19 Century Federal Hall National Memorial Modern Architecture Term Paper

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Federal Hall National Memorial

The New York City Hall was located at the 26 Wall Street prior to the construction of the classic column building by Town & Davis. The City Hall was later on known as the Federal Hall. The Bill of Rights was written by the First Congress of America in this building and the first presidential oath was taken by George Washington in here. Although it was in 1812 that the Federal Hall was demolished however, the stone slab that Washington stood upon is still kept safe in the present building's rotunda. The statue of Washington stands outside. Presently, the 26 Wall Street is maintained as the Federal Hall Museum and Memorial by the United States Department of the Interior and the National Park Service as a symbol of honour to the very first President that America had as well as the start of United States of America. (Craven)

CURRENT MODIFICATIONS

The current building was built as a custom house in 1842 and it shows the Greek revival architecture in great detail. It was in 1862 that the Independent Treasury System was initiated here and in 1913 the Federal Reserve System got established here as well. The structure was declared to be a National Historic Shrine by the Secretary of Interior in 1939. In order to honour the initial edifice the building was named as the Federal Hall National Memorial by Congress in 1955. (New York Architecture)

Temporary exhibitions are arranged in the galleries present on the second floor and these exhibitions cater to people from all age groups, along with this guided tours are also arranged in the building. The shows conducted in the museum that are arranged by various other museums and galleries include the children exchange art show of New York City/Tokyo, Smithsonian exhibition which shows the everyday life happenings in the Colonial America as well as a display of the boroughs' of the city in a pictorial manner. (New York Architecture)

The Federal Hall is a 162 years old building located at the Wall and Broad Streets. The building is undergoing a kind of regeneration of its own. It was last summer that a corner of the building which was dangerously undermined was shored up. This year the plan is to shore up some part of the east wall along with two other corners of the building. Stabilization and patching of the cracks will be carried out. Also, along with all these renovations, plans have been made for the installation of air-conditioning, new heating and ventilation system. (New York Architecture)

After the American Revolution, the building was enlarged and remodelled upon the directions that were given by Pierre Charles L'Enfant. Later on President Washington gave Pierre Charles L'Enfant the task of designing the capital city of Potomac. In the United States this is known as the first example of Federal Style architecture. It was according to the Constitution of 1789 that this building became the very first Capitol of U.S. And because of this it became known as the Federal Hall. However since the time of independence and union according to the Articles of Consideration the Federal Hall is the second Capitol of the U.S., the first one is the Maryland State House. It was on 4th of March 1789 that the first U.S. congress meeting was held there in order to create the new federal government and the very first act that was done by the meeting was count the votes. These votes made George Washington the very first President of the U.S. On 30th of April, 1789 it was in front of Federal Hall that the inauguration of George Washington took place. (New York Architecture)

The old New York City Hall which was called the Federal Hall got torn down in 1812 and the total worth of its scrap was $400. The balcony floor where the inauguration of Washington took place, as well as a portion of the original railing, have been displayed in the monument (New York Architecture)

Current structure

It was in 1790 that the U.S. capital was shifted to Philadelphia and Federal Hall again had New York government housed in it up until the building was razed in 1812. Its current structure was originally constructed as the very first Custom House and was opened in 1842. However, later on it became one of the 6 U.S. Sub-Treasury locations as well as a Federal Bank.

The architecture of the building reflects two of the very famous American Ideals: the domed ceiling on the inside of the building shows the economic might of the Romans and Pantheon and was created by John Frazee; whereas, the Doric columns of the facade resembles the ones of the Parthenon and pay a tribute to the Greek democracy, Alexander Jackson Davis and Ithiel Town designed these columns.

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Amongst the landmarks present in the downtown, the current structure usually gets overshadowed by the New York Stock Exchange that is situated diagonally from across the Wall and Nassau Streets. But still this is one of the major sites in the history of U.S. especially when we talk about the basis of the U.S. Government and the democratic institutions held by it. The present building is very famous due to the statue of George Washington which is present on its front steps, this statue is made of bronze and it is there to mark the location where in the previous structure his inauguration was carried out as the President of U.S. The bronze statue of George Washington on its front steps marks the place where he was inaugurated.

It was in 1920 that on 23rd Wall Street which is the street across from the Federal Hall that a bomb was detonated. This incident was later on known as the Wall Street bombing. In this bombing 400 people got injured while 38 died and a lot of damage came to the 23rd Wall Street. However, nothing happened to the Federal Hall. There is a very popular photograph taken of the event which shows all the destruction and chaos and amongst all that chaos is the statue of Washington standing in a stoic manner. (New York Architecture)

ALEXANDER J. DAVIS

Alexander J. Davis was known as the greatest architect of America in the mid-nineteenth century. He was born on 24th of July 1803 in New York and throughout his life designed beautiful buildings in myriad styles. David took classes at the Antique School of the National Academy of Design, the American Academy of Fine Arts as well as the New-York Drawing Association. The two most impressive structures made by Davis are the Indiana's State Capitol in Indianapolis (1831-35) along with the New York City's Custom House (1833-42). During this time a creative fenestration system was created by Davis for the windows that were unified in a vertical manner. He later on called this "Davisean." These windows were recessed, multi-storied and were paneled at the floor level and these predicted the modern strip window which are present on the skyscrapers of the twentieth-century. (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History)

BUILDING DETAILS

A lot of individual Greek revival "temples" are present in the U.S. It is from these places that this style got most of its popularity. However, from all of these temples there are very few which are as dramatically built or as pure as this one. The building is just a few yards from the New York Stock Exchange and is present almost at the end of the Broad Street, surrounded by buildings that are a lot taller but still this building seems to exude its own identity. When rays of sunlight come in looking like searchlights and splash light over its steps making the statue of George Washington look radiant, the 26 Wall Street seems to come to life by chiaroscuro. Although the building was designed by architects like Alexander Jackson Davis and Ithiel Town, who were the masters of their craft, the building was redesigned by John Frazee (1790-1852) over a period of seven years. John Frazee was a sculptor, an early American architect as well as a mason. (Smith)

It is a high plinth that the facade rests upon; there is a necessity for the series of entry steps due to the drop in the grade towards the front from the back. However, the status of Washington softens the impact to a certain extent as it rises from the podium on the sidewalk. It is the Parthenon that the building front is modeled upon. It is essential to note the development of the sturdy Nassau Street side which is 178 feet by 54 meters long. The complete building is fireproof and has brick vaulting present in building and the basement and this can be seen in the dome as well. The reconditioning of the complete structure was carried out in the 1950s and it was after this that the structure was given its new name as well. (Smith)

ARTISTIC UPDATES AT FEDERAL HALL

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