Quote:
Originally Posted by Albuquerque 101
New Mexico's state capitol was built in 1966 and is designed in the Territorial style, which is a style that was developed as a way to make New Mexico's buildings look more like the rest of the country. It melds traditional adobe styles with Federal style design flourishes and details. It introduces some of the order, symmetry and proportions of classical design to adobe structures, that were usually informal, unsymmetrical and free-flowing in their structure.
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki...te_Capitol.jpg
New Mexico's state capitol is the only round state capitol in the country and one of only two fully round seats of government in the world, along with India's Parliament House. This earns it the nickname of the Roundhouse. With each of its four entrance projections it looks like the Zia sun symbol from above, which is the symbol on New Mexico's state flag. The rotunda is covered by a stained glass skylight with a design motif that resembles a traditional Pueblo Indian piece of pottery.
https://travel.usnews.com/images/State_capitol.jpg
https://www.krqe.com/wp-content/uplo...use-aerial.jpg
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I really must tour the New Mexico state capital, especially since it now gives the state an "old capitol" to visit as well: the nearby Palace of Governors, which I suspect is getting "best" votes on the companion "best/worst old capitol" thread.
I think that after doing so, it would go on my list of best state capitols.
Right now, that list consists of two, with an honorable mention for two others.
First is Ohio's. Built not long after it became a state in 1818, the Ohio state Capitol is the only one in the country built in the Federal style, an offshoot of Colonial that I consider a bit simpler yet more elegant. It is also one of the capitals that lacks a dome, though it does have that cylinder on top (which may be an unfinished dome).
Ohio Statehouse by Niagara66 via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Next is Maryland's, the oldest one still in use in the country. The original 1772 structure has the distinction of having the largest wooden dome built without nails in the country. The 1905 addition complements it beautifully.
Maryland State House by Rdsmith4 via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under
CC-BY-SA-2.5
First honorable mention goes to Massachusetts. I just like Charles Bulfinch's gold dome and the building's commanding position atop Beacon Hill.
Boston State House of Massachusetts by Stefan Schulze (Audience) via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under
CC-BY-SA-3.0
Second goes to Delaware. The state capitol in Dover is actually a contemporary of Nebraska's and Louisiana's Art Deco skyscraper capitol buildings (and I agree with the poster who gave them points for originality), but it's a throwback: a trio of very modest Georgian Revival structures reminiscent of but more expansive than the old Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia (Independence Hall).
Public domain image by Joshua Daniel Franklin via Wikimedia Commons
Given my preferences for midcentury modern residences, these choices may strike you as odd, but I don't think that my tastes should be uniform across all building types, or even within them: old buildings have great beauty as well, in many (or even most) cases more than new ones.
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