You keep claiming that Washington's design is "car centric," even though the city was designed a century before the first cars were built. It's more accurate to say that the city's design adapted easily to cars, because of the wide streets and avenues it incorporated. Washington' has this in common with many other American cities.

Not just the street grid design, but the design of the DC Metro system, especially downtown, is incredible! The flashing lights on the platform whenever a train arrives, the hexagonal tiles, the waffle-style concrete vault Brutalism, it was built as a showcase system, and it shows. They were designed by Harry Weese, and he worked with Massachusetts-based lighting designer Bill Lam on the indirect lighting used throughout the system. He visited London, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, and many other smaller cities, hoping to take the best elements of each and combine them into the perfect system for DC. Weese created a proposal with dozens of views for station interiors with a simple semiellipse, with a flat bottom and curved top. For cut-and-cover stations, the vault was proposed to have straight, vertical walls supporting a curved ceiling. But the CFA wanted it to be beautiful, and no exposed rock walls like Stockholm, so he changed his thought. He felt the necessities of each station would produce the variety, that "You don't try to make them different for different's sake. We think it's very appropriate for Washington. After all". To Weese, the sweeping, swooping, floating lines of Metro's plazas, stations and mezzanines are the system's best feature. Once they were chosen, he said, the long, long escalators and the indirect, somewhat dim lighting in stations fell into step as a result.

As a DC resident I can tell you it works fairly well in the older, flatter downtown areas. Once you get farther afield and into actual geography of hills and creeks the system breaks down making it very difficult to get east to west. Further complicating the system was the disastrous attempt to put interstate highways through the city, which were only partially completed before residents revolted leaving partial highways that cut off sections of town and do not simplify auto transportation as intended.

Washington DC is one of my favourite cities in the world. I wish the McMillan plan was fully built out though because I loved it’s architecture

I’ll disagree with the car traffic thing a little. Sure traffic can be bad, but the city has pretty good public transit and hike infrastructure, so it’s not that bad

There weren't a lot of cars in 1792 when the city was designed so I'm going to hazard a guess that cars had nothing to do with the width of the streets. Also, the design of the city was modeled after Paris, which means the other cities were also based on Paris, not DC.

Washington D.C.'s 1791 L’Enfant layout is a derivative of the common 17th-18th century European formal style, which itself derives from Italian Renaissance gardens (notable for their parterres, diagonal avenues, central vistas, focal points, staircases, and fountains). These were translated through French and Dutch formal gardens of the mid-17th century, and adopted across the Continent as the basis for town and city planning. A reflection of this influence can be seen most prominently at Versailles, and also in the 1797 map of Paris from the Napoleonic period, with some limited use of parterres and avenues breaking up the otherwise mediaeval layout. That said, it was really only with Georges-Eugène Hausmann in 1853-1870, that Paris achieved its modern appearance, and the French capital is thus a more recent iteration of the style than Washington D.C. is. An earlier example of this style being used to plan a major city is Sir Christopher Wren's 1666 design for the City of London, following the Great Fire, which was ultimately never built. Unlike autocratic France, England was already a parliamentary democracy with property rights enshrined in the common law, preventing the relatively powerless King Charles II from razing private houses for such a grand ‘Hausmannian’ plan. Consequently, the City was rebuilt on its mediaeval street plan, with citizens staking out their plots amongst the rubble and rebuilding in situ. Nevertheless, the 1666 plan for London has many common features with the D.C. plan of a little over a century later, as well as with the 1853 Paris plan: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sir_Christopher_Wren%27s_plan_of_London_as_reproduced_by_Gwynn._Wellcome_M0003248.jpg; see also en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Charles_L%27Enfant#/media/File:Plan_of_the_city_intended_for_the_permanent_seat_of_the_government_of_the_United_States_-_projected_agreeable_to_the_direction_of_the_President_of_the_United_States..._(14726320702).jpg; and upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/1797_Jean_Map_of_Paris_and_the_Faubourgs%2C_France_-_Geographicus_-_Paris-jean-1797.jpg.

Brasilia's Plano Piloto was designed in the 50s by Lucio Costa and has many references, obviously! However, it is a city recognized for being an icon of the international modern movement in the last century and is much more related to the urban and architecture ideas of that time (CIAM, or Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne). It was not designed to be like a colonial city. (+ 4:18 that is not the monumental axis, so maybe it is not so clear) Dito isso, Washington D.C. é uma belíssima e fascinante cidade!

