State Capitol Buildings

[Ban my account ffs!]

Some that I find particularly good and bad.

First, the good:

New York is my favorite.  It just seems not very capitoly.


Hawaii's seems especially appropriate for Hawaii, given the strong Asian influences there.


I also love Illinois' state capitol building.  It's got that intimidating Victorian look to it.


And Louisiana... for being so reflective of the essence of Louisiana politics:  "Mah dick is bigguh than your dick." Must've been good old boy you scratch my back I scratch your back make-work for the depression (built 1930-1932).  Really though... of all the states in the south, in the country even... has culture like Louisiana has culture.  It's one area of the country where I could rattle off a list of uniquely "American" things that make American culture neat.


My least favorites:

Florida:  The new building is kinda nice in that it followed the form of traditional capitol buildings but used modernist crisp, clean, straight lines.  But the way they kind of enveloped the old building...


Alaska:  Let's face it.  The Capital city of Alaska is probably the most beautiful capital city in the U.S. 


So it would be silly to try and make a building a focal point with surroundings like that.  But the capitol doesn't even really stand out from the surrounding buildings... let alone from those surroundings.


Minnesota's capitol is pretty run of the mill... but the civic planners in St. Paul did a nice job of showing you exactly how big the separation of church and state should be

I believe the tippy top of the Cathedral is just a tick higher than the capitol building as a snub by the local clergy.  Our state constitution does go out of its way to tell the church to keep out.

[Miles]

Huey Long ordered the construction of the current capital, which should surprise no one. He hated the old one and thought it looked backward.

[JerryArkansas]

i really like Arkansas's


and California's

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

The MN State Capitol is probably the best, IMO.  Especially the interior-





Never been a fan of the CT State Capitol.  Too gothic for my taste-

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The South Carolina State House is a typical Greek Revival style capitol building.  The original plans didn't call for a dome but a tower sort of like Louisiana's but not as tall since it was designed in pre-skyscraper/elevator days.  However, when it was at last completed after the Civil War, they stuck a stereotypical dome on top.

The only interesting feature of the building wasn't even planned.



Six bronze stars marking where the building was hit by Sherman's cannons in 1865.

[Gass3268]

I am off course partial to the Wisconsin Capitol. The dome is only 3 feet shorter then the Capitol Dome in DC and is the tallest building in Madison. I've been to the top twice, great view of the area. 

[batmacumba]

You know, I should be sleeping now, but architecture should not be considered a profession, It should be classified as an Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder...

Some that I find particularly good and bad.

First, the good:

New York is my favorite.  It just seems not very capitoly.
[img [/img]http://

Oh, sorry to disagree, but...   just romantic blabbering. They must had believe they were some type of norman/german XIXth century bourgeoisie thing to mock the aristocracy...
Cheesy then; cheesy now. And really not capitolly at all.

Hawaii's seems especially appropriate for Hawaii, given the strong Asian influences there.
[img[/img]

Nice piece of brutalism. An inviting entrance, at a building that detaches from the ground - a symbol that this capitol is made for the citizen, I would say, instead of the weight and mass of traditional ones which symbolizes power.

I also love Illinois' state capitol building.  It's got that intimidating Victorian look to it.
[img[/img]http://

A very good neoclassic building. I just think the dome shouldn't be that tall. It resulted kinda unproportioned. The evocation of norman roof, but with contemporary language, is a sensible solution for an extension aimed to not harm the building's forms. But not too adequate to a neoclassic one. Was It a beaux-arts/imperial building It should be fine.

And Louisiana... for being so reflective of the essence of Louisiana politics:  "Mah dick is bigguh than your dick." Must've been good old boy you scratch my back I scratch your back make-work for the depression (built 1930-1932).  Really though... of all the states in the south, in the country even... has culture like Louisiana has culture.  It's one area of the country where I could rattle off a list of uniquely "American" things that make American culture neat.

God! Is this polar Brazil? A marvelous site filled with really shjtty buildings?

So it would be silly to try and make a building a focal point with surroundings like that.  But the capitol doesn't even really stand out from the surrounding buildings... let alone from those surroundings.
[img [/img]

Yeah. An awful silly historicist bore, awfully located on the site. They weren't even enough competent to take advantage of the surroundings.

Minnesota's capitol is pretty run of the mill... but the civic planners in St. Paul did a nice job of showing you exactly how big the separation of church and state should be
[img]/img]
I believe the tippy top of the Cathedral is just a tick higher than the capitol building as a snub by the local clergy.  Our state constitution does go out of its way to tell the church to keep out.

I think you're being too harsh on your own capitol. It's a nice XIXth century's second half piece. Seems elegant and well fit on the site. I just hope that silliness on the right roof isn't visible from a human POV.
But the urban organization should be less baroque, you're right!

[Lief 🗽]

The correct answer is, as is generally the case, the Texas state capitol:



Like the capitol building in DC, but taller and pinker.

[batmacumba]

The MN State Capitol is probably the best, IMO.  Especially the interior-

Nice one!

Never been a fan of the CT State Capitol.  Too neogothic for my taste-

[img[/img]

Agreed. And a poorly tasted one.

[batmacumba]

The South Carolina State House is a typical Greek Revival style capitol building.  The original plans didn't call for a dome but a tower sort of like Louisiana's but not as tall since it was designed in pre-skyscraper/elevator days.  However, when it was at last completed after the Civil War, they stuck a stereotypical dome on top.

