Art Nouveau Architecture

Gallery One
(click on any image for bigger picture tour)

V. Horta, Hôtel
Tassel, 1893-97
Brussels, Belgium

Victor Horta, Hôtel Victor Horta, Hôtel V. Horta House &

Tassel, 1893-97 Tassel, 1893-97 Studio, 1898-1901
Brussels, Belgium Brussels, Belgium Brussels, Belgium

V. Horta House
1898-1901
Brussels, Belgium

V. Horta, Hôtel Victor Horta Victor Horta Victor Horta, Hôtel

Hallet, 1903-05 House, 1898-1901 House, 1898-1901 Solvay, 1894-1903
Brussels, Belgium Brussels, Belgium Brussels, Belgium Brussels, Belgium

"The terrifying and edible beauty of Art Nouveau architecture."

- Salvador Dali, quoted in Saranne Alexandrian's Surrealist Art, ch. 10., 1969.

Go to Art Nouveau Gallery: 1 2 3

or Back to Building Galleries
 Art Nouveau Architecture
Gallery Two
(click on any image for bigger picture tour)

Horta, Maison du P. Saintenoy, 1899 Jacques De Weerdt J. Hofman & J.

Peuple, 1896-99 Old England Store Row House, 1904 De Weerdt, Houses
Brussels, Belgium Brussels, Belgium Antwerp, Belgium 1904-5. Antwerp

? Architect, Apt. Jacques De Weerdt Jules Hofman Jacques De Weerdt

Bldg?, circa 1900?, Houses, ca. 1913 Row House, 1900 Row House, 1904
Split, Croatia Antwerp, Belgium Antwerp, Belgium Antwerp, Belgium

"In life, as in art, the beautiful moves in curves."

 Art Nouveau Architecture
Gallery Three
(click on any image for bigger picture tour)

John Hudson Thomas John Hudson Thomas

W. L. Locke House Pratt - Thomas House
1911. Oakland, CA 1911. Berkeley, CA

? Architect, School L. Weissenburger,

of Nancy Museum Aquarium, ca.
1870. Nancy, Fr. 1904. Nancy, Fr.

John Hudson Thomas John Hudson Thomas

W. L. Locke House Pratt - Thomas House
1911. Oakland, CA 1911. Berkeley, CA

Arts and Crafts ? Architect, John H. Thomas Way Cool

Galleries (with some Pavilion, ca. 1901 Pratt-Thomas Hse. Architectural
Art Nouveau overlap) Nancy, France 1911. Berkeley, CA Links Too!

"We all agreed, all us young architects, that our so-called modern architecture was
too old and icy and flat. Frank Lloyd Wright used to call it flat-chested, no breasts,
because it was all sheer and smooth with glass up to the top, and the top just cut off,
and it didn't seem human."

- Philip Johnson, as quoted in a McNeal/Lehrer Newshour transcript from July 9, 1996.

 Go to Art Nouveau Gallery: 1 2 3
or Back to Building Galleries

States: A-B, C-E, F-IL, IN-K, L-ME, MI-MO, N-NE, NO-O, P-S, T-V, W-Z

This portion of Cupola site chronicles the rich and often

colorful architectural history of the American State
Capitol Buildings. Perhaps no other secular building
type is so closely affiliated with dome and cupola
designs, or use them as effectively as symbols of unity
and power.

States with Capitol Buildings featuring prominent

exterior cupolas are highlighted in yellow. These
include former Statehouses still standing in the current
capital city. Former State Capitol Buildings existing
elsewhere are not covered here. States possessing
Capitol Buildings with other cupola-like forms like
domes, drums, and towers in their designs are so noted
in their building descriptions.