Benjamin Benneker , an African American mathematician/astronomer, also had a large role in the design the city

4:40 As a Brazilian, we were always told Brasília's design was actually meant to look like an airplane, I've never heard anyone mention Washington D.C. as an inspiration for that.

you realised when Washingston DC was created, there were no cars. the wide avenue ain't for cars. they are for army. in event of riots or wars, the wide avenue make it easy for the army to retain control of the city.

The design of Albany's Empire State Plaza is similar in design to the National Mall as well, though officially it was modeled after Brasília, Versailles, and India's Chandigarh. Empire State Plaza was the idea of Governor Nelson Rockefeller in the 1960s, who was inspired to create the complex after Queen Juliana of the Netherlands visited Albany for a celebration of the area's Dutch history. The plaza's massive scale was designed to look menacing on purpose so it could be the dominating feature seen from the Hudson River. It was designed by Wallace Harrison, who also worked on Rockefeller Center, the United Nations Headquarters and the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center. The NY State Capitol itself is quite cool. It was built between 1867 and 1899. Three teams of architects worked on the design of the Capitol during the 32 years of its construction which were Thomas Fuller (from 1867 to 1875), Leopold Eidlitz and Henry Hobson Richardson (1875 to 1883), and Isaac G. Perry (1883 to 1899). Thomas Fuller was the same guy who designed the buildings of Parliament Hill in Ottawa! As the result of the different architects, the state capitol is in different styles throughout including Romanesque and French Renaissance. Inside are 25 murals created by William de Leftwich Dodge that depict everything from Samuel de Champlain to New York troops serving in World War I.

You claim the roads were designed for cars, but they weren’t. The plan and road layouts predate cars by almost more than a century. The wide boulevards and how they exist now have more to do with the McMillan Commission and the City Beautiful Movement than cars.

Our central square is Kim Il-sung Square, which is where military parades are held for national holidays. It is the "kilometer zero" of the DPRK from where all national road distances are measured. It is similar in form and design to the Tiananmen Square in Beijing and is used for the same purposes. It is architecturally more refined with its dramatic riverside setting. By observing, the Juche Tower appears to be located directly towards the west end of the square, although it is actually across the Taedong. The biggest building of the square is the Great People's Study House which houses 30 million books and was built as the "center for the project of intellectualizing the whole of society and a sanctuary of learning for the entire people." Our Juche Tower rivals the Washington Monument. Our Juche Tower measures 558 feet/170 m while the Washington Monument measures 555 feet/169 m. It opened in 1982 to commemorate my grandpa's seventieth birthday. It contains 25,550 blocks, one block for each day of my grandpa's life up until that point. And it serves as the backdrop for our holiday firework shows

its clear that no DC residents were involved in the making of this video

Traffic in DC is heavy as the suburbs around the city have grown. But getting around is not a problem because even before the current subway system was completed there was a great bus transportation system that served the whole city. In addition, the city is very easy to navigate because of the street naming system employed and the fact that the city is divided into four segments that are marked by North, South, East and West . Streets are named starting at the center of the city by alphabet for north and south directions starting with "A" ,and then with the names of individuals, then with the names of flowers. And then streets are numbered for east and west directions.

I just toured the east coast and D.C. was a very beautiful city!

the Australian Capital city was also inspired by Washington DC.

nicely planned & constructed Washington DC # 👍🇵🇰

It’s no secret that George Washington was a Freemason, but what about Pierre L’Enfant, the architect of DC? The layout of the city’s streets and landmarks seems to suggest as much-triangles and pentagrams abound.

4:22 Great video! But the line shown in Brasilia is not the monumental axis. Instead of monuments, that line connects both north and south residential wings.

One of my favorite things about DC, is when you are downtown, it is not really that easy to get lost. Even for someone from out of town. The streets are labelled video clearly. The eastern border of DC for example is called Eastern AVE. The streets are also divided into 4 sections depending on where you are in the city. For example, if you are North West of the capitol building, all of the streets will have "NW" after their names. The same goes for NE, SE, and SW. Lastly, the streets have very easy names to remember. They are named after states, letters and numbers. For example, Michigan AVE NE (one that I drive on almost every week), and K ST NW (I remember this because of this is where the Apple Store is 😂).

