I posted Pete's review of The West Wing season 3 (and my review of Backstairs has been up since I blogged it) on the Movies & TV page.
As a result of Pete's interest in the failed Truman West Wing addition, I posted pics of the fulls set of drawings on the Truman Reconstruction page. There's floors G, 1, & 2, pics of Side and Cross section and revised version 2.
Update: White House just posted pics of Bush with Merkel, including a teleconference in the brand new Sit Room. Added to the What's New page. And, I've added links to the What's New page to the front page, About, and the menu.
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Thanks for that. Great drawings. This truly unlocks a ton of secrets for an architecture buff like myself. Thanks Derek for honoring my request. What treasures!
ReplyDeleteYa know? With all of the proposed plans that really bump up the size of the building, I'm kinda happy with the way it is now. I think having the WW the size that it is - - is fine. (maybe the staff feel different)
ReplyDeleteBut in reality, they just overflow into the OEOB. Problem solved.
Even with that huge model of the main part of the WH they proposed making (like a castle) I wouldn't have liked that. I like the way the house is now, modest and perfect.
Yeah, looking at the west side view of the proposal, it's a pretty imposing, office building like structure. I've mentioned before that I like the idea of building a press center under the WW drive and remodeling the current press space as offices. Doesn't look like W will go that far (altho judging from Barney's video, it doesn't look like he's in a hurry to finish the new briefing room, either).
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I think President Truman's plans made the West Wing too large against the White House and East Wing. I am not an architect by any stretch, but it would be strange to have a wing of the building larger than the central and primary structure. I think the genious of McKim and later architects for both wings is that neither wing distracts from the original White House, even looking at the south side.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't go as far as that. The addition would just have extended the WW southward, so it would really only have changed the look of the WH from the west side. I really like most of the design, but it's just a bit too long on that side.
ReplyDeleteWhen I look at the side elevation of the plan, you get the impression of the visual that the Oval Office would have looked "dwarfed" next to this huge addition. I think with the current design it lets people see that the oval office is the focus, but there there is a reasonable staff compliment to help the prez do his job. Meanwhile few people are aware of how much the OEOB is used, but who cares so long as the symbol or "visual" sends the right message.
ReplyDeleteBut the more I look at Trumans' plan, it isn't awful. I like the design in many respects, but in the end I believe the right decision was made.
One reason I really like FDR's decision to move the Oval Office (and Cabinet Room) to its present location, is that the Oval Office was given a visual and symbolic connection to the original White House, with the two tied together by Colonade and Garden.
ReplyDelete