Capitol Iron Work

US Capitol Detail

There are so many wonderful works of art that function as every day objects. This handrail support on the back stairs of the U.S. Capitol Building is a great example. It just there to support people, but it has a stateliness, something that reminds me of an abstract eagle soaring above the swirls below. It shows us the ebb, the balance of moderate discourse. It’s just some old thing, that some designer thought long about. Some old thing that some craftsman poured sweat and life into. It spends its days in the elements largely unnoticed, but there some will see and be in awe of its functional beauty.