Inspired Visions

In 1791, George Washington commissioned Pierre Charles L’Enfant to plan the capital of the United States. L’Enfant set out to create a magnificent city, worthy of the nation, free of its colonial origins, and bold in its assertion of a new identity.

100 years later, L’Enfant’s plan provided a framework for the ideas of the McMillan Senate Park Commission, convened in 1901 to develop a comprehensive park system and identify sites for important public buildings. The McMillan Plan imbued the city’s architecture and public spaces with a distinctive style that expressed the dignity, order, and permanence of a nation gaining prestige around the world.

The inspired visions of L’Enfant and the McMillan Commission continue to inform the planning process through two congressionally created agencies: the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA). NCPC’s own plan for the future, the pathbreaking Extending the Legacy: Planning America’s Capital for the 21st Century currently serves as a blueprint to guide growth in our nation’s capital during the next 50-100 years, while preserving the visions of the L’Enfant and McMillan plans.