Washington, unlike the vast majority of capital cities, was created on a chosen site as the centre of government. The honour of capital city did not arise naturally, like London or Paris as the intellectual and commercial heart of France. In a sense, Washington is a factitious creation and Pierre Charles LEnfant, who designed the city, produced with considerable panache an American Versailles, but failed to understand that cities are living organisms and architecture is above all social.
Open Edition Prints of the Original Drawing Capitol Hill, created and hand drawn by the artist.