L’Enfant Plan for Washington, D.C.

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The L’Enfant Plan for Washington, D.C. is the original late-18th-century urban design by Pierre Charles L’Enfant that laid out the U.S. capital’s grand radial avenues, ceremonial spaces, and monumental core.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf city plan
cultural heritage
historic district plan
planning document
urban plan
appliesToCity Washington, D.C.
appliesToJurisdiction federal district of the United States
approvedBy George Washington
author Pierre Charles L’Enfant
commissionedBy George Washington
coordinateSystem orthogonal grid with diagonal avenues
country United States
designer Pierre Charles L’Enfant
fieldOfWork city design
urban planning
hasPart Capitol grounds
President’s House grounds
The Mall
ceremonial spaces
circles and plazas
grid street system
monumental core
public squares
radial avenues
heritageDesignation National Historic Landmark
National Register of Historic Places listing
implementedInPart Washington, D.C. street layout
influenced McMillan Plan
subsequent planning of Washington, D.C.
locatedInTheAdministrativeTerritorialEntity District of Columbia
location District of Columbia
namedAfter Pierre Charles L’Enfant
notableFeature broad diagonal avenues named after states
focus on symbolic relationships between institutions of government
grand ceremonial axis between Capitol and President’s House
partOf development of the United States capital
planningPrinciple Baroque urban design
axial composition
integration of public squares and avenues
vista preservation
purpose to design the permanent seat of the government of the United States
significantPlace Capitol Hill
National Mall
President’s Park
United States Capitol
White House
startTime 1791
timePeriod late 18th century

Referenced by (1)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Pennsylvania Avenue
partOf

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