Pierre Charles The Child L'Enfant's plan for Washington D.C.
Pierre Charles L'Enfant (Anet, August 2, 1754 - Prince George's County, June 14, 1825) was an American architect and urban designer of French origin. L'Enfant is especially known as the designer of the original city plan of the US capital Washington D.C.
L'Enfant was born in France and went to North America in 1777 to fight in the American Revolution on the side of the Americans and their French allies. After the war he made his name as an architect and designer. In 1791, he was recruited by President George Washington to design the new US capital. The city design submitted to him was approved, but internal conflicts between L'Enfant and a three-man committee that monitored the progress of the construction of the city, Washington decided to release L'Enfant in 1792 from his function.
The new designer of the capital week significantly reduced the original design submitted by L'Enfant and L'Enfant for years for recognition. Eventually he died in 1825, lost in oblivion, and without ever paying for his work.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, L'Enfant was rehabilitated and was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery, on a hill overlooking Washington DC. In 1968, L'Enfant Plaza opened in Washington, a complex of office buildings, shops and a hotel. Later one of the central metro stations was built under the complex, L'Enfant Plaza station.
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