LEGO ARCHITECTURE 21030 UNITED STATES CAPITOL BUILDING, Инструкция по сборке, Страница: 8 / 156

8
The Architects
The U.S. Capitol Building has become a landmark of 19th
century neoclassical architecture, but the history behind its
design and construction is full of controversy and drama.
The amateur architect William Thornton (1759-1828) was
born in the British West Indies and became an American
citizen in 1787 after completing a medical degree in
Scotland. While his design for the Capitol won him praise
from the President (as well as $500 and a building lot in
the city), the professional architects employed to oversee
the construction were less impressed and tried to alter his
design at every turn.
Stephen Hallet (1755-1825) was a professionally trained
architect from France. He arrived in the U.S. around 1790 and
submitted at least five designs of his own for the Capitol
building. Placed in charge of the construction process in
1793, Hallet revised the floor plan of the two wings before
being dismissed a year later for insubordination.
The English born architect George Hadfield (1763-1826)
took over from Hallet and straightaway suggested major
alterations to the original plan. Before his dismissal in
1798, he designed the first office buildings for the cabinet
departments.
James Hoban (1758-1831) had supervised both Hallet and
Hadfield and now took over the day-to-day supervision.
Born in Ireland, he had moved to the U.S. in 1785 after
studying architecture in Dublin. Hoban supervised the
completion of the north wing and designed its interior, while
also overseeing the building of the White House.
The 1850 expansion of the U.S. Capitol was carried out by
the American architect Thomas U Walter (1804-1887). The
construction of his two new wings more than doubled the
length of the Capitol. As the original dome of 1818 no longer
matched the bigger building, Walter replaced it with the
larger dome that still stands today.
[ ...the Capitol “ought to be upon
a scale far superior to anything
in this Country” ]
George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 1792