Between 1874 and 1892, Frederick Law Olmsted, founder of the American Profession of landscape architecture, transformed the grounds surrounding the nation's premier and most symbolic building , the United States Capitol. His landscape embraced this monumental classical structure with a unique design which honored the architecture and connected it to the L'Enfant city plan beyond its borders creating a procession of harmonious and grand public spaces, worthy of the American Federal city. Today, Olmsted's signal design for the main entrance into the Capitol grounds is about to be destroyed by proposed plans to build a much-needed but ill-conceived underground visitor center. With heightened security concerns post September 11th, it appears that this project has secured the massive funding needed to permit construction without much public review of these plans or understanding of the impact of this project.
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