Symposium The Future of the Ceremonial City: A Third Century of Planning for Washington, D.C.

Abstract

Robert McClintock's Jefferson Memorial Columns depicts one of Washington, DC's monuments from within. This perspective raises the question of what those memorialized in our nation's capital would think about the issues discussed in this Longer View symposium. In these essays, Washington planners and scholars examine more than two centuries of planning for the capital's monumental core, including the challenges of today in maintaining ceremonial and aesthetic integrity in the face of growing space constraints. McClintock, who worked as a professional photographer for 15 years, now creates photo-digital illustrations—digital photographs that are “painted” using image-editing computer software. The artist currently lives in Baltimore. More of his work can be see on his Web site at <http://www.robertmcclintock.com>. For the past century, the United States has been constructing and reconstructing the ceremonial core of its national capital according to the ideas laid out in the McMillan Commission report of 1902. This forum revisits that plan for monumental Washington in the light of a century of metropolitan growth. It includes a contribution from staff of the National Capital Planning Commission on recent efforts to extend the legacy of the McMillan Plan and critical assessments and suggestions for the future of the city from two leading scholars of Washington planning.