![Smithsonian building, LCCN2017659613-crop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Smithsonian_building%2C_LCCN2017659613-crop.jpg)
The Smithsonian Institution Building, located near the
National Mall in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
behind the
National Museum of African Art
The National Museum of African Art is the Smithsonian Institution's African art museum, located on the National Mall of the United States capital. Its collections include 9,000 works of traditional and contemporary African art from both Sub-S ...
and the
Sackler Gallery
The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery is an art museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., focusing on Asian art. The Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art together form the National Museum of Asian Art in the United States. Th ...
, houses the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
's administrative offices and information center. The building is constructed of
Seneca red sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
in the
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
Revival style (a 12th-century combination of late
Romanesque and early
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
motifs; built in the
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
and
Romanesque revival styles) and is nicknamed the Castle. It was completed in 1855 and designated a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1965.
History
The Castle was the first Smithsonian building, designed by architect
James Renwick, Jr., whose other works include
St. Patrick's Cathedral in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and the Smithsonian's
Renwick Gallery
The Renwick Gallery is a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum located in Washington, D.C. that displays American craft and decorative arts from the 19th to 21st century. The gallery is housed in a National Historic Landmark building that ...
, also in Washington D.C. The building committee held a nationwide design competition in 1846 and selected Renwick's design by a unanimous vote.
Renwick's second design, which was Gothic Revival in style, was used in the design of
Trinity Episcopal Church.
A cardboard model of Renwick's winning design survives and is on display in the Castle. Renwick was assisted by
Robert Mills,
particularly in the internal arrangement of the building.
![JosephHenry-SmithsonianCastle-20050517](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/JosephHenry-SmithsonianCastle-20050517.jpg)
Initially intended to be built in white marble, then in yellow sandstone,
the architect and building committee finally settled on Seneca red sandstone from the
Seneca Quarry
Seneca Quarry is a historic site located at Seneca, Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal on the north bank of the Potomac River, just west of Seneca Creek. The quarry was the source of stone for two ...
in
Montgomery County, Maryland. The redstone was substantially less expensive than granite or marble, and while initially easy to work, was found to harden to a satisfactory degree on exposure to the elements.
Scholarly evidence indicates it is likely that slaves were employed at Seneca in quarrying stone for the Castle, though no evidence has surfaced that slaves were involved in the actual Castle construction.
The building committee selected Gilbert Cameron as the general contractor, and construction began in 1847. The East Wing was completed in 1849 and occupied by Secretary
Joseph Henry and his family. The West Wing was completed later the same year. A structural collapse in 1850 of partly completed work raised questions of workmanship and resulted in a change to fireproof construction. The Castle's exterior was completed in 1852; Renwick's work was completed and he withdrew from further participation. Cameron continued the interior work, which he completed in 1855.
Construction funds came from "accrued interest on the
Smithson bequest."
Despite the upgraded fireproof construction, a fire in 1865 caused extensive damage to the upper floor of the building, destroying the correspondence of
James Smithson, Henry's papers, two hundred oil paintings of American Indians by
John Mix Stanley
John Mix Stanley (January 17, 1814 – April 10, 1872) was an artist-explorer, an American painter of landscapes, and Native American portraits and tribal life. Born in the Finger Lakes region of New York, he started painting signs and portraits ...
, the Regent's Room and the lecture hall, and the contents of the public libraries of
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C.
In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...
and
Beaufort, South Carolina
Beaufort ( , a different pronunciation from that used by the city with the same name in North Carolina) is a city in and the county seat of Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South ...
, confiscated by Union forces during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
. The ensuing renovation was undertaken by local Washington architect
Adolf Cluss
Adolf Ludwig Cluss (July 14, 1825 – July 24, 1905) also known as Adolph Cluss was a German-born American immigrant who became one of the most important, influential and prolific architects in Washington, D.C., in the late 19th century, respons ...
in 1865–67. Further fireproofing work ensued in 1883, also by Cluss, who by this time had designed the neighboring
Arts and Industries Building. A third and fourth floor were added to the East Wing, and a third floor to the West Wing. Electric lighting was installed in 1895.
