Frederick Law Olmsted and His Work 
on the west of 
the grounds is 
one of the most 
unfortunate ex¬ 
amples. (2) 1 he 
very small use 
made of water in 
fountains, pools 
and cascades is 
to be regretted. 
The formal char¬ 
acter of the de¬ 
sign, the topog¬ 
raphy of the 
grounds, and 
especially the 
climate of Wash¬ 
ington, all appear 
to unite in a jus¬ 
tification, if in¬ 
deed not a de¬ 
mand for a much 
greater use of 
water. What might have been done in this direc¬ 
tion can in a measure be realized by recalling the 
happy and effective designs for fountains, water- 
basins, etc. and the way in which they are em¬ 
ployed in Paris, Rome and other European cities. 
(3) Assuming for the moment that public opinion 
was not hostile to 
it, would not an 
even more formal 
and architectural 
treatment have 
been possible and 
appropriate, at 
least for the 
western half of 
the grounds ? It 
would seem that 
the noble archi¬ 
tecture of the 
Capitol, the 
natural slope of 
the ground on 
the west (grade 
of about 10%) 
and the import¬ 
ance of the build¬ 
ing and its 
grounds in the 
plan of the city, 
called for a grander and more elaborate treatment. 
1 he problems of convenient approaches, views and 
shade coulu probably have been successfully solved. 
I he standards for suggestive treatment would have 
been found in the classic Italian villas of the 
Renaissance and in the best of the French designs 
THE GROTTO 
VIEW OF THE POTOMAC AS SEEN THROUGH ONE OF THE CAPITOL VISTAS PLANNED BY MR. OLMSTED 
12 7 
