Synopses & Reviews
Seven essays on various aspects of the Park Commission Plan (popularly known as the McMillan Plan), by authors well-known in their fields.and#160; Many illustrations, some taken from the Park Commissionand#8217;s Report (1902) and color illustrations of the remaining water color renderings owned by the Commission. and#160; With this current volume, the Commission has chosen to explore its origins with a look into the events and people leading up to the creation of the Senate Park (McMillan) Commission in 1901 and the resulting plan for the redevelopment of the city. and#160; It commemorates the recent centennial of the Park Commission Plan as well as bringing to light aspects of and insights into the plan not generally or clearly understood by the public.and#160; The plan was and still is a work in progress.and#160; Its creation was a lofty endeavor born of the spirit of the times in a political and social climate that seemed to frown on any enterprise that required the spending of public funds or called for a change in the accepted appearance of the Capital.and#160; The participants faced formidable obstacles not unlike those that reverberate today whenever a change to the familiar is contemplated. and#160; These essays have been compiled to serve the people of Washington and all who find the creation of cities a subject of fascination.
Synopsis
In 1901 the United States Senate, inspired by the City Beautiful movement of the late nineteenth century, appointed a commission to formulate a new architectural plan for the development of the nation's capital. Under the leadership of Senator James McMillan of Michigan, the Senate Park Commission brought together three of the country's leading architects and urban planners--Daniel H. Burnham, the former director of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago; landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.; and architect Charles F. McKim--as well as sculptor Augustus St.-Gaudens. During a ten-month period that included a six-week tour of European cities, the McMillan Commission drafted a plan aimed at making Washington one of the most beautiful capitals in the world by redesigning its monumental core and creating new parklands on reclaimed land. The plan called for relandscaping the Mall; creating dramatic sites for memorials west and south of the Washington Monument; consolidating railway lines and clearing slums; designing a coordinated municipal office complex in the triangle formed by Pennsylvania Avenue, 15th Street, and the Mall; and establishing a comprehensive recreation and park system around the city. In this book, distinguished scholars from a variety of fields reconstruct the story of the 1901 plan for Washington, D.C. They discuss the events leading up to the formation of the Senate Park Commission, the political setting in which it embarked on its work, the decision-making process that led to its final recommendations, and the early years of its implementation. More than 100 photographs and maps complement the text, illustrating why the McMillan Plan quickly became a benchmark formodern urban design and triggered a national city-planning movement. In addition to the volume editors, contributors include Dana G. Dalrymple, Timothy Davis, Kurt G. F. Helfrich, Jon A. Peterson, and Tony P. Wrenn.
About the Author
Over the past 40 years, the Commission on Fine Arts has written and published a series of scholarly volumes on the architecture and history of significant places of interest in Washington, most notably a four-volume set devoted to Massachusetts Avenue and Sixteenth Street.
Table of Contents
Preliminary Table of Contents
Preface by Charles H. Atherton Foreword by David M. Childs Introduction by Sue Kohler Acknowledgements and#160; and#160; The Senate Park Commission Plan for Washington, D.C.: A New Vision for the Capital and the Nationand#160; -- chapter author, Jon A. Peterson and#160; The American Institute of Architects Convention of 1900: Its Influence on the Senate Park Commission Plan and#150; chapter author, Tony P. Wrenn and#160; and#147;A City Designed As a Work of Artand#8221;: The Emergence of the Senate Park Commissionand#8217;s Monumental Core and#150; chapter author, Timothy Davis and#160; Plates and#160; Agriculture, Architects, and the Mall, 1901-1905: The Plan is Tested and#150; chapter author, Dana G. Dalrymple and#160; The Commission of Fine Arts: Implementing the Senate Park Commissionand#8217;s Vision and#150;chapter author, Sue Kohler and#160; and#147;Beloved Ancienand#8221;: William T. Partridgeand#8217;s Recollections of the Senate Park Commission and the Subsequent Mall Development and#150;chapter author, Kurt G.G. Helfrich and#160; Appendices and#160; and#160;