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#FabDesignFriday
By Barbara Hahijary
Instead of calling it as a ‘palace’ like many countries do, the United States of America humbly prefer to call the official residence and workplace of their president as “The White House”.
The White House is located on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue at capital of USA, Washington, D.C. The city is formally known as District of Columbia and was later named in honour of the first president of America, George Washington who actually had never lived in the house. The first president who resided in the House was John Adams, who served as the second president of the US.
The monument was designed by an Irish-architect named James Hoban, who chose neoclassical as its style. The style was popular during the period of late 1700s to early 1800s and has appeared in many European and American buildings, especially the government offices due to its monumental appearance (Indonesia and many European colonized countries also possess this style). The White House has four columns at its northern façade and eight at its southern façade - an even numbers of Ionic columns is one of the signature of the neoclassical architecture’s front façade.
The White House complex was expanded since the third president of United States, Thomas Jefferson’s residency. The extension was also done by the following presidents; James Monroe, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Harry S. Truman. Now we see The White House as it is now.
The complex is consisted of several parts with Executive Residence as the main site, which is located in between the East and West Wing. The West Wing accommodates the President’s Room, known as the Oval Office where Barack Obama works today behind the legendary Resolute Desk. The Eisenhower Executive Office Building stands on the West side of the complex, adjacent to Blair House, which is the official guest house for the president. All of the white buildings are surrounded by greeneries of The President’s Park.