A few nice 4 axis milling images I found:
Kogod Courtyard – northeast corner – Smithsonian American Art Museum – 2013-01-04
Image by Tim Evanson
Standing in the southeast corner of the Kogod Courtyard looking northwest and up at the canopy over the central courtyard linking the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States.
U.S. patent law of 1790 required inventors to submit a scale model of their invention. In 1810, Congress authorized the purchase of the unfinished Blodgett’s Hotel to house the U.S. Post Office and the Patent Office. But the patent office quickly ran out of space due to the hundreds of models it had to house. Even though Blodgett’s Hotel was enlarged in 1829, the need for a new building was clear. On July 4, 1836 (the same date it enacted the landmark Patent Act of 1836), Congress authorized erection of a new patent office building. But even as ground was broken for the new building, Blodgett’s Hotel burned to the ground on December 15, 1836, causing the loss of nearly all its records and models, and its entire library.
Architect Robert Mills designed the new Patent Office building. Mills was a protegé of Benjamin Henry Latrobe (architect of the Capitol) and James Hoban (architect of the White House), and had designed many important churches in the U.S. as well as a highly regarded prison in New Jersey notable for its reformatory rather than punitive aspects. 1836 was "the year of Mills". Not only did he win the Patent Office commission, but his designs for the Washington Monument and the Treasury Building were also chosen by the federal government.
The Patent Office building was built on a large public square which Pierre L’Enfant had originally set aside for a massive nondenominational church. Both G Street and F Street were diverted around this square, which was a third larger than the average block in the city. Mills designed a Greek Revival structure that would have massive, ceremonial entrances on both the north and south sides. His model was the Parthenon in Athens. This was a new design, for most neoclassical buildings in D.C. had been based on Roman structures or Romanesque Revival buildings constructed during the Renaissance (1400 to 1650). Mills was a big promoter of "fireproof" buildings made with as little timber as possible. This meant using masonry piers and vaults, and iron trusses where possible. As this was the day of whale-oil lighting, Mills designed the building to have a large inner courtyard so that light could reach both the inner and outer offices. The fourth floor of the building also had skylights ("light courts"); this meant the fourth floor could be used for clerical offices (which needed a lot of light), while models, archives, and the library could be on the darker first, second, and third floors.
The Patent Office was made part of the State Department in 1802, because patents involved international law. Under the supervision of the Secretary of State, the south wing of the Patent Office was completed in 1840. In 1849, Congress created the Department of the Interior, and transferred the patent office to this new department. The Interior Department moved into the Patent Office Building alongside its new agency.
Criticizing architects was the main sport of Congress in the early days of the republic. Few buildings were erected with federal funds anywhere in the country (except for post offics and customs houses), and members of Congress were routinely criticized for "subsidizing" the growth of Washington by allocating money for construction there. Furthermore, architects who lost competitions wasted no time in undermining the reputation and work of those who won them, hoping to get the architect fired and to replace him.
Sure enough, construction on the Patent Office building was very slow. Mills was frequently attacked for incompetence, and in congressional committees (hardly staffed with experts!) forced him to add unnecessary tie rods and iron bracing to the building. His most critical opponent wa William Easby, commissioner of public buildings. Easby ran a quarry, and had lost several contracts for the Patent Office building after supply far inferior product. He now took his reveange, repeatedly and without evidence attacking the structural soundsness of Mills’ designs. Mills’ relationship with Congress soured, and he was dismissed in April 1851.
Another of Mills’ harshest critics was architect Thomas U. Walter. A believer in Greek Revival architecture, Walter had designed a large number of banks, churches, courthouses, prisons, and residences in the country. In 1850, he won the competition for the design of the east extention of the U.S. Capitol (and would later design, with Captain Montgomery Meigs of the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Capitol dome).
In 1852, Congress appropriated money for the construction of the east wing, the west wing, and the basement beneath the courtyard. The east wing was completed and occupied in January or February of 1853. This was followed by money for the facade of the north wing in 1856, and completion of the west wing (for patent models) and more construction of the north facade in 1857. The west wing opened in 1856. Money was approved for adding the fourth floor to the west wing in 1858, and completion of the north wing in 1859.