The thing that truly sets DC apart from other American cities is it’s fantastic public transportation and mid-rise high-density urban design. It’s clearly very much inspired by Paris and does a very decent job functioning like it.

this is the most information lackluster video I've ever encountered. thanks

You know this channel always seems to suggest that cities that don't have skyscrapers are better designed than ones with them.

why is the Washington Monument not aligned in a 90 degree angle to the White House?

Based in my experience to the states, DC was the best city

If you are designing a capital city out of scratch, then it would turn out ingenious.

You forgot to mention the part where L’Enfant was fired by G.W. and Benjamin Banneker successfully re-designed the city.

Did they give credit to Benjamin Banneker for creating Washington DC?

Great video. another capital city that tried to emulate Washington DC is Canberra, the federal capital of Australia. I shall look at your other uploads, perhaps you have already covered Canberra Thank you

Beautiful city.

simple but easy to understand explaination

Fascinating form and function of transportation.

Even Manila and Baguio The Philippines 🇵🇭 inspired and followed the Washington DC plan by Daniel Burnham but it failed when WWII broke out its shelved the plan and result of chaotic urban centers in manila

It's called the Elipse. No one from DC calls it "President's Park"

Took my first trip there last month and LOVED it... weather was also perfect, which just enhanced the experience!

Now talk about the masonic symbols within the DC grid layout

Love DC have been there lots & lots of times great City and this time I walked behind the SC to the residential areas for the first time, so pretty.

How were the avenues designed with cars in mind "which was seen as a necessity in the 20th century" if the street grid was designed and built in the early to mid 19th century?

4:31 that is actually footage of Sao Paulo city, not Brasilia.

I pray for good public transit in Washington.. one love

I have been to 4 nations capitals but never my own

Very interesting, the city is a artwork

Went to Washington D.C and it’s my favorite city in the U.S by far

The core design of New Delhi has great resemblance to Washington D.C like the central vista you mentioned and the diagonal avenues radiating to different directions...

I'm not so sure that Brasilia was heavily inspired on Washington DC! As a Brazilian I have never heard of so. Anyway, when you show the city, that curved course is not the most important avenue of the city, it should be the "monumental axis" where the most important buildings of Brasília are located. 🇧🇷🙌🏻

The Golden Ratio is not only portrayed in the street layout, but also symbolised in the distance between the capitol to the Washington Monument. Then the distiance between the monument to Lincoln Memorial is 61.8% the distance of the latter. Making it 1.618 to the whole.

The traffic is because of the beltway, 95, 66, 50. Not a city design flaw. At least, in my opinion.

What is that Pentagram doing at 3:19 seconds?

The genius is the discount they got on the labor in building the city

Just one correction, you mentioned the Monumental Axis in Brasília, but highlighted the Great Axis in the video. The Monumental runs East-West and goes from the old railway station to the Three Powers Square, being surrounded by most of the important government buildings, while the Great Axis runs North-South, in a bend resembling the wings of an airplane, and is the main road connecting the two neighbourhoods that make up the downtown, South Wing and North Wing. That said, Brasilia is indeed very dependant on highways, and I only started noticing how much better is a walkable city when I started traveling to other cities, especially Buenos Aires.

The light rail system was great. They dug it up to make bus lanes.

Too bad there’s zero mention of Pierre L’Enfant taking inspiration from Le Notre and his work on not only Versailles gardens but the entire city of Versailles which is the first real urban planning and new city ever designed. The layout is genius. :/ DC looks stunning, and that’s because L’Enfant knew where to look for inspiration.

At 4:20 you highlighted the Highway axis, a North-South, six-lane roadway that cuts through Brasília's wings. The Monumental axis is the East-West main thoroughfare that ends at the Three Powers Plaza, that hosts all power branches main buildings.

You showed an image of Brasilia as city inspired by Washington but it's actually based on the soviet and parisian city planning schools/books. There's nothing to do with Washington. I also never heard of Washington as a symbol of good design but Brasilia is so widely recognized by it's iconic design that you are showing here. Please fact check your research.

Very nice video, but a few corrections: 1. The video implies that the National Mall Pierre L'Enfant planned extended to the Lincoln Memorial. When L'Enfant planned the city, the locaton of the Lincoln Memorial was part of the Potomac River and Mall L'Enfant envisioned only went to 17th Street, on the other side of where the Washington Monument was later built. 2. The map showing the Smithsonians include both the east and west buildings of the National Gallery of Art, however these are not part of the Smithsonian. 3. It's also odd that at the beginning of the video L'Enfant is credited for the wide avenues of Washington DC, but at the end it was stated the wide avenues were designed to accommodate cars, when cars weren't even invented a hundred years after L'Enfant's death. Still, a nice video and the explanation of how Washington DC inspired the design of Brasilia and New Dehli is very interesting.

