The Texas State Capitol , completed in 1888 at Downtown Austin, contains offices and spaces from the Texas Legislature and the Governor's Office. Designed in 1881 by architect Elijah E. Myers, built from 1882 to 1888 under the direction of civil engineer Reuben Lindsay Walker. A $ 75 million underground extension was completed in 1993. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1986. The Texas State Capitol is 302.64 feet (92.24 m) tall, making it the sixth highest parliament building and one of the few higher than the United States Capitol in Washington, DC
Video Texas State Capitol
Histori
The Texas State Capitol is currently the third building to serve that purpose. The second Texas capitol was built in 1853, on the same site as the current Parliament building in Austin; it was destroyed in a large capitol fire in 1881, but plans have been made to replace it with a much larger new structure.
Construction
The construction of an Italian Renaissance Renaissance parliamentary building was funded by a state constitution article, adopted on 15 February 1876, which authorized the sale of public lands for that purpose. In one of the largest recorded transactions of recorded history, the builders of the Parliament building (John V. Farwell and Charles B. Farwell), known as the Capitol Syndicate, are paid with over three million acres (12,000 km²) of public land. in the "Panhandle" area of ​​Texas; this tractate then became the world's largest cattle ranch, XIT Ranch. The value of the land, combined with the cost, is added to the total cost of $ 3.7 million for the original building. It was built mostly by inmates or migrant workers, as many as a thousand at a time. The building has been renovated several times, with central air conditioning installed in 1955 and the latest renovations completed in 1997.
The designers originally planned for the building to be wrapped entirely with the country's limestone rocks dug in Oatmanville (now Oak Hill), about 10 miles (16 km) to the southwest. However, the high iron content of limestone caused it to rapidly blacken rust stains when exposed to the elements. Learning from the problem, Granite Mountain owners near Marble Falls offer to donate to the country, for free, the required amount of red sunset granite as an alternative. To transport red granite, Austin and Northwestern Railroad are extended 2.7 miles (3.7 km) to accommodate transportation from Granite Mountain. Due to the bend in the rail, the train sometimes derailed, accidentally spilling some pink granite. Many falling stones remain in place and are an interesting local point. While this building is largely constructed of Oak Hill limestone, it is mostly hidden behind walls and on its foundations. The red granite is then used for many state government buildings in the Austin area. Project 900 workers including 86 granite cutters brought from Scotland.
The foundation for the building was laid on March 2, 1885, Texas Independence Day, and the building was opened to the public on April 21, 1888, San Jacinto Day, before it was completed. The building was officially set apart by Senator Texas State Temple Houston on May 18, 1888. The dedication ceremony was marked by a week-long celebration from 14-19 May 1888, which attracted nearly 20,000 visitors and included events such as military training demonstrations, cattle rearing, baseball games , a chorus of German singing, and fireworks. Guests can purchase souvenirs such as red granite pieces and copies of songs composed by composers and Leonora Rives-Diaz pianists called "State Capitol Grand Waltz".
Capitol View Corridors
In 1931, the City of Austin enacted a local regulation that limits the height of new buildings to a maximum of 200 feet (61 m), which aims to preserve the visual advantages of the Parliament building. From that time until the early 1960s, only the Main Building Tower of the University of Texas was built higher than the limit, but in 1962 the developer announced a new 261-foot (80 m) new residential building to be built adjacent to the Parliament building, called the Westgate Tower. The price of Governor Daniel voiced his opposition to the proposed tower, and State Representative Henry Grover of Houston introduced a bill to condemn the property, which was defeated at the Texas House of Representatives with only two votes. Westgate finally completed in 1966, but the controversy over preservation of the visual presence of the capital continues to build its construction continues to grow.
Westgate was followed by a higher structure: first, the Dobie Center (designed in 1968), and then a series of larger city center towers culminating in a 395-foot (US Cent) Center One (designed in 1982). In early 1983, inspired by Westgate and other structures, State Senator Lloyd Doggett and Country Representative Gerald Hill submitted a bill proposing a list of protected "Capitol View Corridors" and would not be allowed to protect the visibility of the DPR building. from a series of points around Austin. The bill was signed into law on May 3, 1983, establishing thirty corridors protected by the state and banning any construction that would cut one of them. The city of Austin has adopted similar rules, so most corridors are also protected under city zoning codes, as well as under state law.
