Texas Rotunda Floor

The texas state capitol is the capitol building and seat of government of the american state of texas located in downtown austin texas the structure houses the offices and chambers of the texas legislature and of the governor of texas designed in 1881 by architect elijah e.

Texas rotunda floor. Walter the fourth architect of the capitol. The crack in the rotunda floor was caused by someone falling. Walter had also designed the capitol s north and south. Tragically ed wheeler fell approximately 160 feet to his death while painting the inside of the rotunda on december 13 1922.

A huge sheet metal star measuring 8 feet from point to point surrounded by lettering that spells out texas anchors the top. The seals on the floor trace texas history by representing the six flags that have flown over the state. The capitol 1st floor rotunda available from noon to 1pm only and the extension open air rotunda. Texas state capitol building austin texas rotunda floor tile showing the republic of texas seal inlaid dnhjf3 from alamy s library of millions of high resolution stock photos illustrations and vectors.

Terrazzo is a mosaic flooring made by embedding small pieces of marble or granite in mortar and then polishing it until it is bright and shiny. Capitol in 1793 conceived the idea of a central rotunda. At the texas state capitol in austin the floor of the rotunda as well as most of floors throughout the capitol is made of terrazzo terrazzo is a mosaic flooring made by embedding small pieces of marble or granite in mortar and then polishing it until it is bright and shiny. These were replaced in 1936 with terrazzo flooring.

Everything above this the capitol dome was designed in 1854 by thomas u. The rotunda showcases the interior dome which rises 218 feet from the floor. Texans did not install the terrazzo floor currently in the rotunda until 1936 to commemorate the texas centennial. Due to a shortage of funds and materials sporadic construction phases and the fire set by the british in 1814 the capitol rotunda was not begun until 1818.

The rotunda originally had encaustic tile surrounding a hexagonal glass block floor in the center. The sandstone rotunda walls rise 48 feet 15 m above the floor. The rotunda was designed in the neoclassical style and was intended to evoke the design of the pantheon. During the restoration project a veneer of new glass blocks was installed on the ground floor ceiling to represent the original glass floor from the ground while maintaining the terrazzo floor above.

Dr william thornton who won the competition for the design of the u s. The first floor rotunda above originally featured glass blocks in an octagonal design. The texas capitol has two rotundas for public events. Capitol rotunda is the result of two distinct building campaigns.

This popular legend of the capitol is not true. Myers it was constructed from 1882 to 1888 under the direction of civil engineer reuben lindsay walker. The capitol ground floor rotunda is an exhibit space that can be requested under exhibit spaces.