Historical information presented in this section has

been compiled from various State Government and
Historical Society websites, with Eldon Hauck's
comprehensive 1991 book, American Capitols, as a
primary source. Picture credits are included both on the
pages of the accompanying Picture Gallery, and, more
briefly, in the "mouse-over" descriptions associated with
 each image. The Library of Congress, Chris Miller, Pat
and Debbi Furrie, Robert Dolton, Les Center, and Bill
Hazzard must be credited for the bulk of the
contemporary and historic photos, postcards, and
drawings that appear here. Credit should also be given
to the hard-working content providers whose sites
enhance the building descriptions via offsite links.
Many offer greatly expanded coverage of individual
capitol buildings and their grounds.

Please note that at any given moment, a few of the

offsite links found here will be offline. This is the nature
of links, web servers, and the ever changing Internet.
Links to government sites are most prone to fail on
weekends, or sometimes, after newly elected officials
take power. Most bounce back within a day or two, but
not always. Cupola regularly verifies and updates its
collection of links, so any really dead or broken ones will
not hang around for long.

Click on any picture to see an enlarged version, or to

view the other historic images available in the Cupolas
of Capitalism Picture Gallery. For additional
photographic coverage of the state capitol buildings, the
CapitolShots.com website from capitol hobbyist Kevin
McCrea, and the state capitols project from
photographer Edward Crim, are both excellent
resources.

STATE CAPITOL BLDG.

BUILDING DESCRIPTION(s),
STATE CITY
DATE(s) / IMAGE(s) and SITE
ARCHITECT(s) LINK(s)
Alabama Montgomery 1851, central
portion of Capitol
designed and built /
George Nichols
replacing 1847
Capitol that burned
by Stephen D.
Button.

Note: other sources

credit different
Original central core of
architects. The
state's own website capitol built in the Greek
credits the design to Revival style. Features a
Barachais Holt, and circular drum tower
claims it was built capped with a dome and
on the foundation cupola. Later Neoclassical
of the burned wings added at sides and
Button capitol. back. 119 feet tall. More
Another source at info offsite with this photo
the Library of essay from the state
Congress says archive site. The Alabama
Nichols, not Button, Historical Commission
designed the offers a virtual tour and a
burned capitol. brief history of the state
That source credits capitol building on their
Nimrod E. Benson website.
and Justus Wyman
as supervising the
new capitol's
construction. It
does not list the
building's architect,
but it states that
Nichols strongly
influenced the
design.

1885, east wing /

W. T. Walker.

1905-06, south
wing / Frank
Lockwood with
Charles Follen
McKim.

1911-12, north
wing / Frank
Lockwood.

1985, Alabama
State Legislature
relocates to the
State House
building, located
behind the Capitol
building and built
decades earlier as
the State Highway
Department
building. Complete
renovation and
restoration of the
Capitol building
begins upon their
departure.
 1989-92, east
portico / ?
Architect.

An Art Deco block with

classical elements. Flat
topped and approx. 118
feet tall. Picture and more
info offsite, in this official
1923-31, Capitol
Alaska State Capitol
designed and built /
Building description, and
James A. Wetmore
this illustrated history,
and U.S. Treasury
complete with a video
Department
tour. Also available is this
Architects.
QuickTime panorama,
from Virtual Guidebooks,
2004-present, plans
and this photograph from
Alaska Juneau for a new Capitol
the Juneau, Alaska, Capital
building
City Homepage.
underway / Thom
Mayne of
Conceptual plans for the
Morphosis (Santa
new Alaska State Capitol
Monica, CA) and
Building may be found on
Mike Mense of
the Alaska Capitol Design
mmenseArchitects
Competition website.
(Anchorage, AK).
Morphosis had been the
only competition finalist to
submit a design that
incorporated a large dome,
although the proposal from
Moshe Safdie had at least
featured a clever
abstraction of the form.
For an architectural
perspective on the project,
see Marianne Cusato's
critique in the Town Paper,
an urban design
publication.
Arizona Phoenix 1899-1900, Capitol
designed and built /
James Riley
Gordon.

1919 and 1938

additions / ?
 Architect.

