Monumentality in Microcosm

Beaux-Arts Era urban planning layered a distinct spatial quality into American cities.  These majestic landscapes of carefully framed vistas, axial boulevards, etoilles, and monumental architecture conveyed political potency, social grandeur and cultural primacy.  At the same time, the lucid geometry of these grand master plans systematically produced small, incidental spaces in the urban fabric.  Situated at the intersection of roads, these irregular voids contradict the rational clarity of the grandiose city schemes that produced them.  Roadway triangles in particular occur routinely and frequently, yet never share the exact same geometric and programmatic profile.  At times, they serve as gateways, venues for monuments, or mark district thresholds; more often, their function and importance was overlooked.

As the product of a Beaux-Arts plan re-interpreted and implemented in successive phases, Washington, D.C. hosts innumerable such remnant roadway triangles with footprints as small as five to twenty thousand square feet.  Given these sites’ tertiary status within the structure of the Baroque city plan, their purpose and utility has always been contested; in both social and infrastructural terms; as a collective feature and as individual sites.  Indeed, ownership and stewardship of the sites has shifted throughout history.  In the present day, they host a range of programs and exhibit a great variety of horticultural treatment; indicative of an iconic presence within the civic consciousness of the Capitol.

Using a review of literature, cartography, and archival documents at Dumbarton Oaks and other institutions in Washington, D.C., this study constructs a historical narrative examining the spatial, social, and political dimensions of these remnant pieces of land in the Capitol.  These are examined both as a whole system and in a series of individual case studies; supported by original photography and mapping.  A survey of popular press reveals a variety of uses and adaptations; while a review of current literature explores potential approaches for their treatment, programming, and stewardship within contemporary conditions.