Due to the exigencies of the Civil War, the north wing was not completed and occupied until 1867.
The third floor and attic of the west and north wings of the Patent Office were destroyed by fire in 1877. The cause of the blaze was never fully determined, although many thought that sparks from chimneys landed on the wooden roof above the patent model rooms. (Others thought the fire originated in the patent model rooms.) Not surprisingly, Mill’s masonry vaults withstood the fire; Walter’s much weaker iron-braced vaults collapsed.
Local German-American architect Adolf Cluss was hired to rebuild the Patent Office Building. Cluss had designed a large number of churches, hotels, office buildings, residences, retail buildings (including the city’s first department store, the Lansburgh), and schools in the city. He designed the first Department of Agriculture headquarters in 1867, Center Market (the most advanced public marketplace and grocery store in the country) in 1871, and Eastern Market in 1872 (it still stands), and he rebuilt the Smithsonian Castle in 1867 after a devastating fire there. (His work on the Patent Office reconstruction won him the competition to design the Smithsonian Arts & Industries Building in 1879.) In 1872, Cluss was named City Engineer, and he oversaw the design and construction of the great expansion of public works that transformed Washington in the 1870s: street paving, sewer construction, gas lines, street lighting, and the planting of thousands of trees.
Cluss largely retained the neoclassical facades by Mills and Walter, but made some changes to reflect a more Renaissance look and feel. His greatest changes, however, came in the interior. He significantly strengthened the structural elements of the interior (so they could withstand another fire), which created numerous marble pillars and beautiful vaulted masonry ceilings throughout the interior. He also paved the floors with brilliantly colored encaustic tile, added wonderfully detailed decorative iron railings, and lined the halls with marble wainscoting. He also added a grand double-curved staircase to the south entrance, a Great Hall to replace the model rooms, and installed brilliant stained glass windows throughout. Cluss also redesigned the grand south entrance staircase, which had been damaged by firefighters in 1877.
The Patent Office used the building until 1932, when it moved to new headquarters due to space needs. The Civil Service Commission occupied the building afterward. Appallingly, the widening of F Street in 1935 amputated the monumental south stairs. The Patent Office Building was due to be demolished in 1953. But in one of the first preservation efforts in D.C., it was saved. President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave it to the Smithsonian in 1958. Starting in fall 1964, it was renovated into a museum by the firm of Faulkner, Kingsbury & Stenhouse. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965, and opened as the National Museum of American Art (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum) and the National Portrait Gallery in January 1968. The north wing housed the art museum and the south wing the portrait gallery. Offices and a cafe occupied the east wing, and the west wing was empty. The open-air courtyard had an outdoor cafe.
By 1999, the Old Patent Office Building was in serious need of renovation. Much of the interior space had been converted into office space, making visitor circulation poor. Drop-ceilings of particleboard covered up the vaulted ceilings, many windows had been boarded up on the inside and outside (to prevent light from entering and to add display space), and hallways had been partitioned to add office space and create narrow, ugly galleries. Floors were built across the open space between the mezzanines in the Great Hall to add more space, the great double-staircase on the south side was concealed and used for staff only, and much of the interior moldings, pilasters, cornices, pillars and capitals had been covered over with plywood to create a "modern" look. Outside, the porticos had been closed off, and in some cases concealed or altered to make the columns appear to be pilasters (fake columns). The great north staircase was closed, and the south staircase replaced with modern steel steps.
The building closed in 2000. Most of the modifications to the interior were ripped out, revealing the amazing, colorful magnificence of the original building’s interior. The Great Hall was restored, the north staircase reopened, the double-staircase in the south reopened and restores, the colonnades restored, the vaulting in the galleries revealed, the windows reopened, and the fourth floor skylights reinstalled. Full circulation on the first three floors was also restored. Most significantly, the open-air courtyard was covered over to create a new dining and performance space. Although this was not part of the original renovation project, the Smithsonian began considering enclosing the courtyard in 2002. Approval from Congress was secured in August 2003.
