1.
United States Capitol
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The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol Building or Capitol Hill, is the home of the United States Congress, and the seat of the legislative branch of the U. S. federal government. It sits atop Capitol Hill at the end of the National Mall in Washington. Though not at the center of the Federal District, the Capitol forms the origin point for the Districts street-numbering system. The original building was completed in 1800 and was subsequently expanded, like the principal buildings of the executive and judicial branches, the Capitol is built in a distinctive neoclassical style and has a white exterior. Both its east and west elevations are referred to as fronts, though only the east front was intended for the reception of visitors. In 2014, scaffolding was erected around the dome for a project scheduled to be completed by early 2017. All exterior scaffolding was removed by the end of summer 2016, prior to establishing the nations capital in Washington, D. C. the United States Congress and its predecessors had met in Philadelphia, New York City, and a number of other locations. In September 1774, the First Continental Congress brought together delegates from the colonies in Philadelphia, followed by the Second Continental Congress, Congress requested that John Dickinson, the Governor of Pennsylvania, call up the militia to defend Congress from attacks by the protesters. In what became known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, Dickinson sympathized with the protesters and refused to remove them from Philadelphia. As a result, Congress was forced to flee to Princeton, New Jersey, on June 21,1783, and met in Annapolis, Maryland, the United States Congress was established upon ratification of the United States Constitution and formally began on March 4,1789. New York City remained home to Congress until July 1790, when the Residence Act was passed to pave the way for a permanent capital. As part of the legislation, Philadelphia was chosen as a capital for ten years, until the nations capital in Washington. Pierre Charles LEnfant was given the task of creating the city plan for the new capital city, in reviewing LEnfants plan, Thomas Jefferson insisted the legislative building be called the Capitol rather than Congress House. The word Capitol comes from Latin and is associated with the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Capitoline Hill, the connection between the two is not, however, crystal clear. In spring 1792, United States Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson proposed a competition to solicit designs for the Capitol and the Presidents House. The prize for the competition was $500 and a lot in the Federal City, the most promising of the submissions was by Stephen Hallet, a trained French architect. However, Hallets designs were overly fancy, with too much French influence, a late entry by amateur architect William Thornton was submitted on January 31,1793, to much praise for its Grandeur, Simplicity, and Beauty by Washington, along with praise from Thomas Jefferson. Thornton was inspired by the east front of the Louvre, as well as the Paris Pantheon for the portion of the design
2.
United States Senate
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The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of the United States Constitution. S. From 1789 until 1913, Senators were appointed by the legislatures of the states represented, following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The Senate chamber is located in the wing of the Capitol, in Washington. It further has the responsibility of conducting trials of those impeached by the House, in the early 20th century, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began, although they are not constitutional officers. This idea of having one chamber represent people equally, while the other gives equal representation to states regardless of population, was known as the Connecticut Compromise, there was also a desire to have two Houses that could act as an internal check on each other. One was intended to be a Peoples House directly elected by the people, the other was intended to represent the states to such extent as they retained their sovereignty except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government. The Senate was thus not designed to serve the people of the United States equally, the Constitution provides that the approval of both chambers is necessary for the passage of legislation. First convened in 1789, the Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate, the name is derived from the senatus, Latin for council of elders. James Madison made the comment about the Senate, In England, at this day, if elections were open to all classes of people. An agrarian law would take place. If these observations be just, our government ought to secure the permanent interests of the country against innovation, landholders ought to have a share in the government, to support these invaluable interests, and to balance and check the other. They ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority, the senate, therefore, ought to be this body, and to answer these purposes, the people ought to have permanency and stability. The Constitution stipulates that no constitutional amendment may be created to deprive a state of its equal suffrage in the Senate without that states consent, the District of Columbia and all other territories are not entitled to representation in either House of the Congress. The District of Columbia elects two senators, but they are officials of the D. C. city government. The United States has had 50 states since 1959, thus the Senate has had 100 senators since 1959. In 1787, Virginia had roughly ten times the population of Rhode Island, whereas today California has roughly 70 times the population of Wyoming and this means some citizens are effectively two orders of magnitude better represented in the Senate than those in other states. Seats in the House of Representatives are approximately proportionate to the population of each state, before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, Senators were elected by the individual state legislatures
3.
