Architecture of Thomas Jefferson

Here’s an index of the architectural designs of Thomas Jefferson.

Today I noticed an article about two Utah architects running for Congress.  “Søren Simonsen, 44, is an architect and city planner from Salt Lake City, where he serves on the city council. He’s running as a Democrat in Utah’s 3rd Congressional District. Republican Stephen Sandstrom, 48, is an architect from Orem who was elected to the Utah House of Representatives in 2006. He recently resigned to run in Utah’s newly created 4th Congressional District. Both face June primary challenges from other candidates.” 

And that’s wonderful.  But what I found amusing was that the lede called Jefferson an amateur.  Have you seen some of the designs of the 21st century?  Who’s calling who an amateur?

Thomas Jefferson may be the most celebrated American architect, albeit an amateur one, to lead a political life, and he certainly wasn’t the last. But oddly, there are no architects currently serving in the U.S. Congress, and according to the AIA, there was only one during the entire 20th century. This year, however, two architects are running for Congress, and they both happen to be from Utah.

"Jefferson believed that architecture was the heart of the American cause. In his mind, a building was not merely a walled structure, but a metaphor for American ideology, and the process of construction was equal to the task of building a nation. The architecture of any American building should express the American desire to break cultural--as well as political--ties to Europe. American architecture, Jefferson believed, would embody the fulfillment of the civic life of Americans, and he sought to establish the standards of a national architecture, both aesthetically and politically." From Thomas Jefferson, the Architect of the Nation