Architect of the Capitol

 
Capitol Campus Library of Congress
 
Library of Congress Beginnings


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The law creating the Library of Congress, approved on April 24, 1800, called for its books to be housed in "a suitable apartment" in the Capitol. On Christmas Eve, 1851, the Library of Congress suffered a disastrous fire. Approximately 35,000 of its 55,000 volumes were destroyed in the flames, which were caused by a faulty chimney flue. Architect of the Capitol Thomas U. Walter presented a plan, approved by Congress, to repair and enlarge the Library room using fireproof materials throughout. The elegantly restored Library room was opened on August 23, 1853.

The copyright law of 1870 brought two copies of all copyright items to the Library. It immediately became apparent that the Library would soon run out of space. The decision to relocate the Library of Congress into a separate facility was reached after years of discussion among politicians, architects, and the persistent librarian of Congress, Ainsworth Spofford.

 

Thomas Jefferson Building

Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building
Thomas Jefferson Building

 

In 1885, President Grover Cleveland joined his two predecessors in recommending a new library building in his first message to Congress. Finally, on April 15, 1886, Congress authorized the construction of a building to house its library on First Street east. One half million dollars was appropriated to begin construction, with another $585,000 allocated to acquire the site.

The Thomas Jefferson Building was designed by Washington architects Paul Pelz and John Smithmeyer, who took the Paris Opera House as their model. After construction was transferred to the Army Corps of Engineers in 1892, the work was directed by Edward Pearce Casey, who orchestrated a legion of artists and sculptors to decorate the inside and outside of the building.

Immediately after it opened in 1897, the Library of Congress was widely considered to be the most beautiful, educational and interesting building in Washington.

 

John Adams Building

John Adams Building
John Adams Building

 

The Washington partnership of Pierson & Wilson was responsible for the design of the library’s second building, now named for President John Adams after being known for years simply as “the Annex.”

A restrained and finely detailed art deco building, the John Adams Building features an exterior clad with Georgia marble. Its apparent bulk was reduced by holding the upper two floors back and projecting the end bays. Bronze entrance doors by Lee Lawrie depict persons important to the history of writing.

When the building opened in 1938, the Library’s shelving capacity tripled to 15 million volumes. A silent pneumatic system whisked books in leather pouches from the annex to the main reading room across the street in a breathtaking twentyeight seconds.

 

James Madison Building

James Madison Building
James Madison Building

 

Opened in 1980, measuring 500 feet wide and 400 feet deep, the Madison Building is the largest library structure in the world. (It encompasses 1.5 million square feet of space.) The Madison Building serves both as the Library's third major structure and as this nation's official memorial to President James Madison. The undecorated colonnades attempt to echo classical columns while remaining faithful to canons of modern design.

The building holds book storage areas, conservation laboratories, reading rooms, exhibit areas, a theater and office space. It is one of the three largest buildings in Washington, DC (along with the Pentagon and FBI Buildings). 

Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation
Packard Campus
Packard Campus

The Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation opened in 2007 as a state-of-the-art facility where the Library of Congress acquires, preserves and provides access to the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of films, television programs, radio broadcasts and sound recordings.

Funding for this unique facility was donated to the Legislative Branch by the Packard Humanities Institute. The campus is built into the side of Mount Pony, the highest slope in Culpeper County, Virginia, and features an adaptive reuse and expansion of a previously existing underground Federal Reserve Bank facility.

In its 415,000 square feet are more than 90 miles of shelving for collections storage; 35 climate controlled vaults for sound recording, safety film and videotape; and 124 individual vaults for more flammable nitrate film. 
 

Architect of the Capitol | Washington, DC 20515
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