Designed by Robert Mills (b. Charleston, S.C., Aug. 12, 1781, d. Mar. 3, 1855) in 1838, to follow the form of an Egyptian obelisk, it rises more than 168 m (550 ft) above the city and is the largest masonry structure in the world.

Mills achieved national prominence after being appointed (1836) architect and engineer to the federal government, in which capacity he designed this monument to the first president of the United States, George Washington.

The actual construction of the monument began in 1848 and was not completed until 1884, almost 30 years after the architect's death, due to lack of funds and the intervention of the Civil War. A difference in shading of the marble (visible approximately 150 feet up) clearly deliniates the initial construction from its resumption in 1876. It is generally considered fortunate that the Greek Doric rotunda Mills planned for the base of the monument was never built.  

Washington Monument, national memorial authorized in 1848. Located in Washington, D.C., at the western end of the National Mall, this four-sided stone structure honors George Washington, the first president of the United States (1789-1797). 

The monument was modeled after a classic Egyptian obelisk. It is 169 m (555 ft) high and is one of the tallest masonry structures in the world. The structure is 17 m (55 ft) square at its base (making it ten times taller than it is wide) and tapers to less than 10 m (35 ft) square near its highest point. The top of the monument is capped by a small pyramid of solid aluminum. The walls of the monument are made of marble from Maryland and Massachusetts. A stairway of 897 steps and an elevator lead to an observation room near the top. Visitors who walk to the top can view 192 memorial stones that were donated by states, organizations, foreign countries, and individuals. A bronze replica of a statue of Washington by French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon stands in the waiting area. Windows in the observation room offer views of the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, and the Capitol building. 

The idea of a memorial honoring Washington developed in the 1780s. In the absence of action by the federal government, a group of private citizens formed the Washington National Monument Society in 1833. American architect Robert Mills designed an obelisk surrounded by a series of columns at the base that featured statues of prominent Americans. His design was later altered and the columns were not built. The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1848, with the same trowel Washington used in 1793 to lay the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol building. Construction continued slowly until the mid-1850s, when political disputes, lack of funds, and the American Civil War (1861-1865) halted work. President Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877) authorized federal funding for the memorial in 1876, and in 1878 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers resumed work on the project. The monument was completed in 1884, dedicated on Feb. 21, 1885, and opened to the public in 1888. Administered by the National Park Service. Area, 43 hectares (106 acres).  

Washington Monument - Washington Monument Fast Facts Named after: President George Washington Truly monumental: Monument is the tallest piece of free-standing masonry in the world, standing 555 feet, 5 1/8 inches Total weight: 81,120 tons Original cost: $1,187,710

The Geometry of the
Washington National Monument

by Bernard I. Pietsch

The two questions I most often receive from audiences after having given a lecture about the communication systems found in ancient architecture is, "What happened to the tradition of the great builders?" and "Are there modern structures that have meaning like the ancient monuments you describe?"

These are questions I too have asked in the last twenty-five years of my research in archeo-metrology,the recovery of measuring systems used in ancient times. My endeavor has been to understand something of the mind of the ancient builder as expressed in his works. How did the artist or architect exterioralize his inner vision of harmony in the form of his creation? What was his or her view of the world?

After studying the remnants of many of the great monuments of the world--their dimensions, geometry, alignments, coordinate positions etc., I have concluded that there is more to the builder's art than the mere fashioning of stone. The best builders used a remarkable communication system to encode their knowledge. The system is specific. It is readable. The medium is stone and the key to its decipherment is measure. Measure articulates form. Even though form is silent, if the mind can move, stone can be the instrument of communication.

Ancient metrologies emerged from the observation of natural forms and events. Measures had meaningful correspondences to natural phenomena. For example, a pendulum is a simple swinging weight on a string until the string is defined by its length and the beats of its swing are counted as frequencies. Immediately the elements of a system of time and timing are initiated. The pendulum expresses the laws: the length of the string correlates with the law. By observing the pendulum one can discover things about location in latitude, about gravity, about the value of pi. Geometry, mathematics and time converge in a simple demonstration, and measure is the bridge. By using a length found in an art form as a pendulum's length, a statement about dynamics, or time or location can be encoded. Through the process of co-relating measure with meaning, sculpture or works of architecture can go beyond the realm of art and communicate ideas from the domain of physics. Again, the observer must participate in order to see beyond the obvious.

Many of the stone temples, tombs, and megaliths of great civilizations incorporate this methodology integrating geometry, mathematics and time. Until now however, no one has suspected that the Washington National Monument, built in a modern epoch, integrates in its form, these diversities. It is truly an architectural commemorative to the American ideals of individuality, diversity and integrity.ⁱ [ footnote ]

Mr. Pietsch Goes To Washington

On June 21st, 1988, the day of the Summer Solstice, I visited the Washington Monument. My intention was to verify the measures given in various publications and to confirm an intuition I'd had about the sun angles and shadows created by the obelisk. Since measure is my avenue of discovery, I measured the base on the four sides. At noon I also observed the path of the shadow of the obelisk, and recorded the point where its apex shadow touched the ground. As it turned out, because of the conformity of the surrounding terrain I was not able to complete an accurate survey of the shadows.

Nevertheless, as a result of my investigation I discovered several fascinating metrological relationships about the monument.ⁱⁱ [ footnote ]

The Art of Indication: Real Vs Ideal

The Washington Monument is as articulate as any I have investigated in the entire ancient world. The synchronistic aspects demonstrated by its form can actually take us beyond its architecture to the domain of the perfect and sublime.