The renovation was overseen by architects Warren Cox and Mary Kay Lanzillotta of the D.C. firm of Hartman-Cox Architects. The Kogod Courtyard canopy was designed by the British firm of Foster and Partners in cooperation with the British firm of Buro Happold. Interior and exterior landscaping was designed by the landscape architectural firm of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol.
The total cost of the was 3 million — 6 million in federal money, million in miscellaneous private donations and million from the Kogod family for the courtyard, and million in miscellaneous private donations for preservation of the building.
The Old Patent Office Building reopened in July 2006. The Kogod Courtyard opened in November 2007.
Renovations included the Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium in the basement. The Great Hall was completely restored along with its two mezzanines. The Luce Foundation Center for American Art was built around the circumference of the Great Hall, and on the two mezzanines above it. This new gallery space displays more than 3,300 artworks in secure glass cases, paintings densely hung on screens, three-dimensional art (sculptures, etc.) on shelves, and small artwork (miniatures, medals, jewelry) in pneumatic drawers.
Northwest corner of third floor contains office space for the two museums. But the third and fourth floor mezzanines now house the Lunder Conservation Center — a space where the public can see artwork being restored and conserved, and where information on art preservation and curation is displayed and provided in computer stations and kiosks. Third floor mezzanine space over the grand double-staircase was also opened creating two new, narrow gallery spaces.
But the most astonishing change was the creation of the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard. (Robert Kogod was CEO of the Charles E. Smith Co., a huge real estate development firm in D.C., and his wife Arlene Smith Kogod is heir to the Smith fortune.) To cover the 28,000-square-foot courtyard, a system of eight aluminum columns was built to support the canopy without putting any structural stress on the Old Patent Office Building itself. The canopy is an aluminum grid containing double-glazed glass panels, which appears to float over the courtyard.
Kathryn Gustafson of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol designed the new courtyard interior. The grass and pathways were removed, and black granite paving installed. White marble planters on the south and north sides contain ficus and black olive trees, ferns, shrubs, and seasonal plantings. Four water scrims, each a quarter-inch deep, run down the south-center axis.
Lincoln Memorial
Image by Jack Says Relax
The Lincoln Memorial is an American national monument built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. across from the Washington Monument. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor of the primary statue – Abraham Lincoln, 1920 – was Daniel Chester French, and the painter of the interior murals was Jules Guerin. Dedicated in 1922, it is one of several monuments built to honor an American president.
The building is in the form of a Greek Doric temple and contains a large seated sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and inscriptions of two well-known speeches by Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural Address. The memorial has been the site of many famous speeches, including Martin Luther King’s "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on August 28, 1963 during the rally at the end of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Like other monuments on the National Mall – including the nearby Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, and National World War II Memorial – the memorial is administered by the National Park Service under its National Mall and Memorial Parks group. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since October 15, 1966. It is open to the public 24 hours a day. In 2007, it was ranked seventh on the List of America’s Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.
The first public memorial to Abraham Lincoln in Washington D.C. was a statue by Lot Flannery erected in front of the District of Columbia City Hall in 1868, three years after Lincoln’s assassination.[2] Demands for a fitting national memorial had been voiced since the time of Lincoln’s death. In 1867, the Congress passed the first of many bills incorporating a commission to erect a monument for the sixteenth president. An American sculptor, Clark Mills, was chosen to design the monument. His plans reflected the nationalistic spirit of the time, and called for a 70-foot (21 m) structure adorned with six equestrian and 31 pedestrian statues of colossal proportions, crowned by a 12-foot (3.7 m) statue of Abraham Lincoln. Subscriptions for the project were insufficient.[3]
The matter lay dormant until the start of the 20th century, when, under the leadership of Senator Shelby M. Cullom of Illinois, six separate bills were introduced in Congress for the incorporation of a new memorial commission. The first five bills, proposed in the years 1901, 1902, and 1908, met with defeat because of opposition from Speaker Joe Cannon. The sixth bill (Senate Bill 9449), introduced on December 13, 1910, passed. The Lincoln Memorial Commission had its first meeting the following year and former U.S. President William H. Taft was chosen as the commission’s president. Progress continued at a steady pace and by 1913 Congress had approved of the Commission’s choice of design and location.