Hart Senate Office Building
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Construction began in January 1975, and it was first occupied in November 1982. Rapidly rising construction costs plagued the building, creating several scandals, the structure is named for Philip Hart, who served 18 years as a senator from Michigan. The Dirksen Senate Office Building was intended to occupy the block bounded by 1st Street NE, Constitution Avenue NE, 2nd Street NE. However, due to the resource and financial demands of the Korean War, in 1969, Congress voted to acquire the eastern half of the block for a New Senate Office Building. Originally, the Senate intended only to build a $21 million underground parking garage here and that effort was approved in June 1971. But in May 1972, the Subcommittee on Buildings of the Senate Committee on Public Works approved a plan to construct the New Senate Office Building above the parking garage, the buildings cost was estimated at $48 million in June 1972. The full Senate approved the plan in September 1972. Warneckes design for the building was approved by the Senate Committee on Public Works on August 8,1974. Warnecke was given just two weeks to come up with the cost estimate, which the Architect of the Capitol later claimed was far too little time to generate an accurate cost forecast, by the end of the year, the estimated cost of construction had risen to $69 million. Ground for the new structure was broken in January 1975, the poor and uneven condition of the soil at the site caused delays in the excavation, and major cost increases. When the foundations were finished, it was discovered many of the anchoring bolts were misaligned and had to be replaced. This also added new costs to the project. On August 30,1976, the Senate voted to name the new building the Philip A. Hart Senate Office Building in honor of retiring Senator Philip Hart. Hart died on December 26,1976, of melanoma, having declined to run for reelection the previous November, by August 1978, actual construction costs were now $85 million and were expected to top $122 million. The Senate approved a plan to spend another $54 million on the structure, initially, the House approved this plan. But when constituents bitterly complained, the House reversed itself on both counts, by 1979, construction estimates had soared to $179 million, and the General Accounting Office said it would rise to $230 million without changes. In July 1979, the Senate agreed to cap costs at $137.7 million after an acrimonious three-hour debate during which some suggested the building be torn down. The Hart Senate Office Building was completed in September 1982 at a cost of $137.7 million, Architect of the Capitol George M. White argued the construction cost was a reasonable $110 per square foot
4.
United States Supreme Court Building
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The Supreme Court Building is the seat of the Supreme Court of the United States and the Judicial Branch thereof. Completed in 1935, it is situated in Washington, D. C. at 1 First Street, NE, the building is under the jurisdiction of the Architect of the Capitol. On May 4,1987, the Supreme Court Building was designated a National Historic Landmark, prior to the establishment of the Federal City, the United States government resided briefly in New York City. As such, the Supreme Court met there during this time in the Merchants Exchange Building, after the federal government moved to Washington, D. C. the court had no permanent meeting location until 1810. In 1810, the Supreme Court first occupied the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the Capitol, as the Senate expanded, it progressively outgrew its quarters. In 1860, the Supreme Court moved to the Old Senate Chamber where it remained until its move to the current Supreme Court building, the court was finally designed by Cass Gilbert, who created many other structures in the United States. The Supreme Court Building is located at 1 First Street, NE and was designed by architect Cass Gilbert and it rises four stories above ground. The cornerstone was laid on October 13,1932, and construction completed in 1935, the Supreme Court Building is built in the Neoclassical style. The public façade is made of marble quarried from Vermont, most of the interior spaces are lined with Alabama marble, except for the Courtroom itself, which is lined with Spanish ivory vein marble. For the Courtrooms 24 columns, Gilbert felt that only the ivory buff and golden marble from the Montarrenti quarries near Siena, Italy would suffice. To this end, in May 1933, he petitioned the Italian Premier, Benito Mussolini, not all the justices were thrilled by the new arrangements, the courtroom in particular. Harlan Fiske Stone complained it was almost bombastically pretentious. Wholly inappropriate for a group of old boys such as the Supreme Court. The New Yorker columnist Howard Brubaker noted at the time of its opening that it had fine big windows to throw the New Deal out of. The west façade of the bears the motto Equal Justice Under Law, while the east façade bears the motto Justice. After the incident, planning was initiated to repair the west façade which includes cleaning, removal of debris, in 2012 scaffolding encased the west façade printed with a full-size photograph of the façade. The project was completed in 2013, the Supreme Court Buildings facilities include, In the basement, maintenance facilities, garage, on-site mailroom. On the first floor, Public information office, the clerks office, on the second floor, the Great Hall, the courtroom, the conference room, and all of the justices chambers except Justice Sotomayor. On the third floor, The office of Justice Sotomayor, the office of the Reporter of Decisions, the office
5.