Around 1900, the wooden floor of the Great Hall was replaced with
terrazzo
Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bind ...
and a Children's Museum was installed near the south entrance. A tunnel connected to the Arts and Industries Building. A general renovation took place in 1968–70 to install modern electrical systems, elevators and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
The
Enid A. Haupt Garden was dedicated in 1987, along with the Renwick Gate facing Independence Avenue, built from Seneca redstone retrieved from the demolished D.C. Jail.
Description
![East entrance - Smithsonian Institution Building](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/East_entrance_-_Smithsonian_Institution_Building.JPG)
James Renwick designed the Castle as the focal point of a picturesque landscape on the Mall, using elements from
Georg Moller
Georg Moller (21 January 1784 – 13 March 1852) was an architect and a town planner who worked in the South of Germany, mostly in the region today known as Hessen.
Life and family background
Moller was born in Diepholz, a descendant of an old ...
's ''Denkmäler der deutschen Baukunst''. Renwick originally intended to detail the building with entirely American sculptural flora in the manner of
Benjamin Henry Latrobe
Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (May 1, 1764 – September 3, 1820) was an Anglo-American neoclassical architect who emigrated to the United States. He was one of the first formally trained, professional architects in the new United States, draw ...
's work at the
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...
, but the final work used conventional pattern-book designs.
The building is completed in the
Gothic Revival style with
Romanesque motifs. This style was chosen to evoke the
Collegiate Gothic in England and the ideas of knowledge and wisdom. The façade is built with red sandstone from the
Seneca quarry
Seneca Quarry is a historic site located at Seneca, Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal on the north bank of the Potomac River, just west of Seneca Creek. The quarry was the source of stone for two ...
in
Seneca, Maryland Seneca is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is located near the intersection of River Road and Seneca Creek, not far from the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O Canal) and Potomac River. Its history goes ba ...
in contrast to the granite, marble and yellow sandstone from the other major buildings in Washington, D.C.
![Smithsonian Institution Castle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Smithsonian_Institution_Castle.jpg)
The building comprises a central section, two extensions or ranges, and two wings. Four towers contain occupiable space, while five smaller towers are primarily decorative, although some contain stairs. As constructed, the central section contained the main entry and museum space (now the Great Hall), with a basement beneath and a large lecture room above. Two galleries on the second floor were used to display artifacts and art. This area is now the Visitor's Information and Associates' Reception area. The East Range contained laboratory space on the first floor and research space on the second. The East Wing contained storage space on the first floor and a suite of rooms on the second as an apartment for the Secretary of the Smithsonian. This space is currently used as administrative offices and archives. The West Range was one story and used as a reading room. The West Wing, known as the chapel, was used as a library.
The West Wing and Range are now used as a quiet room for visitors to go.
On the exterior, the principal tower on the south side is high and square. On the north side there are two towers, the taller on tall. A
campanile at the northeast corner is square and tall.
The plan allowed for expansion at either end, a major reason for the informal medievally-inspired design, which would not suffer if asymmetrically developed.
Current use
The Smithsonian Castle houses the administrative offices of the Smithsonian. The main Smithsonian visitor center is also located here, with interactive displays and maps. Computers electronically answer most common questions. A
crypt just inside the north entrance houses the
tomb
A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...
of
James Smithson.
See also
*
Seneca Quarry
Seneca Quarry is a historic site located at Seneca, Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal on the north bank of the Potomac River, just west of Seneca Creek. The quarry was the source of stone for two ...
, the source of red sandstone for the Smithsonian Castle, listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
*
Architecture of Washington, D.C.
References
Further reading
*Auslander, Mark,
Enslaved Labor and Building the Smithsonian: Reading the Stones" ''Southern Spaces'', December 12, 2012.
External links
*
*
*
Smithsonian Institution Building, The Castle at Google Cultural InstituteC-SPAN Tour of the Smithsonian Castle
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National Historic Landmarks in Washington, D.C.
Historic American Buildings Survey in Washington, D.C.
National Mall
Smithsonian Institution
Gothic Revival architecture in Washington, D.C.
Sandstone buildings in the United States
James Renwick Jr. buildings
Southwest Federal Center