The commission’s plan was questioned. Many thought that architect Henry Bacon’s Greek temple design was far too ostentatious for a man of Lincoln’s humble character. Instead they proposed a simple log cabin shrine. The site too did not go unopposed. The recently reclaimed land in West Potomac Park was seen by many to be either too swampy or too inaccessible. Other sites, such as Union Station, were put forth. The Commission stood firm in its recommendation, feeling that the Potomac Park location, situated on the Washington Monument-Capitol axis, overlooking the Potomac River and surrounded by open land, was ideal. Furthermore, the Potomac Park site had already been designated in the McMillan Plan of 1901 to be the location of a future monument comparable to that of the Washington Monument.[3][4]
With Congressional approval and a 0,000 allocation, the project got underway. On February 12, 1914, a dedication ceremony was conducted and following month the actual construction began. Work progressed steadily according to schedule. Some changes were made to the plan. The statue of Lincoln, originally designed to be 10 feet (3.0 m) tall, was enlarged to 19 feet (5.8 m) to prevent it from being overhelmed by the huge chamber. As late as 1920, the decision was made to substitute an open portal for the bronze and glass grille which was to have guarded the entrance. Despite these changes, the Memorial was finished on schedule. Commission president William H. Taft – who was then Chief Justice of the United States – dedicated the Memorial on May 30, 1922 and presented it to President Warren G. Harding, who accepted it on behalf of the American people. Lincoln’s only surviving son, 79-year-old Robert Todd Lincoln, was in attendance.[5]
The Memorial was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.[6]
The exterior of the Memorial echoes a classic Greek temple and features Yule marble from Colorado. The structure measures 189.7 by 118.5 feet (57.8 by 36.1 m) and is 99 feet (30 m) tall. It is surrounded by a peristyle of 36 fluted Doric columns, one for each of the 36 states in the Union at the time of Lincoln’s death, and two columns in-antis at the entrance behind the colonnade. The columns stand 44 feet (13 m) tall with a base diameter of 7.5 feet (2.3 m). Each column is built from 12 drums including the capital. The columns, like the exterior walls and façades, are inclined slightly toward the building’s interior. This is to compensate for perspective distortions which would otherwise make the memorial appear to bulge out at the top when compared with the bottom, a common feature of Ancient Greek architecture.[7]
Above the colonnade, inscribed on the frieze, are the names of the 36 states in the Union at the time of Lincoln’s death and the dates in which they entered the Union. Their names are separated by double wreath medallions in bas-relief. The cornice is composed of a carved scroll regularly interspersed with projecting lions’ heads and ornamented with palmetto cresting along the upper edge. Above this on the attic frieze are inscribed the names of the 48 states present at the time of the Memorial’s dedication. A bit higher is a garland joined by ribbons and palm leaves, supported by the wings of eagles. All ornamentation on the friezes and cornices was done by Ernest C. Bairstow.[7]
The Memorial is anchored in a concrete foundation, 44 to 66 feet (13 to 20 m) in depth, constructed by M. F. Comer and Company and the National Foundation and Engineering Company, and is encompassed by a 187-by-257-foot (57 by 78 m) rectangular granite retaining wall measuring 14 feet (4.3 m) in height.[7]
Leading up to the shrine on the east side are the main steps. Beginning at the edge of the Reflecting Pool, the steps rise to the Lincoln Memorial Circle roadway surrounding the edifice, then to the main portal, intermittently spaced with a series of platforms. Flanking the steps as they approach the entrance are two buttresses each crowned with an 11-foot (3.4 m) tall tripod carved from pink Tennessee marble[7] by the Piccirilli Brothers.[8]
The area where the statue stands is 60 feet wide, 74 feet long, and 60 feet high.[9] The interior of the Memorial is divided into three chambers by two rows of Ionic columns. These columns, four in each row, are 50 feet (15 m) tall and 5.5 feet (1.7 m) in diameter at their base. The north and south side chambers contain carved inscriptions of Lincoln’s second inaugural address and his Gettysburg Address.[10] Bordering these inscriptions are pilasters ornamented with fasces, eagles, and wreaths. The inscriptions and adjoining ornamentation were done by Evelyn Beatrice Longman.[7]
