Best State Capitols

[R@ptor]

Originally Posted by CGII

Is that all masonry or does it have a steel skeleton? It'd be really cool if all those flying buttresses were real.

It's all masonry. According to Wikipedia 40 million!! bricks were used for the construction.

[ColDayMan]

Ya'll ain't got shit on my baby!!!


http://www.worldofstock.com/slides/AOB2095.jpg

[texcolo]

^

Connecticut's capitol is 'hella tight.'

[LMich]

Being from a state capitol, these threads always interest me. Anyway, here are some of my favorites in no particular order, but these aren't all of my favorites:

New York - It's so pieced together with so many ridiculously ornate roof elements it actually ends up working for being just too much.

Wisconsin - Just simply some of the best proportions I've seen.

Pennsylvania - It looks like a palace inside and out.

Texas - The size simply can't be denied, though, I think the top of the dome looks out of proportion, and with it being the top its throws a lot of the other elements off.

Nebraska - This is how skyscraper capitols should be done.

South Carolina, West Virginia, and Rhode Island all have some awesome individual elements and get special honorable mention shoutouts.

BTW, since I'm here, Michigan's capitol is oddly proportioned on the outside (i.e. dome too small/thin for the base), but the sightlines to the entrance aren't bad, and nor is the interior...

Rotunda


eatinorange


NidalM

Exterior


wash52121

Lastly, and interesting note. The dome is not faced with a different type of stone than the sandstone base of the building; it's simply painted white.

[jtk1519]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

Well, but how does that make it better than the approximately 45 other state capitols that are also in park-like locations?

There's a reason I specifically listed the park-like location as just "one of the reasons" I like the Texas capitol. I also like it for the underground wings, the color of the stone which is very unique, the balanced proportions of the building, etc.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Anyone else who's been to Wisconsin's state capitol notice all the badger heads?

[stormkingfan]

Michigan's dome is a lot like that of Sacre-Coeur in Paris.

[urbanactivist]

Originally Posted by Double L

I'm not that into Texas, if it wasn't for cheap cost I would be willing to live somewhere else. I said that because it is by far the best capitol, the other ones are smaller and look like state capitols. Texas looks like a national capitol. I provided pictures to back it up.

What I love most about the TX state capitol is the limestone... it's an awesome color. But to me it doesn't look like a national capitol at all, at least not of the countries that I'm familiar with. It looks like one of the larger state capitols. I really do like it, but I'm not going to say it's my all-time favorite.

[rockyi]

I've always been rather fond of the Iowa Capitol. It's probably the one I've seen in person the most.

[Cirrus]

I like the TX capitol and think it is definitely among the better ones, but these comments about how everyone should love it because it's the biggest just reinforce stereotypes about Texas.

PROTIP: Nobody cares that it's big. If it's good (and I think it is), it's because of proportion and detailing, not size.

[Scottolini]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

I like the TX capitol and think it is definitely among the better ones, but these comments about how everyone should love it because it's the biggest just reinforce stereotypes about Texas.

PROTIP: Nobody cares that it's big. If it's good (and I think it is), it's because of proportion and detailing, not size.

Of course just being big doesn't make it great. However, when it's great in proportion and detailing, as well as setting, and it's really big it does make it quite striking. It's just like any other building, we all like height. It's not the end all, be all, but it is something we all talk about.

[Cirrus]

Another important point to consider is that when someone comes into a thread and says something like "I don't understand why my home state capitol isn't getting more love because obviously it's the best one", on an emotional level that makes me want to hate the building that person is talking about.

Especially when it's Texas, and there are already stereotypes floating around in the back of my head.

If you want Texas to get its due, don't play into negative stereotypes. When most of the people in the thread are giving several examples of good buildings and a bunch of Texans enter shouting TEXAS TEXAS TEXAS! That all plays into those stereotypes.

[Double L]

I think you're taking things way too seriously. It was meant in good humor and still is. I strongly stand by the fact that it is a perfectly good comment to make and provides no harm nor bad feelings to anybody.

[Double L]

Originally Posted by vertex

This thread already fails without mentioning Massachusetts' capitol. All others are merely knock-offs and imitators.


source: City-Data

What a horrible comment to make!!!! With all your selfish Massachusetts pride!!!

[Cirrus]

I'm not upset. I'm just explaining why nobody else is listing Texas as their favorite. Take my comments as you will. And for the record, MA doesn't have a stereotype to play into the way Texas does.

Originally Posted by LMich

capitol is oddly proportioned on the outside (i.e. dome too small/thin for the base),

It's not so much that they're out of proportion (though they are), it's that the dome is Baroque and the base is more classically Roman. The stylistic mix doesn't match.

[Double L]

I was being sarcastic to prove my original point. Texas pride is causing your reaction, not mine.

[texcolo]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

Another important point to consider is that when someone comes into a thread and says something like "I don't understand why my home state capitol isn't getting more love because obviously it's the best one", on an emotional level that makes me want to hate the building that person is talking about.

Especially when it's Texas, and there are already stereotypes floating around in the back of my head.

If you want Texas to get its due, don't play into negative stereotypes. When most of the people in the thread are giving several examples of good buildings and a bunch of Texans enter shouting TEXAS TEXAS TEXAS! That all plays into those stereotypes.

I don't recall anyone in the thread saying TEXAS TEXAS TEXAS. Besides, negative stereotypes about Texas get bantered around aplenty with out any help form Texans.

[LMich]

Yes, Cirrus, please cut this out. Your reaction was disproportionate to anything said about Texas' capitol in this thread. You're starting to make these threads unbearable.

[Patrick]

I've always loved Montana's State Capitol, one of my favorites, definitely different from the rest.


http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...apitol2008.jpg


http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...apitolDome.jpg


http://www.flickr.com/photos/montanapets/1836108477/

[vid]

Since someone posted the Hungarian Parliament (which is one of the most amazing structures on the planet) I guess you won't mind a bit of Canada in this discussion. I think they're all pretty well done, except for Yukon's.

Confederation Building, the legislature of Newfoundland and Labrador

©Dreadful Photography

It's apparently based on a Bauhaus interpretation of the national Parliament. It is located just off a highway, and surrounded by parking lots.

Province House, the legislature of Prince Edward Island

©laze_brian

It's looks more like a city hall but PEI is tiny.

Province House, the legislature of Nova Scotia

©reddoor.realty

The oldest parliament in Canada, it was built in 1811. It is like Massachusetts capitol, no green space around it, it's just there.

Legislature of New Brunswick

©John MacDermid

The French influence in strong in this one. It's my favourite of the Atlantic province's legislatures.

Assemblée nationale du Québec

CC BY NC OZinOH

Hard to find good pictures of it apparently.

Queens Park, the Legislature of Ontario

©Capitolshots Photography

In the right light, it looks pink. It's a very dark and menacing looking building for a seat of government, I think. I think it's the only Richardsonian Romanesque Revival legislature in Canada/the US.

The Prairie legislatures are more like American style capitols, with the classical architecture and central dome.

Manitoba Legislative Building

CC BY NC ND Herman H. Cheung

The tallest (77m) of the provincial parliaments, the building's architecture is loaded with Masonic symbolism and the façade is Tyndall limestone, which tends to be more fossils than stone. It's a very interesting building to explore.

Saskatchewan Legislative Building

PD, Wikimedia Commons

It was built very large, anticipating population growth that never happened.

Alberta Legislature Building

PD, Wikimedia Commons

It's a unique colour.

Parliament House, Legislature of British Columbia

CC BY Wikimedia Commons

It's even better at night.