Library of Congress
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The Library of Congress is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the de facto national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States, the Library is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D. C. it also maintains the Packard Campus in Culpeper, Virginia, which houses the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. The Library of Congress claims to be the largest library in the world and its collections are universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 450 languages. Two-thirds of the books it acquires each year are in other than English. The Library of Congress moved to Washington in 1800, after sitting for years in the temporary national capitals of New York. John J. Beckley, who became the first Librarian of Congress, was two dollars per day and was required to also serve as the Clerk of the House of Representatives. The small Congressional Library was housed in the United States Capitol for most of the 19th century until the early 1890s, most of the original collection had been destroyed by the British in 1814, during the War of 1812. To restore its collection in 1815, the bought from former president Thomas Jefferson his entire personal collection of 6,487 books. After a period of growth, another fire struck the Library in its Capitol chambers in 1851, again destroying a large amount of the collection. The Library received the right of transference of all copyrighted works to have two copies deposited of books, maps, illustrations and diagrams printed in the United States. It also began to build its collections of British and other European works and it included several stories built underground of steel and cast iron stacks. Although the Library is open to the public, only high-ranking government officials may check out books, the Library promotes literacy and American literature through projects such as the American Folklife Center, American Memory, Center for the Book, and Poet Laureate. James Madison is credited with the idea for creating a congressional library, part of the legislation appropriated $5,000 for the purchase of such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress. And for fitting up an apartment for containing them. Books were ordered from London and the collection, consisting of 740 books and 3 maps, was housed in the new Capitol, as president, Thomas Jefferson played an important role in establishing the structure of the Library of Congress. The new law also extended to the president and vice president the ability to borrow books and these volumes had been left in the Senate wing of the Capitol. One of the only congressional volumes to have survived was a government account book of receipts and it was taken as a souvenir by a British Commander whose family later returned it to the United States government in 1940. Within a month, former president Jefferson offered to sell his library as a replacement
6.
John Adams Building
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The John Adams Building is one of three library buildings of the Library of Congress in the United States. The building was built simply as an annex to the Librarys Main Building. It opened its doors to the public on January 3,1939 and it is located on Second Street SE between Independence Avenue and East Capitol Street in Washington, DC. The idea to construct a new building was presented to the United States Congress in 1928 at the urging of Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam. The bill was sponsored by U. S, representative Robert Luce, chairman of the House Committee on the Library. An additional appropriation approved on June 6,1935, brought the total authorization to $8,226,457, the contract stipulated completion by June 24,1938, but the building was not ready for occupancy until December 2,1938. The move of the Card Division started on December 12, the building is five stories in height above ground, with the fifth story set back 35 feet. It contains 180 miles of shelving and can hold ten million volumes, there are 12 tiers of stacks, extending from the cellar to the fourth floor. Each tier provides about 13 acres of shelf space, on June 13,1980, the structure acquired its present name, which honors John Adams, the former President of the United States who in 1800 approved the law establishing the Library of Congress. The building is faced in white Georgia marble and incorporated the use of new materials at the time such as block, formica, vitrolit. Commemorating the history of the word, artist Lee Lawrie sculpted figures into the bronze doors at the west and east entrances
7.
United States Botanic Garden
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The United States Botanic Garden is a botanic garden on the grounds of the United States Capitol in Washington, D. C. near Garfield Circle. The Botanic Garden is supervised by the Congress through the Architect of the Capitol, the USBG is open every day of the year, including federal holidays. It is the oldest continually operating botanic garden in the United States, the Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences in Washington, D. C. first suggested the creation of the Botanic Garden in 1816. In 1820, President James Monroe set aside 5 acres for a national greenhouse, the tract, which was swamp land, was located next to the Smithsonian Museum and a mere eighty feet from the steps of the Capitol. The land was situated between First and Third streets and Pennsylvania and Maryland avenues on the west side of the Capitol building and it was originally owned by David Burnes, the Scots farmer who owned much of the site of the city of Washington. He had been warned in 1796 that if he chose to plant crops on the avenue and it is probable that Thomas Jefferson was the first influential person who took an interest in cleaning up the brush that covered the land. By 1810, some rows of Lombardy poplars had been planted, however, one of the greatest accomplishments of the institution was the creation of a botanic garden in 1821. By the end of 1823 the swampy tract of land granted by Congress had been drained and leveled, a pond with an island at its center constructed. Trees and shrubs were planted, and the garden was maintained as well as scanty funds would permit until the institute expired in 1837, on May 26,1824, the grounds were extended and in 1825, they were enclosed. There seems to be no record of what improvements or plantings were made by the Columbian Institute, the institute had expended $1,500 on the grounds for walks and plantings and had asked Congress to be reimbursed, but this request was not granted. Although the membership roster of the Columbian Institution included many distinguished citizens and several presidents, they were unable to raise money for the greenhouse and lecture hall. Meetings were held in a variety of offices, including a committee room in the capitol building that Congress granted use of on December 20,1828. Despite all the hardships, the Institute quickly launched an effort to collect plants. In 1826, a committee was appointed to meet heads of government departments to help solicit all subjects of natural history that may be deemed interesting from foreign representatives. The following year, Secretary of the Treasury, Richard Rush was also involved in the solicitation by circulating a letter to foreign dignitaries, Plants and seeds made their way to the Institute from as far away as China and Brazil. Some came from nearby, such as Montgomery County in Maryland. In 1824, a List of Plants in the Botanic Garden of the Columbian Institute was prepared by William Elliot, the pamphlet mentioned more than 458 plants growing at that time. Sixteen years passed and by 1836, no further improvements had made on the property
8.
United States Capitol Visitor Center
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It is located below the East Front of the Capitol and its plaza, between the Capitol building and 1st Street East. The complex contains 580,000 square feet of space below ground on three floors, the overall projects budget was $621 million. The CVC has space for use by the Congress, including multiple new meeting, on the House side, there is a large room which will most likely be used by a committee. The new Congressional Auditorium, a 450-seat theater, will be available for use by members of Congress or for either House of Congress should their respective chamber be unavailable, the CVC officially opened on December 2,2008. This date was selected to coincide with the 145th anniversary of placing Thomas Crawfords Statue of Freedom atop the Capitol building in 1863, signifying the completion of construction of its dome. The CVC contains three levels, a balcony level entrance, the Emancipation Hall level and a third restricted level for new Congressional offices. The construction of the CVC represents the expansion of the United States Capitol. The American Institute of Architects awarded RTKL Associates Inc. with the Award of Excellence in Historic Resources for their work on the U. S. Capitol Visitor Center. The award was presented at the Architecture Week Closing Party & Design Awards Gala on September 30,2010, in Washington, Construction of the CVC was supervised by the Architect of the Capitol. That post was held by Alan Hantman, FAIA until his term expired on February 4,2007, construction was continued by then Acting Architect of the Capitol Stephen T. Ayers, AIA. The ceremonial ground breaking for the CVC took place on June 20,2000, although originally planned to be completed by January 2004, the final completion date was extended to December 2,2008. The proposed cost was originally $71 million, but it has risen to $621 million, the CVC has caused controversy for being over budget and behind schedule. Much of this is blamed on the rising cost of fuel, post-9/11 security measures, at a hearing on the CVC cost-overruns Representative Jack Kingston called it a monument to government inefficiency, ineptitude and excessiveness. The first major contract, worth nearly $100 million, was awarded to Balfour Beatty. By July 2005, Balfour Beatty Construction completed all excavation and structural activities, the space is mainly designed for use as a holding zone for visitors waiting to take tours of the Capitol. The number of visitors to the Capitol has tripled from 1,000,000 in 1970 to nearly 3,000,000 as of recent times. In the past, visitors were required to line up on the Capitols east stairs and this wait could last hours and no protection was offered against inclement weather. Tickets were not timed and were on a first-come, first-served basis, with the addition of the CVC, visitors now have a secure, handicap-accessible, and educational place to wait before their Capitol tours commence
9.