The Memorial is filled with symbolism: the 36 columns represent the states in the union at the time of Lincoln’s death, the 48 stone festoons on the attic above the columns represent the 48 states in 1922. Above each of the inscriptions is a 60-by-12-foot (18 by 3.7 m) mural painted by Jules Guerin graphically portraying governing principles evident in Lincoln’s life. On the south wall mural, Freedom, Liberty, Immortality, Justice, and the Law are pictured, while the north wall portrays Unity, Fraternity, and Charity. Both scenes contain a background of cypress trees, the emblem of Eternity. The murals were crafted with a special mixture of paint which included elements of kerosene and wax to protect the exposed artwork from fluctuations in temperature and moisture conditions.[11]
The ceiling of the Memorial, 60 feet (18 m) above the floor, is composed of bronze girders, ornamented with laurel and oak leaves. Between the girders are panels of Alabama marble, saturated with paraffin to increase their translucency. Despite the increased light from this device, Bacon and French felt the statue required even more light. They decided upon an artificial lighting system in which a louvered lighting panel would be set in the ceiling with metal slats to conceal the great floodlights. Custodians could adjust the lights from a control room, varying them according to the outside light. Funds for this expensive system were appropriated by Congress in 1926, and in 1929, seven years after the dedication, the statue was properly lighted. Since that time, only one major alteration has taken place in the Memorial’s design. This was the addition of an elevator within the structure to aid handicapped visitors, which was installed in the mid-1970s.[11]
Statue[edit]
Main article: Abraham Lincoln (French 1920)
IN THIS TEMPLE
AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE
FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION
THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IS ENSHRINED FOREVER
Epitaph above Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln Statue
Abraham Lincoln, by Daniel Chester French
General Robert E. Lee’s profile is purportedly hidden in Lincoln’s hair; the NPS claims it to be an urban legend.
Lying between the north and south chambers is the central hall containing the solitary figure of Lincoln sitting in contemplation. The statue was carved by the Piccirilli Brothers under the supervision of the sculptor, Daniel Chester French, and took four years to complete. The statue, originally intended to be only 10 feet (3.0 m) tall, was, on further consideration, enlarged so that it finally stood 19 feet (5.8 m) tall from head to foot, the scale being such that if Lincoln were standing, he would be 28 feet (8.5 m) tall. The extreme width of the statue is the same as its height. The Georgia white marble sculpture weighs 175 short tons (159 t) and had to be shipped in 28 separate pieces.[11]
The statue rests upon an oblong pedestal of Tennessee marble 10 feet (3.0 m) high, 16 feet (4.9 m) wide, and 17 feet (5.2 m) deep. Directly beneath this lies a platform of Tennessee marble about 34.5 feet (10.5 m) long, 28 feet (8.5 m) wide, and 6.5 inches (0.17 m) high. Lincoln’s arms rest on representations of Roman fasces, a subtle touch that associates the statue with the Augustan (and imperial) theme (obelisk and funerary monuments) of the Washington Mall.[12] The statue is discretely bordered by two pilasters, one on each side. Between these pilasters and above Lincoln’s head stands the engraved epitaph,[11] composed by Royal Cortissoz, shown in the box to the left.[13]
Sculptural features[edit]
The sculpture has been at the center of two urban legends. Some have claimed that the face of General Robert E. Lee was carved onto the back of Lincoln’s head,[14] and looks back across the Potomac toward his former home, Arlington House, now within the bounds of Arlington National Cemetery. Another popular legend is that Lincoln is shown using sign language to represent his initials, with his left hand shaped to form an "A" and his right hand to form an "L", the president’s initials. The National Park Service denies both legends.[14]
However, historian Gerald Prokopowicz writes that, while it is not clear that sculptor Daniel Chester French intended Lincoln’s hands to be formed into sign language versions of his initials, it is possible that French did intend it, because he was familiar with American Sign Language, and he would have had a reason to do so, that is, to pay tribute to Lincoln for having signed the federal legislation giving Gallaudet University, a university for the deaf, the authority to grant college degrees.[15] The National Geographic Society’s publication, "Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C." states that Daniel Chester French had a son who was deaf and that the sculptor was familiar with sign language.[16][17] Historian James A. Percoco has observed that, although there are no extant documents showing that French had Lincoln’s hands carved to represent the letters "A" and "L" in American Sign Language, "I think you can conclude that it’s reasonable to have that kind of summation about the hands."[18]
Sacred space[edit]
The March on Washington in 1963 brought 250,000 people to the National Mall and is famous for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech.