1956-57, lawmakers
were considering
constructing a new
capitol. At the
request of a
reporter, the
famous architect,
Frank Lloyd
Wright, sketched
out and presented
his visionof the
ideal capitol, which
he called the "Pro
Bono Publico"
(a.k.a. "The Neoclassical state capitol
Oasis"). Neither building with Spanish
Wright's new influences. Copper
capitol project nor covered dome but no
anyone else's were cupola. 92 feet tall. The
built. A poster dome is capped with a
showing Wright's statue called Winged
unrealized design is Victory. Official info is
available from the available offsite with a
publishing house, virtual tour of the capitol
Pomegranate. complex from the Arizona
Wright's own book, State Legislature and
A Testament historical exhibits from the
includes other Arizona State Capitol
views of the project. Museum website.

1960, House and

Senate moved to
newer buildings
east of the original
building.

1974, left empty

when remaining
state offices moved
to larger, adjacent
buildings.

1981, restored and

given museum
status.
Arkansas Little Rock 1833-1845, Old
(Old and State House
New State designed and built
Houses) (now Museum of
Arkansas) / Gideon
Shyrock.

1885, Old State Greek Revival Old State

 House. Low pitched roof.
Pictures and more info
offsite at the Old State
House Museum website.

House
remodeled / ?
Architect.

1899-1915, New
State House
designed and built / The Neoclassical New State
begun by George R. House is 230 feet tall,
Mann, finished by featuring a circular central
Cass Gilbert, drum tower that is capped
including dome. with a dome and cupola.
More info offsite with this
official virtual tour. Also
offsite is this unofficial
photo essay about the
building's skewed site
placement.

View States: A-B, C-E, F-IL, IN-K, L-ME, MI-MO,

 Frank Lloyd Wright
Gallery One
(click on any image to enlarge)

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright

House (1889) & Studio W. H. Winslow House Nathan G. Moore House
(1895-98). Oak Park, IL 1893. River Forest, IL 1895. Oak Park, Illinois

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright

Arthur Heurtley House Arthur Heurtley House Edwin H. Cheney House
1902. Oak Park, Illinois 1902. Oak Park, Illinois 1903. Oak Park, Illinois

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright

Avery Coonley House Avery Coonley House Avery Coonley House
1907. Riverside, Illinois 1907. Riverside, Illinois 1907. Riverside, Illinois

"The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise
his client to plant vines."
 - F. L. Wright, as quoted by the New York Times Magazine, Oct. 4, 1953.

Go to Wright Gallery: 1 2 3 4
or Back to Building Galleries

Site Back to
Index Cupola Home

20th Century and Modern

Architecture Gallery One
(click on any image to enlarge)

Le Corbusier, Chapelle The Hillier Group, A.S.U.

Notre Dame du Haut Architecture Building
1950-55. Ronchamp, Fr. 1989. Tempe, Arizona

Le Corbusier The Hillier Group

Maison Planeix Architecture Bldg.
1924-28. Paris, Fr. 1989. Tempe, AZ

Le Corbusier, Chapelle Le Corbusier, Chapelle

Notre Dame du Haut Notre Dame du Haut
1950-55. Ronchamp, Fr. 1950-55. Ronchamp, Fr.
 Le Corbusier, N.D. Le Corbusier, Chapelle Le Corbusier, Chapelle Le Corbusier, Villa
du Haut, 1950-55 Notre Dame du Haut Notre Dame du Haut Savoie, 1929-31
Ronchamp, France 1950-55. Ronchamp, Fr. 1950-55. Ronchamp, Fr. Poisse, France

"The more minimal the art, the more maximum the explanation."

- Hilton Kramer, from an unknown source found

(click on any image to enlarge)

? Architect Frei Otto & G. Behnisch

Olympic Village Olympic Swimming
1965?-72 Facility, 1965-72
Munich, Germany Munich, Germany