A different view of Washington

D.C. would have a very different look if these alternative designs and proposed buildings had came to fruition.

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The winning entry for the Washington Monument by Robert Mills, 1846. Mills’s original proposal called for an obelisk anchored by a circular, Greek-inspired temple at the base.

Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division /

Projected improvements to the Washington Monument and Mall by B.F. Smith, 1852. This image shows a variation on the circular colonnade that was part of the original design for the Washington Monument but was never executed. It also shows a proposed suspension bridge across the canal adjacent to the Mall.

Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Proposal for the completion of the Washington Monument by Vinnie Ream Hoxie, c. 1876-78. Construction of the Washington Monument began in 1848 but was halted in 1856, leaving an unfinished stump on the Mall for more than two decades. In the 1870s, various architects and others proposed ideas for finishing the monument, often in unexpected ways.

Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

Rendering of the proposal for the Washington Monument grounds, by the Senate Park Commission, 1901-02.The wide steps, the circular pool, and the terraced gardens were all intended to provide a more dignified base for the monument, while resolving the awkward geometry resulting from its placement off the axis from the White House.

Courtesy of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts

Mary Foote Henderson commissioned architect Paul Pelz to design this palatial replacement for the White House for a site on Meridian Hill, directly across the street from the Henderson mansion.

Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

Proposed extensions to the White House by Robert Owen, 1891-1901.This was one of several proposals in the late 19th century for expanding or relocating the Executive Mansion to provide more space for a growing government. Owen proposed creating two approximate replicas of the original building, rotated 90 degrees in plan and placed to either side, forming an open court with a greenhouse at the south end.

Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

Proposal for the Lincoln Memorial by John Russell Pope, 1912.

Courtesy National Archives

Rendering of the proposed National Sofa, to be located across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, by Jim Allegro, AIA, and Doug Michels, 1996. Allegro and Michels were concerned that the closure of Pennsylvania Avenue following the Oklahoma City bombing would further isolate the presidency from the people. They proposed the National Sofa as a place of virtual and physical interaction to address that gap.

James Allegro, AIA and Doug Michels

Competition entry for the Library of Congress by Leon Beaver, 1873.

Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Competition entry for the Library of Congress by Alexander R. Esty, c. 1880. This proposal for the Library of Congress was an unusual application of the Gothic Revival style.

Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

Main elevation of Capitol competition entry by James Diamond, 1792. Many entries to the design competition for the "Congress House" were by amateurs, including this one notable for its crudely drawn weathercock.

Courtesy Maryland Historical Society

Proposed design for the U.S. Capitol with high dome by William Thornton, c. 1797.

Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Competition entry for the President’s House, by A.Z. (attributed to Thomas Jefferson), 1792. Strong historical evidence indicates that this design, submitted under the initials A.Z., was actually by Thomas Jefferson.

Courtesy Maryland Historical Society

Proposed Masonic Temple Complex by Waddy B. Wood, 1922-24. The site of this proposed complex was where the Washington Hilton stands today.

Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Design for National Galleries of History and Art by Franklin Webster Smith, 1900. The project would have stretched from 17th Street, near the White House, to the Potomac River.

Courtesy National Galleries of History and Art: The Aggrandizement of Washington

Proposal for “Housing on the Avenue” by Hugh Newell Jacobsen, 1974. This project would have been located on the current site of Market Square, along Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The terraced design was inspired by Italian hill towns.

Courtesy Jacobsen Architecture

Preliminary proposal for the National Cultural Center (later Kennedy Center), Edward Durell Stone, 1959. Stone’s curvilinear original design contrasts sharply with the boxy design that was executed.

Courtesy Edward Durell Stone Collection, Special Collections / National Building Museum

Proposed renovation of the Arts & Industries Building by Morphosis Architects, 2011.

Courtesy Morphosis Architects

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