As Sandage, (1993) demonstrates, the Memorial has become a symbolically sacred venue especially for the Civil Rights movement. In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow the African-American contralto Marian Anderson to perform before an integrated audience at the organization’s Constitution Hall. At the suggestion of Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harold L. Ickes, the Secretary of the Interior, arranged for a performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday of that year, to a live audience of 70,000, and a nationwide radio audience.
On August 28, 1963, the memorial grounds were the site of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which proved to be a high point of the American Civil Rights Movement. It is estimated that approximately 250,000 people came to the event, where they heard Martin Luther King, Jr., deliver his historic speech, "I Have a Dream", before the memorial honoring the president who had issued the Emancipation Proclamation 100 years earlier. The D.C. police also appreciated the location because it was surrounded on three sides by water, so that any incident could be easily contained.[19] Twenty years later, on August 28, 1983, crowds gathered again to mark the 20th Anniversary Mobilization for Jobs, Peace and Freedom, to reflect on progress in gaining civil rights for African Americans and to commit to correcting continuing injustices. The "I Have a Dream" speech is such a part of the Lincoln Memorial story, that the spot on which King stood, on the landing eighteen steps below Lincoln’s statue, was engraved in 2003 in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the event. This engraving can be easy to miss unless one walks up the very center of the steps. The engraving is not large and the letters have not been painted in to make them more readable.
The location on the steps where King delivered the speech is commemorated with this inscription
At the memorial on May 9, 1970, President Richard Nixon had a middle-of-the-night impromptu, brief meeting with protesters who, just days after the Kent State shootings, were preparing to march against the Vietnam War.
The Memorial today[edit]
Approximately 6 million people visit the memorial annually.[20] In 2007, the Memorial was ranked seventh in the List of America’s Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.[21] The Memorial is open to the public 24 hours a day and is free to visit.
Kogod Courtyard – shadows on north wall – Smithsonian American Art Museum – 2013-01-04
Image by Tim Evanson
Standing in the southeast corner of the Kogod Courtyard looking north at mid-afternoon shadows on the wall of the central courtyard linking the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States.
U.S. patent law of 1790 required inventors to submit a scale model of their invention. In 1810, Congress authorized the purchase of the unfinished Blodgett’s Hotel to house the U.S. Post Office and the Patent Office. But the patent office quickly ran out of space due to the hundreds of models it had to house. Even though Blodgett’s Hotel was enlarged in 1829, the need for a new building was clear. On July 4, 1836 (the same date it enacted the landmark Patent Act of 1836), Congress authorized erection of a new patent office building. But even as ground was broken for the new building, Blodgett’s Hotel burned to the ground on December 15, 1836, causing the loss of nearly all its records and models, and its entire library.
Architect Robert Mills designed the new Patent Office building. Mills was a protegé of Benjamin Henry Latrobe (architect of the Capitol) and James Hoban (architect of the White House), and had designed many important churches in the U.S. as well as a highly regarded prison in New Jersey notable for its reformatory rather than punitive aspects. 1836 was "the year of Mills". Not only did he win the Patent Office commission, but his designs for the Washington Monument and the Treasury Building were also chosen by the federal government.
The Patent Office building was built on a large public square which Pierre L’Enfant had originally set aside for a massive nondenominational church. Both G Street and F Street were diverted around this square, which was a third larger than the average block in the city. Mills designed a Greek Revival structure that would have massive, ceremonial entrances on both the north and south sides. His model was the Parthenon in Athens. This was a new design, for most neoclassical buildings in D.C. had been based on Roman structures or Romanesque Revival buildings constructed during the Renaissance (1400 to 1650). Mills was a big promoter of "fireproof" buildings made with as little timber as possible. This meant using masonry piers and vaults, and iron trusses where possible. As this was the day of whale-oil lighting, Mills designed the building to have a large inner courtyard so that light could reach both the inner and outer offices. The fourth floor of the building also had skylights ("light courts"); this meant the fourth floor could be used for clerical offices (which needed a lot of light), while models, archives, and the library could be on the darker first, second, and third floors.
