The Louisiana Supreme Court Building: Lessons to be Learned from a Beaux-Arts Monstrosity in the French Quarter

In the 1920s and 1930s many struggling cities were seduced by the monolithic, masculine nature of Beaux-arts style government buildings. Eager to appear more European, American cities became fans of rabid slum clearance initiatives that ironically erased some of their most authentically European communities. In this trend, the Louisiana Supreme Court building was designed in 1910 by the firm Brown, Brown, and Marye of Atlanta, known for their many Beaux-arts style public buildings. The lot ...