| The National Capitol Columns are twenty-three Corinthian columns taken from the National Capitol Building in 1956 during expansion work. The columns now stand on a grassy knoll in the National Arboretum, where they offer a quiet setting for solitary contemplation, small gatherings and special Arboretum events. The entire effort was funded by private donations. Ms. Faux designed the project working from a concept developed by the late Russell Page, a noted British garden designer. She assisted in fund raising activities as well. Mr. Goettge was responsible for much of the construction management. EDAW Inc. was the contracting firm. After the original project was completed, the original donors commissioned the Faux Group Inc. to add several embellishments to the overlook. They requested more plantings, more places for people to sit and more shelter for the tiny plaza and paving to allow older visitors to avoid the wet grass. As in the design for the main plaza, TFG used salvaged stone elements to create paving and a low seat wall with ornate buttons to guard the entrance. A set of stone steps was added to encourage visitors to walk out into the meadow. A tapestry of low colorful herbs and bulbs now fill the spaces between the pavers, as on the larger plaza. Several groves of trees now frame the plaza and swaths of naturalized daffodils fill the meadow around it. |