The Patent Office was made part of the State Department in 1802, because patents involved international law. Under the supervision of the Secretary of State, the south wing of the Patent Office was completed in 1840. In 1849, Congress created the Department of the Interior, and transferred the patent office to this new department. The Interior Department moved into the Patent Office Building alongside its new agency.
Criticizing architects was the main sport of Congress in the early days of the republic. Few buildings were erected with federal funds anywhere in the country (except for post offics and customs houses), and members of Congress were routinely criticized for "subsidizing" the growth of Washington by allocating money for construction there. Furthermore, architects who lost competitions wasted no time in undermining the reputation and work of those who won them, hoping to get the architect fired and to replace him.
Sure enough, construction on the Patent Office building was very slow. Mills was frequently attacked for incompetence, and in congressional committees (hardly staffed with experts!) forced him to add unnecessary tie rods and iron bracing to the building. His most critical opponent wa William Easby, commissioner of public buildings. Easby ran a quarry, and had lost several contracts for the Patent Office building after supply far inferior product. He now took his reveange, repeatedly and without evidence attacking the structural soundsness of Mills’ designs. Mills’ relationship with Congress soured, and he was dismissed in April 1851.
Another of Mills’ harshest critics was architect Thomas U. Walter. A believer in Greek Revival architecture, Walter had designed a large number of banks, churches, courthouses, prisons, and residences in the country. In 1850, he won the competition for the design of the east extention of the U.S. Capitol (and would later design, with Captain Montgomery Meigs of the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Capitol dome).
In 1852, Congress appropriated money for the construction of the east wing, the west wing, and the basement beneath the courtyard. The east wing was completed and occupied in January or February of 1853. This was followed by money for the facade of the north wing in 1856, and completion of the west wing (for patent models) and more construction of the north facade in 1857. The west wing opened in 1856. Money was approved for adding the fourth floor to the west wing in 1858, and completion of the north wing in 1859.
Due to the exigencies of the Civil War, the north wing was not completed and occupied until 1867.
The third floor and attic of the west and north wings of the Patent Office were destroyed by fire in 1877. The cause of the blaze was never fully determined, although many thought that sparks from chimneys landed on the wooden roof above the patent model rooms. (Others thought the fire originated in the patent model rooms.) Not surprisingly, Mill’s masonry vaults withstood the fire; Walter’s much weaker iron-braced vaults collapsed.
Local German-American architect Adolf Cluss was hired to rebuild the Patent Office Building. Cluss had designed a large number of churches, hotels, office buildings, residences, retail buildings (including the city’s first department store, the Lansburgh), and schools in the city. He designed the first Department of Agriculture headquarters in 1867, Center Market (the most advanced public marketplace and grocery store in the country) in 1871, and Eastern Market in 1872 (it still stands), and he rebuilt the Smithsonian Castle in 1867 after a devastating fire there. (His work on the Patent Office reconstruction won him the competition to design the Smithsonian Arts & Industries Building in 1879.) In 1872, Cluss was named City Engineer, and he oversaw the design and construction of the great expansion of public works that transformed Washington in the 1870s: street paving, sewer construction, gas lines, street lighting, and the planting of thousands of trees.
Cluss largely retained the neoclassical facades by Mills and Walter, but made some changes to reflect a more Renaissance look and feel. His greatest changes, however, came in the interior. He significantly strengthened the structural elements of the interior (so they could withstand another fire), which created numerous marble pillars and beautiful vaulted masonry ceilings throughout the interior. He also paved the floors with brilliantly colored encaustic tile, added wonderfully detailed decorative iron railings, and lined the halls with marble wainscoting. He also added a grand double-curved staircase to the south entrance, a Great Hall to replace the model rooms, and installed brilliant stained glass windows throughout. Cluss also redesigned the grand south entrance staircase, which had been damaged by firefighters in 1877.
