Now that life has changed and the girls are doing online school, I added an architectural class to their weekly work load. This past week, I asked each to write a report on a work of architecture that they each appreciate. Here is the report from Hannah Hendricks.
For my assignment, I chose the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The museum is located on the National Mall in the nation’s capital, Washington D.C., and has more than seven thousand artists represented in the collection. The building, originally a patent office building, was designed by Robert Mills and taken over by Thomas U. Walter after Mills was dismissed in 1851.
Robert Mills was a nineteenth-century architect from South Carolina who is well known for designing the first Washington Monument, which is located in Baltimore, Maryland, and the monument to the first president, located in Washington, DC.
Thomas Walter was a nineteenth-century architect who is well known for being the fourth Architect of the Capitol, designing the addition of the north and south wings and central dome of the U.S. Capitol building, and being the second president of the American Institute of Architects.
One famous piece displayed in the museum is called “Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii” by artist Nam June Paik. It is a popular piece in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Paik, the artist, is a Korean-American artist who worked with a variety of materials. His 1995 piece, “Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii” is a piece of abstract art permanently placed in the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Construction of the original building, the old patent office building, began in 1836 and took thirty-one years to complete. The patent office building was completed in 1865. It takes up an entire city block. The original building was designed by Robert Mills in the Greek Revival style. The Greek Revival architectural movement was popular in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in northern Europe and the United States. The museum collection was moved to the old patent office building in 1968 and has been there since.
Works Cited
“Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii.” Smithsonian American Art Museum. N. p., 2020. Web. 12 Apr. 2020. https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/electronic- superhighway-continental-us-alaska-hawaii-71478
“Greek Revival Architecture.” En.wikipedia.org. N. p., 2020. Web. 12 Apr. 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Revival_architecture
“Nam June Paik.” En.wikipedia.org. N. p., 2020. Web. 12 Apr. 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nam_June_Paik
“Old Patent Office Building.” En.wikipedia.org. N. p., 2020. Web. 12 Apr. 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Patent_Office_Building
“Robert Mills (Architect).” En.wikipedia.org. N. p., 2020. Web. 12 Apr. 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mills_(architect)
“Smithsonian American Art Museum.” En.wikipedia.org. N. p., 2020. Web. 12 Apr. 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithsonian_American_Art_Museum
“Thomas Ustick Walter.” En.wikipedia.org. N. p., 2020. Web. 12 Apr. 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Ustick_Walter
“Washington DC’s Must-Visit Art Galleries.” The Telegraph. N. p., 2019. Web. 12 Apr. 2020. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/discover-america/washington-dc-art-galleries/
Cemetery, Congressional et al. ” Robert Mills (1781-1855) – Find A Grave Memorial.” Findagrave.com. N. p., 1781. Web. 12 Apr. 2020. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/ 7004685/robert-mills
