Great Falls tribune., 1921-06-21
The HQski,1 Letter . rt1ssssz %:sH
A SKYSCRAPER CAPITAL.

/ Washington, June 11.1-Is the city
Of Washington to become a tangled
range of skyscrapers, like lower New
| York, or is it to be developed as a
| thing of balanced architectural beauty
as it's founders planned?
Now that the war emergency, with
its justification for housing the gov
ernment anywhere, is over, this
question is receiving good deal Of dis
cussion. Some think that the old
buildings and the temporary buildings
should be replaced by typical modern
office structures, so that the greatest
possible amount of space may be had
for the money expended. Others con-
tend that the capital Of the nation
should be thing Of beauty, and that
each building should be a unit in a
carefully considered artistic scheme
| Meantime, what actually exists is a
curious mixture. The old government
| buildings. of which the state, war and
navy building is the best example, are
| curious survirals of an old type of
| architecture. They are picturesque.
uncomfortable and inconvenient. Most
| OF the more recent permanent build
lngs, like the new interior building,
! are exactly like the office structures
| found in every American city. And all
about and between these representa-
tives of the old America and the new
are the acres of wooden shacks, built
during the war and still occupied be-
cause there is nowhere else for their
occupants to 60.
u Enfant, the man who planned this
city. seems to be forgotten, and with
his influence is going some of the pic
turesqueness which has always made
Washington sightseers paradise. Not
even the most amateurish traveller
would stop to cape at any of the new
red tape factories, or describe one of
them in letters home.
1t is true that some of the newer
buildings are strictly temporary in char
acter. Thus, the department Of JUS
tice, q tall white stone office building
is merely rented by the government.
Some day-perhaps when the present
commodious quarters are outgrown-
there will be a specially built depart
ment of justice.
Temporary Buildings.
The huge munitions and navy build
ings in Potomac Park where Washing
toms war shacks were thrown up, are
temporary. substantial as they look.
ments find enough room somewhere
else, the distractions to the view of the
Potomac river obviously cannot be re-
moved.
The war risk skyscraper is also re-
garded as a temporary affair, SO far
as the government is concerned. The
site had been dug for private office
building when the government bought
it to put up shop large enough to
house the war insurance operations.
The result is a honeycomb of office
rooms fitted together with the one
idea of getting as many rooms as pos
sble into a given space. 1t will re-
main government property. no doubt
so long as the war risk regiment is in
service.
The gentlemen Of 1872. who protest
ed at the state, war. and navy build
ing being four stories high, with a
mansard attic as an additional flaunt
at tradition. should be here TO look up
the war risk buildings II closely packed
stories.
In 1872, two stories was the proper
height for government office struc-
ture. and the White House. capitol,
treasury and patent office. were all not
more than three stories above ground
This gave uniformity Of style to the
government architecture. and variey
was achieved BY using different kinds
of columns and porticos after Greek
and Roman examples.
The buildings then were planned to
allow for q setting of grass and flow
er beds. Now. the War Risk and other
new buildings have tiny grass plots
less, than the width Of city street.