The Patent Office used the building until 1932, when it moved to new headquarters due to space needs. The Civil Service Commission occupied the building afterward. Appallingly, the widening of F Street in 1935 amputated the monumental south stairs. The Patent Office Building was due to be demolished in 1953. But in one of the first preservation efforts in D.C., it was saved. President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave it to the Smithsonian in 1958. Starting in fall 1964, it was renovated into a museum by the firm of Faulkner, Kingsbury & Stenhouse. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965, and opened as the National Museum of American Art (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum) and the National Portrait Gallery in January 1968. The north wing housed the art museum and the south wing the portrait gallery. Offices and a cafe occupied the east wing, and the west wing was empty. The open-air courtyard had an outdoor cafe.
By 1999, the Old Patent Office Building was in serious need of renovation. Much of the interior space had been converted into office space, making visitor circulation poor. Drop-ceilings of particleboard covered up the vaulted ceilings, many windows had been boarded up on the inside and outside (to prevent light from entering and to add display space), and hallways had been partitioned to add office space and create narrow, ugly galleries. Floors were built across the open space between the mezzanines in the Great Hall to add more space, the great double-staircase on the south side was concealed and used for staff only, and much of the interior moldings, pilasters, cornices, pillars and capitals had been covered over with plywood to create a "modern" look. Outside, the porticos had been closed off, and in some cases concealed or altered to make the columns appear to be pilasters (fake columns). The great north staircase was closed, and the south staircase replaced with modern steel steps.
The building closed in 2000. Most of the modifications to the interior were ripped out, revealing the amazing, colorful magnificence of the original building’s interior. The Great Hall was restored, the north staircase reopened, the double-staircase in the south reopened and restores, the colonnades restored, the vaulting in the galleries revealed, the windows reopened, and the fourth floor skylights reinstalled. Full circulation on the first three floors was also restored. Most significantly, the open-air courtyard was covered over to create a new dining and performance space. Although this was not part of the original renovation project, the Smithsonian began considering enclosing the courtyard in 2002. Approval from Congress was secured in August 2003.
The renovation was overseen by architects Warren Cox and Mary Kay Lanzillotta of the D.C. firm of Hartman-Cox Architects. The Kogod Courtyard canopy was designed by the British firm of Foster and Partners in cooperation with the British firm of Buro Happold. Interior and exterior landscaping was designed by the landscape architectural firm of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol.
The total cost of the was 3 million — 6 million in federal money, million in miscellaneous private donations and million from the Kogod family for the courtyard, and million in miscellaneous private donations for preservation of the building.
The Old Patent Office Building reopened in July 2006. The Kogod Courtyard opened in November 2007.
Renovations included the Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium in the basement. The Great Hall was completely restored along with its two mezzanines. The Luce Foundation Center for American Art was built around the circumference of the Great Hall, and on the two mezzanines above it. This new gallery space displays more than 3,300 artworks in secure glass cases, paintings densely hung on screens, three-dimensional art (sculptures, etc.) on shelves, and small artwork (miniatures, medals, jewelry) in pneumatic drawers.
Northwest corner of third floor contains office space for the two museums. But the third and fourth floor mezzanines now house the Lunder Conservation Center — a space where the public can see artwork being restored and conserved, and where information on art preservation and curation is displayed and provided in computer stations and kiosks. Third floor mezzanine space over the grand double-staircase was also opened creating two new, narrow gallery spaces.
But the most astonishing change was the creation of the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard. (Robert Kogod was CEO of the Charles E. Smith Co., a huge real estate development firm in D.C., and his wife Arlene Smith Kogod is heir to the Smith fortune.) To cover the 28,000-square-foot courtyard, a system of eight aluminum columns was built to support the canopy without putting any structural stress on the Old Patent Office Building itself. The canopy is an aluminum grid containing double-glazed glass panels, which appears to float over the courtyard.
Kathryn Gustafson of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol designed the new courtyard interior. The grass and pathways were removed, and black granite paving installed. White marble planters on the south and north sides contain ficus and black olive trees, ferns, shrubs, and seasonal plantings. Four water scrims, each a quarter-inch deep, run down the south-center axis.