Washington D.C. is formed as it is today by the city of Karlsruhe in Germany, which served as a model when Thomas Jefferson visited and was so inspired that he wanted the same cityscape in the USA....

How can a city designed and built in the 18th and 19th century be "car-centric"?

Mentioned multiple times that DC was/is built to serve as a seat of government and a place for visitors but you completely disregard its purpose as a city where actual Americans live. Where more Americans live than whole states like Wyoming and Alaska.

@3:36 what’s that at the White House

Pretty amazing.

This video needed more research / information / justification. A lot of repetition of claims that aren't explained

Nice

As a Brazilian, just mentioned there is nothing to do with DC. The Brazilian capital has two wings and a monumental axle. Even the inspiration citation in the video, regardless DC is one of the most memorable cities in the world, and I had the opportunity to visit a few years ago. But there is no inspiration from Pierre L'Enfant or the city that he developed., even if there were some related would be a great joy, but according to the source, one of the architects who assisted Oscar Niemeyer who designed Brasilia, Lucio Costa, there is no source related that linked the construction of the Brazilian capitol, constructed on Centure 20th with any inspiration with D.C, but with the French trends that they had deep knowledged since both of then had contact with some trends designed by the French Le Courbusier.

3:20 Am I the only one who noticed that President´s park/the Ellipse is not Nort but South from the White House?

Nobody's mentioning the masonic design used as a the original layout?

Hello this video inspired me to a school project on this topic and I was wondering where you got your information from?

I like cities that accomodate cars.

I've been living in D.C for a while and air pollution has never been a problem, was it an issue back then?

Even Egypt uses Washington's design to build its NAC.

perfect❤

The problem with dc is each rode can lead you to the other side of the city. Meaning a vast amount of differing stop lights and intersections. Rush hour changes a 10 minute drive up the block to 45 minutes.

Apologies if this was already mentioned, but there weren't any cars when it was designed. It was designed for horse-and-carriages.

This video was interesting right up until the end when you talk about how it was "designed with cars in mind." I'm not an expert by any means, but I can't imagine that L'Enfant has a time machine of visionary seer capabilities to know the rise of the automobile two centuries after he actually designed the city. That's some pretty rich claims about the city's designs that I'm not buying.

good video

I think the 18th century designer would find it interesting you think he designed the city for something that no one even thought off at the time… the automobile.

The Washington monument is not 550 feet. It's 555' and 5 1/8 " tall and 55' wide at the base

Benjamin Banneker

I wish there was more of a symmetric design with the general grid layout. Kinda looks messy from above

Adorable planned cuties

CENTRAL VISTA PROJECT OF NEW DELHI is going to replicate CENTRAL MALL OF WASHINGTON DC.... Waiting to finish project......

Thank You

What type of silver screws would we need to hold it together?

Include Rizal Park in Manila which was designed during US colonial rule in the Philippines.

i cannot blame myself enough for skipping washington dc from my travelling around the united states =(( and now it is hella expensive to revisit for travel =((

I don’t think I need to watch the rest of it 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸

Washington needed more classical architecture to be as impressive as Paris or London.

It’s great if you don’t mind using the Metrorail, which I don’t. Car traffic in DC is a nightmare.

Abraham Lincoln staut 😢😢😢old memoiry childhood 😢😢Behind garden of White house 😢

Understandting

And it couldn't stop protesters from breaking in😂

The monuments are cool and the walkable areas are nice, but i fundamentally hate the design of the DC's infrastructure, i dread it every time i have to enter DC proper because it is annoying to navigate even more so when in a car

It's frikin nightmare dude. NYC is way better planned out. Nice presentation.

Why it isn’t placed more centred in the middle of America ?

North Star tacking… data… how close Baltimore is and Philly… echoes… time and space.

I wonder sometimes what if Philly stayed as our capital? Or what if after everything was built & the capital came back to Philly, what both layouts would be?

Please add here Astana, it was also clearly inspired by DC. Even being named after the first president for a little while.

I wish all american cities could be as well-designed as our capital

Thankyou for this honour otherwise terrorists were hovering over design. Congratulations