The Washington Monument: Icon by Design

To the public eye, the towering blocks of masonry of the Washing-ton Monument commemorate our first president and the aspirationsof the republic. But to an inner eye, the architecture of the colossalobelisk conceals an invisible–and some might say sacred, realm of value and meaning. Though not hidden from view, the higher as-pect of the monument’s design expresses itself indirectly and byimplication. It is notdiscerned by logic alone--one must be educat-ed to its perception.To fully enter the mystery of the Washington Monument, it is neces-sary to go beyond that which we see and attempt to apprehend itssubtle and sublime

intended

form. By deconstructing the form, wewill better understand the monument itself, and also the ancientcanonical ideal which inspired the work.

Quomodo Legis?

How do you read?

In order to “read” the invisible aspects of the monument, we willapply the sameanalytical methods I have used to decipher ancientworks of art and architecture around the world. The first step in theprocess is to define the components of the visible form. This in-cludes all the lengths, angles, areas, surfaces, and volumes of theexisting structure. These attributes are the vocabulary of the lan-guage used to encode/decode its meaning.For the Washington Monument there are three geometric compo-nents: a slightly tapering tower or

shaft

, a truncated four sided pyra-mid atop the shaft called the

pyramidion

, and a smaller pyramidsitting atop the pyramidion called the

capstone

. The physical de-tails of these features are listed in Appendix A. Both the dimen-sions from the U.S. Park Service and those I adopt as intended aregiven.

Actual and Intended: A note on accuracy

It is apparent fromAppendix A, that some of the measures I usedepart slightly from the official dimensions suggested by the ParkService. Because no measuring of the physical world can ever becompletely accurate and because perfection in the physical worldcan only be approximated, the reader is asked to tolerate a marginof inexactitude. For the purposes of reading a monument, the vir-tue of any single measure is determined by the extent to which itaccords with the overriding harmonics of the work. By making mi-nor adjustments to the figures, the artful statement of a work be-comes visible, and its metaphors surface. Consequently, I haveadopted those values I conclude as

intended

by the architect. For example, my adopted measure of 555.555 feet for the monument’sintended height is more congruous with the overall scheme of thestructure than the published figure of 555.427 feet--a difference of only 1.54266 inches. Discrepancies in reporting the exact dimen-

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sions and weight of the capstone, lead us to comment on the

vir-tue

of the canon system of measure (which will be discussed further on.) We submit that if an iconic work appears to fall short of physi-cal perfection, it will nevertheless direct us to its

ideal

manifesta-tion. The intended communication will shine through in the purity of its geometry. The profit gained by this approach surpasses any sup-posed error in metric accuracy.The second part of the deciphering process involves identifying theunderlying harmonies of the structure. Some correspondences aredirect, others implied. But it is in the inferential realm where the char-acteristics that distinguish ordinary from iconic, and sacred frommundane, reveal themselves. How the Washington Monument ful-fills the following ten elements of iconic architecture proves this formto be among the world’s most extraordinary structures.The reader is invited to participate in our process of investigation.Just as literature utilizes analogy to convey inferential meaning, wewill similarly use the languages of number, geometry and measureto articulate the deeper levels of the Washington Monument’s de-sign andgivevoice to its otherwise mute stones. Through discovery,that which was invisible will become, by demonstration, self-evident.

Ten Elements of Iconic Architecture

The design is generated from a singular idea.

Those architectural achievements most worthy of note are generat-ed from a singular principle that pervades and unifies the structure.This is especially true of the Egyptian obelisk, after which the Wash-ington Monument is modeled. In the case of the Washington Monu-ment, that singular notion is the number 10 – a number used inmany traditions to represent “unnamable perfection.” The followingis a partial listing of the ways in which the perfect 10 manifests itself in the structure of the Washington Monument.1. The entire monument is 10 times the height of its pyramidion.2.The height is 10 times the length of one base side of the monu-ment.3. The number 10 generates the volume of the perfect pyramidi-on.

▪

The volume of the pyramidion in cubic feet is the same num-ber as the anti-natural logarithm of 10.

▪

The volume of the pyramidion: 22026.46579 cubic feet.The anti-natural log of 10: 22026.46579

The entire obelisk is 10 times theheight of its pyramidion.Old photo of the stone pyra-midion atop the shaft of theWashington Monument.

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4. The number designating the cubic volume of the capstone,94.25959089,

is very nearly 10 times the number designat-ing the length of the apothem (face plane) of the capstone,9.423579201 inches.The shape of the Washington Monument bids the observer to lookbeyond its exterior, where the truly sublime elements of theobelisk’s geometry lay. It is the area

surrounding

the monumentthat defines it. The identification of this geometry, which is externalto the structure, requires the active participation of the observer--the monument’s visible form must be projected to its geometric con-clusion. In this example, we consider how the apothem or faceangle of the pyramidion (Fig.1) relates to the whole obelisk, andhow again the number 10 by extension is an integral part of its de-sign.5. If the axis of the face plane of the pyramidion , 17.24 degrees,is projected to the ground (Fig.2), it strikes the earth 172.4feetfrom the center of the obelisk at its base level.

Observation:

172.4 is 10 times the number of the decimal angle of the pyramidion’s face, 17.2 4 degrees.

Observation:

At a height of 555.555 feet, only a face angle of 17.24 degrees could generate this convergence.6. When the corner edge or arris angle of the pyramidion (Fig. 3)is likewise projected to the base plane of the monument, itconverges with the ground at a point 243.8 feet from the cen-ter of the obelisk (Fig. 4). See that the length of the hypote-nuse projected along the arris angle from the top of thepyramidion to the ground is 606.72 feet.

Observation:

606.72 feet is 10 times the length of the arris cor-ner of the pyramidion, 60.67 feet

94.25959091 (the reciprocal of .010609) X 3 = 282.7787727282.7787727

9 = 31.41986363, which

by 10 = canon

. The

of 31.419 is 5.605342419, read asinches is the length of one base side of the capstone. To find the angle, divide the length of the baseby 2 = 2.80267121. Then divide half the base by the height, 9” to get .311407912, the tangent of 17.29700181 degrees. The cosine of 17.297 degrees is .994776359. Divide the height, 9” by the co-sine of 17.297

= 9.426291206, the length of apothem in inches.(Slight departures in the decimalplaces occur due to the indeterminate height of the capstone and the use of canon

17.2439725 degrees by calculation.

606.7235226 feet by calculation.

Fig. 1Face angle of the pyramidion.Fig. 2Face angle of the pyra-midion projected tobase level.Fig. 4 Arris angle of pyramidion extendedto base level.Fig. 3 Arrisedge of pyra-midion 60.67’.

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