Grand Avenues


Book Description

In 1791, shortly after the United States won its independence, George Washington personally asked Pierre Charles L’Enfant—a young French artisan turned American revolutionary soldier who gained many friends among the Founding Fathers—to design the new nation's capital. L’Enfant approached this task with unparalleled vigor and passion; however, his imperious and unyielding nature also made him many powerful enemies. After eleven months, Washington reluctantly dismissed L’Enfant from the project. Subsequently, the plan for the city was published under another name, and L’Enfant died long before it was rightfully attributed to him. Filled with incredible characters and passionate human drama, Scott W. Berg’s deft narrative account of this little-explored story in American history is a tribute to the genius of Pierre Charles L'Enfant and the enduring city that is his legacy.




Paris on the Potomac


Book Description

In 1910 John Merven Carrère, a Paris-trained American architect, wrote, “Learning from Paris made Washington outstanding among American cities.” The five essays in Paris on the Potomac explore aspects of this influence on the artistic and architectural environment of Washington, D.C., which continued long after the well-known contributions of Peter Charles L’Enfant, the transplanted French military officer who designed the city’s plan. Isabelle Gournay’s introductory essay provides an overview and examines the context and issues involved in three distinct periods of French influence: the classical and Enlightenment principles that prevailed from the 1790s through the 1820s, the Second Empire style of the 1850s through the 1870s, and the Beaux-Arts movement of the early twentieth century. William C. Allen and Thomas P. Somma present two case studies: Allen on the influence of French architecture, especially the Halle aux Blés, on Thomas Jefferson’s vision of the U.S. Capitol; and Somma on David d’Angers’s busts of George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. Liana Paredes offers a richly detailed examination of French-inspired interior decoration in the homes of Washington’s elite in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Cynthia R. Field concludes the volume with a consideration of the influence of Paris on city planning in Washington, D.C., including the efforts of the McMillan Commission and the later development of the Federal Triangle complex. The essays in this collection, the latest addition to the series Perspectives on the Art and Architectural History of the United States Capitol, originated in a conference held by the U.S. Capitol Historical Society in 2002 at the French Embassy’s Maison Française.




Capital Speculations


Book Description

An imaginative analysis of the interplay between rhetoric and physical space in the creation of the nation's capital.




The Complete Idiot's Guide to Freemasonry


Book Description

In The Complete Idiot's Guide to Freemasonry, an expert author reveals the truths and dispels the myths that have surrounded the Freemasons for hundreds of years- Were the first masons 14th-century stone masons and cathedral builders, or can Freemasonry really be traced back as far as Egypt, Babylon, and Palestine? The Masonic insistence on the belief in a Supreme Being The Masons and the Knights Templar True or false- the Masons coordinated the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution. How are Masons initiated, and exactly what goes on in a Masonic lodge? What s the difference between the York Rite and the Scottish Rite, and are there women and African American Freemasons? The Masons in the streets of Washington, DC- a tour







The Art of Classic Planning


Book Description

"An accomplished architect and urbanist goes back to the roots of what makes cities attractive and livable, demonstrating how we can restore function and beauty to our urban spaces for the long term. Nearly everything we treasure in the worldÕs most beautiful cities was built over a century ago. Cities like Prague, Paris, and Lisbon draw millions of visitors from around the world because of their exquisite architecture, walkable neighborhoods, and human scale. Yet a great deal of the knowledge and practice behind successful city planning has been abandoned over the last hundred yearsÑnot because of traffic, population growth, or other practical hurdles, but because of ill-considered theories emerging from Modernism and reactions to it. The errors of urban design over the last century are too great not to question. The solutions being offered todayÑsustainability, walkability, smart and green technologiesÑhint at what has been lost and what may be regained, but they remain piecemeal and superficial. In The Art of Classic Planning, architect and planner Nir Haim Buras documents and extends the time-tested and holistic practices that held sway before the reign of Modernism. With hundreds of full-color illustrations and photographs that will captivate architects, planners, administrators, and developers, The Art of Classic Planning restores and revitalizes the foundations of urban planning. Inspired by venerable cities like Kyoto, Vienna, and Venice, and by the great successes of LÕEnfantÕs Washington, HaussmannÕs Paris, and BurnhamÕs Chicago, Buras combines theory and a host of examples to arrive at clear guidelines for best practices in classic planning for todayÕs world. The Art of Classic Planning celebrates the enduring principles of urban design and invites us to return to building beautiful cities."




Peter Charles L'Enfant


Book Description




American Architecture: 1607-1860


Book Description

The first volume of a two-volume survey of American Architecture, this book covers architectural developments from Jamestown to the Civil War.




Grand Avenues


Book Description

In 1791, shortly after the United States won its independence, George Washington personally asked Pierre Charles L’Enfant—a young French artisan turned American revolutionary soldier who gained many friends among the Founding Fathers—to design the new nation's capital. L’Enfant approached this task with unparalleled vigor and passion; however, his imperious and unyielding nature also made him many powerful enemies. After eleven months, Washington reluctantly dismissed L’Enfant from the project. Subsequently, the plan for the city was published under another name, and L’Enfant died long before it was rightfully attributed to him. Filled with incredible characters and passionate human drama, Scott W. Berg’s deft narrative account of this little-explored story in American history is a tribute to the genius of Pierre Charles L'Enfant and the enduring city that is his legacy.




Sixteenth Street NW


Book Description

DeFerrari and Sefton have created a highly illustrated architectural “biography” of one of DC’s most important boulevards. From the front door of the White House, this north-south artery runs through the middle of the DC and extends just past its border with Maryland, making it as central to the cityscape as it is to DC’s history and culture.