28. Adapting European Models to an American Vision
L’Enfant meshed European city models with American ideals, to come up with a design based on concepts of equality of citizens. His innovations included The Mall, which was open to all – an idea unheard of in most of Europe. He was also big on wide avenues that afforded extended views, with a series of public parks and squares evenly dispersed at intersections.
L’Enfant’s plan also departed from traditional notions that the grandest spot in capital should be reserved for the ruler’s palace. Instead, the highest point in Washington, with the most commanding view, was reserved for Congress, whose building would be the city’s grandest and most imposing, while the President would be housed in a relatively modest mansion, off to the side. Thus, Capitol Hill, and not the White House, is the center of Washington, DC, from which broad diagonal avenues radiate, cutting a grid street system. L’Enfant’s vision came to be, but he neither saw it nor got the credit.
