This weekend, I was pointed to a post by Architect of the Capital (not to be confused with the Architect of the Capitol) about a trove of Soviet-era maps, the men who have made a study of them – and the map of Washington, D.C. that was created at a time when it might have […]
We all appreciate the beauty of the Architect of the Capitol’s landscaping. It’s a locals’ pleasure to walk around the grounds with their perfectly manicured lawns and carefully pruned trees that mostly conform to Frederick Law Olmsted’s original plan –except for the odd flowering tree here and there. But one of the most stunning displays […]
A friend (OK, actually The Hill is Home’s own Maria Helena Carey) asked about the odd columns in the National Gallery’s sculpture garden. Made of dingy sandstone, they match the huts that sit on Constitution Avenue, on the Ellipse, and at the corners of 15th and 17th Streets. As it turns out, these do have […]
It’s not quite the view I love, but man, the Capitol Dome Restoration Project and it’s miles of scaffolding are impressive. Some numbers about said scaffolding to ponder, courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol: 1.1 million lbs. weight of scaffold 75,000+ pieces of equipment 52 miles of scaffold pipe 2 miles of decking, enough to build a sidewalk 5 […]
Just when it seemed that the greater Union Station area was done with the construction that has uglified the grounds for years and snarled traffic along Massachusetts Avenue, until the will to live is all but gone, a new construction area has been set up in the open space adjacent to the Thurgood Marshall Federal […]