Capitol extensions and restoration
On February 6, 1983, the fire began in William P. Hobby Jr.'s apartment, then the state lieutenant governor. A Hobby guest was killed, and four firefighters and a policeman were injured by the next fire. The capitol was packed with accumulated files, and the fire was very strong and nearly destroyed the structure. This caused severe damage to the east wing and disrupted most of the framing, which consisted mostly of open columns and iron poles.
After the fire, the state took advantage of the extensive redevelopment to update the mechanical and structural systems to modern standards. In November 1985, the original statue of the Goddess Liberty on the dome was removed by helicopter. A new sculpture, an aluminum mold in a mold made of the original zinc statue, was placed in a dome in June 1986. The original sculpture was restored and displayed on the Capitol in a special structure built for him in 1995; then transferred to the Bullock Texas State History Museum in 2001.
In addition, the state tried to address the shortage of space in the old building, decided that a new office wing should be added. Logical place for extras is the square immediately to the north; However, large buildings there will eliminate the historic northern façade and cover what is traditionally considered an important public space. Instead, the expansion into the Parliament building was built beneath the northern square, connecting to the underground building that is underground.
In 1993, $ 75 million, four floors, underground building extensions have been completed in the north, doubling the square footage available to the residents of the Parliament building and providing far better functionality. Although the expansion covers 667,000 square feet (nearly twice the floor area of ​​the original building), there is little evidence of such large structures on the surface of the ground, except for broad skylights disguised as planter lines, and rotunda reversed four floors open.
In 1995, a comprehensive interior and exterior restoration of the original building was completed at a cost of approximately $ 98 million. In 1997, the parks surrounding the Parliament building received renovations and restorations worth $ 8 million.
Maps Texas State Capitol
Today
The Parliament building and its grounds are located in downtown Austin, with the main entrance overlooking the Congress Avenue Historic District to the south. The northern edge of the yard is located four blocks south of the University of Texas at Austin.
Build
Capitol has 360,000 square feet (33,000 m 2 ) of floor area (excluding Capitol Extension), more than any other state House building, and relies on 2.25 hectares (0.91 ha) of soil. The building has nearly four hundred rooms and more than nine hundred windows. The interior of the central rotunda displays portraits of anyone who has served as president of the Republic of Texas or governor of the State of Texas; rotunda is also a whispering gallery. The southern foyer features a large portrait of David Crockett, a painting depicting the submission of General Santa Anna to the Battle of San Jacinto, and the statues of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin made by Elisabet Ney.
The Texas State Capitol was ranked ninety-two in an "America's Favorite Architecture" poll commissioned by the American Institute of Architects, which ranked top 150 favorite architectural projects in America in 2007. In a 2008 poll by AIA, it was also ranked number one the state capital.
Grounds
The Capitol building is surrounded by 22 acres (8.9 ha) of land scattered with statues and monuments. William Munro Johnson, a civil engineer, was hired in 1888 to improve the appearance of the yard. At the time of the first monument, commemorating Hero Alamo, installed in 1891, the main component of Johnson's plan was in place. These include the "Great Walk" of black and white diamond-patterned sidewalks shaded by trees. The four oldest monuments are Heroes of the Alamo (1891), Fire Volunteers (1896), Confederate Army (1903) and Terry's Texas Rangers (1907), and these flank the Great Walk surrounded by trees. In the spring of 2013, the land was damaged for the Vietnam Veterans Capitol Veterans Monument; dedication took place on March 29, 2014.
A granite monument of the Ten Commandments on the Texas State Capitol page is the subject of the 2005 US Supreme Court case, Van Orden v. Perry, where the screen is challenged as unconstitutional. At the end of June 2005, the Court ruled that the display was not unconstitutional.
Gallery
Exterior
Interior
Grounds
See also
- Hans Peter Mareus Neilsen Gammel
References
External links
- Texas State Preservation Agency - Capitol Keeper
- Capitol Grounds Monuments
- Library of Congress: architectural drawings and photographs of the Texas House of Representatives
- Capitol Dedication Ceremony - Quote from reception Senator Temple Houston (from the capital's building) speech May 16, 1888 TexasBob.com
- Favorite Architecture of America
- Capitol from the Texas Online Handbook
- Film trailer of Goddess of Liberty from Austin's local TV program Austin Progress Report Austin 1962, Texas Archive of the Moving Image
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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