Evening star., 1943-06-06
Art
Notes
Washington as An
Example of Art
OF City Planning
Bv Leila MechHn.

The recent announcement maze
by the National Commission of Fine
Arts of an extensive postwar pro-
gram for the further improvement
of Washington along lines both
practical and artistic, lends timeli-
ness to consideration Of the place OF
city planning among the arts.
At a glance it would seem to in
clude them all, for it embraces not
merely the general layout but the
placement and design of buildings,
the creation of parks, the planting of
trees, the merging Of city and coun-
try, the suitable use for effect OF
sculpture, of fountains, of gateWays
and so on, things ornamental as we'll
as useful, appropriate to climate and
as a habitation of man. To achieve
such an end harmoniously, engi-
neers, architects, landscape archi-
tects, sculptors and craftsmen must
work together, understandingly and
In unison.
The planning of a city will there
fore be seen to be work on very
large scale in which artists of diverse
gifts and achievements cooperate to
a great end-the creation of a city,
pleasant in which to dwell, which
provides setting for life at its best,
through orderliness and beauty.
Aristotle defined a city as "a place
where men live a common life for q
noble end"-and it is true that what
ever touches the city touches civili-
Zation itself. Also it must be re-
membered that the greater number
OF the people of this country live in
cities made by man. The well
planned city adds not only to the
ease but the joy of living, for, say
what one will, the average individual
Is affected by surroundings and
bound to confound his own life, con-
sciously or unconSciously, to them.
Washington We'll Planned
The majority of cities in this
country grew up like Topsy without
guidance or plan. Washington,
however, has the distinction of hav-
ing been planned from its inception,
and we'll planned. The original
plan was drawn by Pierre Charles
LEnfant of Paris, military engl-
neer who came to this country in
1777 with the French Colonial
troops and served with distinction
in the Revolution. His father was
painter in ordinary to the King IN
his manufacture of the Gobellns,
from whom he undoubtedly inher-
tied taste and talent, but in a diff
ferent field.
Directly after the site of our
Capital City was selected and au-
thorized. George Washington COM
ylissioned L'Enfant to draw up a
suitable plan. This he did directly,
and with such skill and forethought,
that, despite having been set aside
and almost forgotten for long pc
riods it is still the plan OF Wash
ington.
In fact. when more than 100 years
had passed a commission was ap-
pointed by the Senate to study this
matter. the recommendation made
was that the cardinal features OF
the LEnfant plan could not be I'M
proved upon and should therefore
be returned to. which recommended
ton was eventually accepted and is
now in effect.
This commission consisted OF
Daniel H. Burnham and Charles +.
McKim. architects: Augustus SAINT
Gaudens. sculptor. and Frederick
Law Ollnstead. jr, landscape archl-
tect. with Charles Moore as Secre-
tarv. Bv these outstandir" artists
the plan was not changed but eX-
tended.
The L'Enfant Plan
One of the unique features OF the
L'Enfant plan was its general lay
out. a series of radial avenues being
placed across a gridiron Of streets
affording at their intersection loca-
tions for parks, circular or trlangu-
lar, sites for sharp nosed' buildings
and serving to attractlvely close
vistas, which, if extended too tar,
would close themselves lneftectlvely.
These diagonal avenues were also
for conference.-the day OF the
automobile was then remote.
1t was George Washington and
!. I.'Enfant together who chose the
sites for the Capitol and the White
House, than which none could have
been better. The choice of the clas-
sical style for the public buildings
these and others-was largely due to
the influence of jefferson, a choice
engendered by his own admiration
and his belief that it typifled that
dignity in simplicity which was to
have expression in our national life.
In recent time much has been said
In derision of this choice and Its
adoption. but none has yet set forth
more suitable or impress
sibe Certainly the State Depart
ment and the Pension Office build
ings, which present deviation there
from. can hardly be said to encour-
age further adventure along similar
lines.
Another unique feature of the
L LEnfant plan is the treatment Of
the Mall-the laying down OF a
grass carpet between the Capitol
and the river to the west. This ap-
pears on the earliest of the maps
as kite shaped space with length
from east to west and breadth, from
north to south-at the terminals of
which today stand the Capitol, the
Lincoln Memorial. the White House
and the jefferson Memorial with the
Washington Monument as pivot.
Potomac Park is land made since
Washington's day, partly from river
deposit, partly by filling, but it has
been perfectly fitted into the picture.
And after all it is the city picture
which counts.
What would Washington be with
out its trees. its parks, its fountains
and its statuary? A dreary place
indeed. Viscount Bryce, for many
years Ambassador from Great Brit
ain, once said, Il know of no city in
which the trees seem to be so much
a part of it as they do here in
We shington."
Much impetus was given to city