affluence and depression, 1926 1939 243
1909 plans for Chicago. In 1909, Bennett struck out on his own. In
1924, he formed the architectural and planning firm of Bennett,
Parsons and Frost.
Coinciding with Bennett s studies, the Commission of Fine Arts,
through its secretary Charles Moore, made suggestions to Secretary
Mellon. The commission s plans provided for  a practically continu-
ous line of buildings from the Capitol to Fifteenth Street, connected
by arched passageways on the upper stories. One of the major fea-
tures of the Commission plan was the creation of a great plaza at
the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Fifteenth Street. The
arrangement was to be similar to that of the Louvre and Palais Royal
in Paris, with long public buildings, measuring 1,500 feet or more
in length (figure 8.1). These should be of the  highest possible char-
acter and  represent the dignity and the power of the nation.
According to the Commission, the treatment of the Federal Tri-
angle area involved a  virtual extension of the Mall to Pennsylvania
Avenue, so the great central composition shall have harmonious
treatment throughout the entire area. In order to accomplish this
plan, the commission recommended that language in a pending
deficiency bill make a provision for the treatment of the area from
Third Street to Fifteenth Street as a single entity.15
After Bennett had completed several studies of the Triangle area,
the Treasury Department determined that  the problems involved
were of such a nature that it would be wise to create a Board of
Figure 8.1
Architectural Consultants to deal generally with the various situa-
Proposed new federal
tions which might arise. The board was composed initially of
buildings, Federal
Arthur Brown Jr. of San Francisco; Milton B. Medary Jr. of the
Triangle, Washington,
Philadelphia firm Zantzinger, Borie & Medary; William A. Delano of
D.C., Board of
the New York City firm Delano & Aldrich; Louis Ayers of the New
Architectural
York City firm York & Sawyer; and Louis A. Simon of the Supervising
Consultants. Courtesy
Architect s Office. Later John Russell Pope of New York City was National Archives.