Editing Thomas Ustick Walter (section)

== United States Capitol ==

Walter's appointment as Architect of the Capitol in 1851 brought the climactic commission of his career. The existing Capitol, designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe and Charles Bulfinch, had become inadequate for the expanded Congress, and Walter was charged with designing substantial additions. His new wings for the Senate and House of Representatives more than doubled the building's size while maintaining stylistic continuity with the original structure. The wings' classical vocabulary and marble construction created appropriate settings for legislative deliberation.<ref name="tatum"/>

The dome represents Walter's greatest achievement and America's most recognized architectural symbol. The original Capitol dome, a wooden structure designed by Bulfinch, seemed inadequate atop the expanded building. Walter designed a new cast-iron dome of unprecedented scale and technical sophistication, its form drawing from Renaissance and Baroque precedents while employing modern materials and construction methods. The dome's completion during the Civil War—Lincoln insisted work continue despite the conflict—gave it symbolic significance beyond architectural merit. The dome's silhouette became emblem of the Union itself, reproduced on currency, in paintings, and in countless representations of American democracy.<ref name="gilchrist"/>