For better and for worse, the architecture of the US Capitol has loomed large in the nation's consciousness over the last few years: whether as stage for a presidential inauguration, site of an armed insurrection, or place of honour for the lying in state of the body of America's first black lawmaker. In each instance the structure is deemed symbolic of the nation's institutions and aspirations. Its architecture takes this responsibility seriously, drawing on the full range of classical architecture's communicative strategies. But it also prompts questions that demand answers, today more than ever.

We will assess the typological history of the Capitol Rotunda, along with its religious precedents and their reappropriation for what is sometimes referred to as America's "temple of democracy." Lifting our eyes to study the figural iconography that encircles the rotunda and gazes back down from its dome, we will pay particular attention to the seams of that reappropriation, which lay bare the challenges and opportunities of contemporary democracy in a pluralist society.

Join us for a dinner seminar with Kyle Dugdale (Yale School of Architecture).