Talk:Washington State Capitol

Did the Olmsted Landscape design firm influence Wilder and White's design of the Capitol?

I believe that the third paragraph, second sentence of the History section of this article requires a citation. The sentence states "Wilder and White's designs were influenced by the Olmsted brothers who served as consultants from 1911 to 1912 and designed and supervised the landscaping for the campus from 1927 to 1931" (emphasis added). I do not know what published source supports this conclusion. In addition, the general source cited in this article by Norman Johnston makes clear from original documents that Wilder and White clearly rejected the Olmsted firm's recommendations about orientation and placement of the buildings on the campus. The majority of the design and construction work was done without the Omsted firm being involved at all. The layout and design of the buildings and grounds followed Wilder and White's original plan. The Olmsted firm only became re-engaged on the project after construction of the current capitol group of buildings was complete in 1927 and then only to design the landscape. Even then Wilder and White objected to several of Olmsted's recommendations such as the orientation of entrances from the east side of the campus. Johnosaunders (talk) 23:31, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

Agreed, this also caught my eye. https://olympiahistory.org/miller-centennial-of-the-wilder-and-white-plan/ does not seem to support this idea, either. The design of the Capitol is worthy of its own section, especially now that many artifacts about it have entered the public domain. OceanLoop (talk) 15:40, 14 June 2025 (UTC)

I have edited this article to clarify the limited role played by the Olmsted firm in the realization of Wilde and White's design being only the details of landscaping, pathways, and entrances to campus from the east. I have changed the title of one of the exhibits to clarify that it is a design for the grounds prepared after all construction was complete. Johnosaunders (talk) 04:16, 2 August 2025 (UTC)

I have also listed the John A. Cherberg Building and the John L. O'Brien buildings in the chronology of construction and given their dates. I've noted that these buildings are part of the original Wilder and White master plan and that there remains 1 building in the plan that has never been constructed. Johnosaunders (talk) 20:57, 2 August 2025 (UTC)

Security and Controversies sections

The Security section and Controversies section seem out of place and trivial; they are not recent and do not add any substance to an otherwise interesting article. I recommend removing them. @Another Believer @OlympiaBuebird @SounderBruce - your input is most welcome. OceanLoop (talk) 20:59, 17 July 2025 (UTC)

Hey OceanLoop...thanks for reaching out. I find the Security portion to be of interest beyond triviality, considering that the capitol grounds are a usual site of aggrievement, with consistent protests. As the section isn't excessive and "out-of-scope", it seems to me to be pertinent. Needs to be sourced, though.

As for Controversies, perhaps renamed as "Notable incidents" or "Notable protests"...either way, the section could be expanded exponentially and maybe one day, an article of its own. As it stands, I'd rewrite the section to remove words like "widespread" and "rapid", as well as the parenthetical, but the issue, which I remember a bit, was covered nationwide. On it's own, minus other controversies, the blowup seems out of place and WP:UNDUE (i.e., it's the only protest of importance). Joined with a list/expanded prose of other demonstations (George Floyd protests, 2017 Women's March...) would provide a better background of the capitol being the state's protest point.

Have at it!

OlympiaBuebird (talk) 18:00, 18 July 2025 (UTC)