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Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,743 posts, read 23,798,187 times
Reputation: 14640
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Best: Connecticut
IMG_4088 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/2834409107/ - broken link) by cliff1066™ (http://www.flickr.com/people/nostri-imago/ - broken link), on Flickr
Worst: Oregon
Oregon State House (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fusionpanda/186571376/ - broken link) by fusionpanda (http://www.flickr.com/people/fusionpanda/ - broken link), on Flickr
IMG_4088 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/2834409107/ - broken link) by cliff1066™ (http://www.flickr.com/people/nostri-imago/ - broken link), on Flickr
Worst: Oregon
Oregon State House (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fusionpanda/186571376/ - broken link) by fusionpanda (http://www.flickr.com/people/fusionpanda/ - broken link), on Flickr
Oregon's state capital is a terrible looking building, but it's so interesting that there's no way I can put it in last place. It looks like superman lives there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nashvols
I don't necessarily think Tennessee's is the best...but I've always been fond of it.
Here are some pics I took last spring:
Although it's been pointed out that a lot of them have similar looks, I think most state capitols are fairly well executed. A few notable exceptions were mentioned earlier in the thread.
I would also like to add that Tennessee's was designed by William Strickland, a well-known 19th century architect who designed a number of buildings in Nashville and Philadelphia. The building is done in the Greek Revival style.
Rather than a dome, Tennessee's capitol is adorned with a lantern, modeled after the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens, Greece.
I like tennessee's a lot. I like basically anyone that doesn't have a dome, so many look so similar. Tennessee's looks great I think and is easily a contender for the best.
Another interesting note about strickland... it took him so long to build the capital building that he died building it and is now entombed in the state capital!
As great as the Tennessee state capital building is though, I don't think it's the best Strickland building in Nashville. The Downtown Presbyterian Church is one of my favorite buildings in this country.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,743 posts, read 23,798,187 times
Reputation: 14640
Quote:
Originally Posted by phillies2011
Oregon's state capital is a terrible looking building, but it's so interesting that there's no way I can put it in last place. It looks like superman lives there.
It looks like a glorified bank vault. Very uninviting building.
It looks like a glorified bank vault. Very uninviting building.
It's a rather brutal version of Art Deco architecture with a heavy emphasis on imposing strength in its architectural articulation. That dome looks like a giant gear and its minimal use of glass clearly sends a less than friendly message to its surroundings.
While others hate it, I appreciate it as being of its time. Depression era structures were often austere and the Art Deco style could easily play to that well.
People who think Wisconsin's Capital looks just like the US Capital obviously never seen it or bothered to even look at photos of it. So here are some...
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6009/5908945049_412eb3ac19_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/auvet/5908945049/in/photostream/ - broken link)
Wisconsin State Capitol by jimmywayne on flickr
Indiana's capitol is beautifully maintained and recently renovated.........all polished marble, statuary and waxed floors. A must-see for capitol hounds. I regret I don't have a complete outside pic, but was just there recently and took these. I've seen pics on the web but the building seems more impressive in person.
Interesting that in the Illinois capitol, with a special pass you can go all the way up to the top turret inside the dome, and look out. But even though Indiana has a somewhat similar dome, I was told by a janitor there that its completely inaccessible.
I've been inside the Indiana capitol before, but not in so many years. Walked right outside of it in 2009 when I briefly visiting Indy, and after seeing those pics, I almost wish I had more time to go inside it all over again. At least I got some decent pics of that, along with the nearby Soldiers and Sailors Monument.
My favorites, of the ones I've seen(won't bother with pics, since it's a biatch to find pics that aren't copyrighted, excluding Wikipedia. and sometimes the selection of pics on that site is limited, and not in a mood at the moment to post links to pics):
-Illinois(it's one of 2 I'd say that is underrated, along with South Carolina)
-Indiana
-Georgia
-Virginia
-West Virginia
-Wisconsin
-South Carolina(like the unique design it has on its dome)
Alright:
-Tennessee(like that it's on a hill, though)
-Michigan(agree that I like the narrow and very vertical dome it has, versus the way most were built otherwise)
Didn't care for:
-Florida(new capitol, the old building is very nice though, was a fan of how that one look, and would put that in my favs)
Liked seeing pics of other state capitols I'd never been to, since it made me realize ones I shouldn't go out of my way to visit(North Dakota, New Mexico, Hawaii, Ohio, Oregon). The latter 2 I'd be open to changing my mind on and visiting, if I could see some interior pics of them(maybe the interior would make up for the cut off dome look, I'm not wild about?).
Really want to see Texas, Connecticut, New York, Iowa, and Pennsylvania. Googled the capitols in Missouri and Kansas, and those don't look too bad either. California's capitol looks decent, and I also wouldn't mind seeing the ones in Maryland and Nevada(got good impressions of the latter 2, from seeing pics). Many in the western half of the country I'll have to google to look up pics of them, someday.
I went through entire thread to finally see Wisconsin! It's far from just another pillar filled dome building. the location is like no other! the only capital building on an isthmus, it provides countless amazing views from all over the city and its two surrounding lakes, especially at night when lit up (sometimes with different colors). Not only that, the massive dome (third largest in the country) can be seen from miles outside the city like a shining beacon, due to it being the tallest building in Madison (by city mandate). The inside is a beautiful spectacle that I could go on about as I'm sure many are, but Madison's is the BEST!
I've never been a huge fan if the Maryland state capitol. It just looks bland to me, but it does match the surroundings of Annapolis so I guess it's not terrible, just no where near the best.
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