
I am happy because it was not built because it does not need to be built there. It looks like a church from here. And besides it would have taken a lot of Washington DC's space.
Posted by Abdullah on December 12,2011 | 06:31 PM
i am glad that it was not built because then if it was finished,it would take up a lot of Washington D.C.everyone would be unhappy in a way because if there trying to see fire works on the forth of July, then they wont be able to see anything.
Posted by jonathon moreno on December 8,2011 | 03:02 PM
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