Diagonals, Vistas, and Canals: Tracing L’Enfant’s Influences Beyond D.C.
Posted by: Amelia Raines
Pierre Charles L’Enfant did not design Washington in a vacuum. A unique city within American urban planning history, Washington was both informed by its predecessors—mostly European capitals—and an inspiration for its successors, both domestic and foreign. This blog post traces D.C.’s influences from London to Brasilia, using the Library of Congress’s diverse collection of globe-spanning maps to place L’Enfant’s Washington, D.C., within a longer history of city and town planning.
Posted in: 18th century cartography, 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography, City Histories, Guest Posts