The only interesting feature of the building wasn't even planned.



Six bronze stars marking where the building was hit by Sherman's cannons in 1865.

Those butchers!!!!

How could they put that idiot glass window in front of the original one!! It should be put behind It!

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Nevada's looks like some random house.



North Dakota's looks pretty drab.

[MaxQue]

I'll go with Canadian provinces, then.

Here is my home province, Québec. It is not very interesting, through. No dome, just a small tower. They call that neorenaissance, apparently.


I think the best canadian one is British Columbia:


Worst is Nunavut, through Northwest Territories, Yukon and Newfoundland deserves nominations.

[Tender Branson]

[Zanas]

I like Vermont's one in Montpelier :

I went there a few years ago : it's really really tiny ! Just like the whole town of Montpelier. It has this Al-Aqsa dome- St-Joseph Oratorium thing to it.

I like how Louisiana one is looking like Moscow's or Warsaw's city halls !

[politicallefty]

I've only ever seen (and been inside) the US Capitol and the California State Capitol. Most states seem to simply copy the US Capitol, but I think California's version is by far the best of any of the copies.

I think the best looking capitol buildings are:

California


Wyoming


Connecticut


Montana


My least favorite is almost definitely Florida (which looks way too much like a plain office building), followed by North Dakota, Alaska, and Louisiana. As far as the tall ones go, Nebraska's is at least somewhat reasonable.

[Knives]

I love Canada's buildings but I still love my hometowns.



However I wish they had of finished the dome!!!

[Hash]

Ontario:


Meh...

But Newfoundland?!?

It looks like some horrible hospital from the 1950s.

South Africa's Parliament in Cape Town is pretty nice:

[Zanas]

The Old Government Building in Wellington, NZ, has long been the second largest wooden building in the world. It seems to be 3rd now.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

The PA Capitol is pretty cool.

[minionofmidas]

So, what is a "Capitol". According to wikipedia (marginally abridged/reworded) "a capitol typically contains the meeting place for its state's legislature and offices for the state's governor, though this is not true for every state. The Arizona State Capitol is now strictly a museum, and the legislature and the governor's office are in nearby buildings. The legislatures of Alabama, Nevada and North Carolina also meet in other nearby buildings, but their governor's offices remain in the capitol. In Delaware, Ohio, Michigan, Vermont and Virginia, the Governor's office in the Capitol is for ceremonial use only. In 9 states, the state's highest court also routinely meets in the capitol (one of three sites in the case of Pennsylvania.) The other states have separate buildings for their supreme courts, though in Minnesota and Utah the high court also has ceremonial meetings at the capitol. 39 states use the term State Capitol, the remainder uses State House, Statehouse (Indiana and Ohio) or Legislative Hall (Delaware). In Alabama, the building where the legislature now actually meets is called the State House."

So yeah... so much for separation of powers. Before looking this up I would have figured you were talking about the state legislative building in all cases, as with the Feds (for whose institution all these things are named).

Anyways, my home state. Just for information purposes, not as a "most beautiful" candidate. It's a fraud:



This is the front. Built 1837-41 as an official "residence" within their capital for the Dukes of Nassau.



This is a plan of the building (blue and red).



This is the back - the red bit, wherein the legislature actually sits.

[minionofmidas]

Rhineland-Pfalz does it right.



The MdL offices are not in this historical structure (1730s)... but at least the sessions are. It also has a revolutionary history - the 1793 Mainz Republic also used it for its French-modelled National Convention.

[Hatman 🍁]

I'll go with Canadian provinces, then.

Here is my home province, Québec. It is not very interesting, through. No dome, just a small tower. They call that neorenaissance, apparently.


I think the best canadian one is British Columbia:


Worst is Nunavut, through Northwest Territories, Yukon and Newfoundland deserves nominations.

Interestingly, I've been to the Quebec legislature, but never the Ontario one (though I've probably seen it before, as I've been to Toronto many times). I think I may have been to the one in PEI as well.

I have of course been to Canada's Parliament many times:

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

So, what is a "Capitol". According to wikipedia (marginally abridged/reworded) "a capitol typically contains the meeting place for its state's legislature and offices for the state's governor, though this is not true for every state. The Arizona State Capitol is now strictly a museum, and the legislature and the governor's office are in nearby buildings. The legislatures of Alabama, Nevada and North Carolina also meet in other nearby buildings, but their governor's offices remain in the capitol. In Delaware, Ohio, Michigan, Vermont and Virginia, the Governor's office in the Capitol is for ceremonial use only. In 9 states, the state's highest court also routinely meets in the capitol (one of three sites in the case of Pennsylvania.) The other states have separate buildings for their supreme courts, though in Minnesota and Utah the high court also has ceremonial meetings at the capitol. 39 states use the term State Capitol, the remainder uses State House, Statehouse (Indiana and Ohio) or Legislative Hall (Delaware). In Alabama, the building where the legislature now actually meets is called the State House."

So yeah... so much for separation of powers. Before looking this up I would have figured you were talking about the state legislative building in all cases, as with the Feds (for whose institution all these things are named).

Until the Supreme Court Building was built in the 1930s, the US Supreme Court met in the Capitol.  Same thing applied at the South Carolina level until the 70s.

[Spamage]

I'm not a fan of mine, primarily because of how square the dome is...

[Miles]

NC never struck me as anything special. The light blue dome is quite ungainly, IMO: