From one capital city to another: The turnout of Burnham’s masterplans

Being in Washington DC was a dream come true–and a bittersweet experience. This is because one couldn’t help but think about what could’ve been in Manila: A similarly implemented capital, and a beautiful one at that. Here’s something I wrote for the Philippine Daily Inquirer: Click here to read the article. 

These show the L’Enfant Plan of Washington, and how the current planning department works on the city:

Read more about the L’Enfant Plan here:  Wikipedia

The Planning Office of Washington DC has online resources about the detailed plans of there district. Click here to view resources. 

Here’s a photo compilation of a few days in DC, at eye-level:

Walkable, cyclable “postcards.”

The White House. 

That’s me–enjoying the beautiful sakura (cherry blossom) gardens. In 1912, Yukio Uzaki of Tokyo gave sakura trees as presents to Washington DC. The cherry blossoms are also celebrated in Washington through yearly festivals.

Parks are really beautiful here. Monuments to celebrate icons of history are present and celebrated every day.

The lakes are picturesque. 

Walking to the US Capitol is a delight because of the wide, beautiful spaces.

And when you see it, it’s pure grandeur.

From the back of the Capitol, you can see the perfect alignment of the National Mall and the Washington Monument.

Going around the Smithsonian Museums is such a treat. 

Manila, Manila

And this was the plan of Manila:

Source: Wikipedia; look closer through http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/10341.html

Just imagine what could have been.

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I’ll update this post with a video when I get back to Washington for the Fellows’ Congress. 🙂