Archinect - News

Architect of the U.S. Capitol details 'significant' damage from Jan. 6 attack

2021-02-26T17:03:00-05:00

The top operations and maintenance official of the United States Capitol told lawmakers on Wednesday that the costs of the Jan. 6 attack will exceed $30 million, as his office works to provide mental health services, increase security and repair historical statues and other art damaged in the riot.

Video via nytimes.com

Cracked dome discovered at Illinois State Capitol

2019-12-20T13:36:00-05:00

A recent study of the Illinois State Capitol Dome in Springfield, Illinois has discovered “some obvious flaws on the exterior of the dome,” including significant cracking "on all four compass points" where bracketed structures support the interior stone columns below the dome, The Chicago Sun-Times reports.

The French Renaissance and Italianate style Capitol complex was designed by Chicago architects John C. Cochrane and Charles O. Garnsey in 1868 and was completed in 1888.

Exterior view of the Illinois State Capitol dome, which is showing signs of cracking. Image courtesy of Flickr user Jeff Sharp.

Harl Ray, senior project manager for the Illinois secretary of state’s Department of Physical Services, is quoted by The Chicago Sun-Times as stating, “They are not worried. There is no structural failure. They’re just wanting to know what happened and why.” Ray added, “Those cracks look like they’ve been there for decades — a long, long time.”

Chicago-based architects Bailey Edward are ...

The race to complete the Capitol dome restoration in time for the inauguration of the 45th U.S. President

2016-01-11T18:36:00-05:00

It is fervently hoped that when the 45th president takes the oath of office outside the Capitol on 20 January 2017, a $60m project to restore the building’s august cast-iron dome will have been completed. [...] “There’s never been a major renovation of the dome. It’s important work and was long overdue. It apparently has a thousand cracks and pieces have been falling off for years but, once this work is done, it should be good for another 150 years.

Is the North Dakota Capitol Building Ugly?

2012-04-20T13:36:00-04:00

North Dakota’s governor has bitten back at a Minnesota lawmaker who compared his state’s Depression-era Capitol building to an insurance office, calling the critic ignorant of classic architecture. The Capitol in Bismarck was built during the 1930s with a plain concrete and stone exterior, ostensibly to keep costs down.

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