Monument
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The term monument is often applied to buildings or structures that are considered examples of important architectural and/or cultural heritage. Monuments have been created for thousands of years, and they are often the most durable, in more recent times, monumental structures such as the Statue of Liberty and Eiffel Tower have become iconic emblems of modern nation-states. The term monumentality relates to the status and physical presence of a monument. Monuments are frequently used to improve the appearance of a city or location, planned cities such as Washington D. C. New Delhi and Brasília are often built around monuments, for example, the Washington Monuments location was conceived by LEnfant to help organize public space in the city, before it was designed or constructed. Older cities have monuments placed at locations that are important or are sometimes redesigned to focus on one. As Shelley suggested in his famous poem Ozymandias, the purpose of monuments is often to impress or awe. Structures created for purposes that have been made notable by their age. This can happen because of age and size, as in the case of the Great Wall of China. Monuments are also designed to convey historical or political information. They can be used to reinforce the primacy of political power. The social meanings of monuments are rarely fixed and certain and are contested by different social groups. This contention of meaning is a theme of modern post processual archaeological discourse. Until recently, it was customary for archaeologists to study large monuments, New ideas about what constitutes the archaeological record have revealed that certain legislative and theoretical approaches to the subject are too focused on earlier definitions of monuments. An example has been the United Kingdoms Scheduled Ancient Monument laws, recently, more and more monuments are being preserved digitally through organisations as CyArk. Cenotaphs and other memorials to commemorate the dead, usually war casualties, e. g. India Gate and Vimy Ridge Memorial, or disaster casualties, such as the Titanic Memorial, Belfast. Church monuments to commemorate the dead, located above or near their grave, often featuring an effigy, columns, often topped with a statue, e. g. Berlin Victory Column, Nelsons Column in London, and Trajans Column in Rome. Gravestones, small monuments to the deceased, placed at their gravesites, e. g. the tombs and vaults of veterans in Les Invalides, mausoleums and tombs to honor the dead, e. g. the Great Pyramid of Giza and Taj Mahal
10.
Sculpture
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Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. It is one of the plastic arts, a wide variety of materials may be worked by removal such as carving, assembled by welding or modelling, or molded, or cast. However, most ancient sculpture was painted, and this has been lost. Those cultures whose sculptures have survived in quantities include the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, India and China, the Western tradition of sculpture began in ancient Greece, and Greece is widely seen as producing great masterpieces in the classical period. During the Middle Ages, Gothic sculpture represented the agonies and passions of the Christian faith, the revival of classical models in the Renaissance produced famous sculptures such as Michelangelos David. Relief is often classified by the degree of projection from the wall into low or bas-relief, high relief, sunk-relief is a technique restricted to ancient Egypt. Relief sculpture may also decorate steles, upright slabs, usually of stone, techniques such as casting, stamping and moulding use an intermediate matrix containing the design to produce the work, many of these allow the production of several copies. The term sculpture is used mainly to describe large works. The very large or colossal statue has had an enduring appeal since antiquity, another grand form of portrait sculpture is the equestrian statue of a rider on horse, which has become rare in recent decades. The smallest forms of life-size portrait sculpture are the head, showing just that, or the bust, small forms of sculpture include the figurine, normally a statue that is no more than 18 inches tall, and for reliefs the plaquette, medal or coin. Sculpture is an important form of public art, a collection of sculpture in a garden setting can be called a sculpture garden. One of the most common purposes of sculpture is in form of association with religion. Cult images are common in cultures, though they are often not the colossal statues of deities which characterized ancient Greek art. The actual cult images in the innermost sanctuaries of Egyptian temples, of which none have survived, were rather small. The same is true in Hinduism, where the very simple. Some undoubtedly advanced cultures, such as the Indus Valley civilization, appear to have had no monumental sculpture at all, though producing very sophisticated figurines, the Mississippian culture seems to have been progressing towards its use, with small stone figures, when it collapsed. Other cultures, such as ancient Egypt and the Easter Island culture, from the 20th century the relatively restricted range of subjects found in large sculpture expanded greatly, with abstract subjects and the use or representation of any type of subject now common. Today much sculpture is made for intermittent display in galleries and museums, small sculpted fittings for furniture and other objects go well back into antiquity, as in the Nimrud ivories, Begram ivories and finds from the tomb of Tutankhamun