In the sensible world objects can never be perfect--the notion of perfection can only be entertained intellectually. However to penetrate the mystery of this monument, it is necessary to go beyond the imperfect form which we see and apprehend its perfect geometric form. This perfect form can only be indicated. Even though invisible, it is this indicated measure we contend which is the intended communication.

There is a small price to pay for entrance into the unseen realm. Some exactness must occasionally be sacrificed. But the reward, as will be shown, is great.

What I physically measured at the site for example, varies slightly from the dimensions published by the National Park Service. The measurements I adopt as indicated depart as much as one eighth of an inch per side at the base of the Monument.ⁱⁱⁱ [ table ]

I also adopt an indicated height of 555.555 feet. The published figure is 555.427 feet, a discrepancy of 1.54 inches. As in the real world, perfection is not always possible in the final form, but if it's close, we can get the message.

Art of the Ancient Builders

Ancient builders, I have observed, were masters of the sychronistic metaphor: the building of artful correspondence between divergent categories. In their universe of harmony, the relationships between mathematics, geometry, astronomy, biology, physics,and Time, were not separate and discrete, but aspects of the whole. Units of measure, angles, volumes, weights and time could be meaningfully interchanged, interwoven and interconnected.

It is not that the ancients knew more than we do, but rather that they knew more of themselves than we do. Hence their products were the integrated expression of an inner state of harmony. An examination of the elements of this integration will bring us closer to understanding a creation by revealing the mind and values of its creator.

Because the Washington Monument is patterned after the form of Egyptian Obelisks, it is circumstantially linked to the tradition of ancient architects. By being true to the Egyptian model, the correspondences which we will unfold are insured. To speculate on a connection to any secret school of builders is beyond the scope and purpose of this paper. Regardless, the correlation's which follow, are self-evident.^iv [ footnote ]

"Math-Magic" of the Washington Monument

Ten Observations

1. The Southeast / Northwest diagonal length of the base in feet is an "indicator" of the cosine of the geographic latitude of the site.

·        Comment: Invariably, the accomplished builder incorporates in some fundamental manner, the knowledge of his place in the world. I have seen evidence of this feature in numerous megalith structures. Here it is found in the foundation of the obelisk. The diagonal of the base in feet, divided by 100 and taken as the cosine of an angle, derives almost exactly the latitude of the site.

·        The South East to North West diagonal measure of the base of the obelisk is approximately 77.836 feet ÷ 100 = .77836

·        The latitude of the site is: 38° 53'21"

·        The cosine of that latitude is: .77836

2. The number 10 generates the perfect pyramidian.

The rectangular shaft of the obelisk is capped by a four sided pyramid. The number of cubic feet in the volume of the pyramid is an indicator of the number that is also the anti-natural logarithm of 10.

·        The volume of the pyramidian is 22026.46579 cubic feet.

·        The anti-natural log of 10 is 22026.46579

Comment: In many traditions the number 10 is used as the representation for perfection-the unnamable-or for God. Art can indicate perfection, but perfection cannot be executed in this world. Only in the mind can the concept of perfection reside.

3. The number of cubic feet in the pyramidian, divided by 100 is the same number as the number of feet in the perimeter of the obelisk at the base.

·        The cubic feet in the pyramidian is 22026.46579

·        The perimeter of the obelisk's base = 220.26 feet.

·        The average measure of the base side is one fourth of 220.26 or approximately 55.06616 feet.

4. When the axis of the face plane of the pyramidian is extended to the ground, it strikes the earth 172.5 ft from the center of the obelisk at its base level.

The sychronicity emerges when it is seen that the number 172.5 is 10 times the number of the decimal angle of the pyramidian's face: 17.25 degrees.

5. When the arris (the corner edge) of the pyramidian is likewise extended to the base plane, it converges with the ground 244.07 ft from the center of the obelisk. One tenth of this length is exactly one-half the length of the pyramidian's base diagonal.

6. The area of a circle created from the extended arris edge is two times the area of the circle created by the pyramidian's plane angle.

·        Let the point where the face plane angle of the pyramidian intersects the earth create a radius from the center of the obelisk base plane. This radius will then create an area of a Circle A.

·        Let the point where the arris angle of the pyramid (corner) would intersect the plane of the obelisk base create a radius. This radius will then create a second, larger, Circle B, outside of the first circle.

7. The area of circle A has the same number of square feet as the surface area of the entire obelisk.

Surface area of each face of the pyramidian:
1003.09 sq ft x 4 = 4,012.36 sq ft

·         Surface area of each side of shaft:
22,392.69 sq ft x 4 = 89,570.76 sq ft

·         Surface area of entire obelisk: 93,586.83 sq ft

·         Area of Circle A= 93,586.83 sq ft

Comment: Only a face angle of 17.25 degrees at a height of 555.55 feet could generate this convergence.

8. Let the perfect indicated height of the obelisk, 555.55' represent the length of a Foucault pendulum. A pendulum that length would swing back and forth one time in a period of 26.12011309 seconds.

·        Find the square root of the height: 555.55 = 23.57022604

·        The ratio of the square root of the height to the period of its time as a pendulum generates another "perfect" number: 1.228068554

Comment: This is a primary number in the most synchronistic sense. It represents the unification node for a measure of time and a measure of length. Using this perfect unit, the builder could indicate a period of time using a linear measure of length.

·        A pendulum length of 1.228068554 feet, beats a period of time lasting 1.228068554 seconds.

9. Another referent to the number 10 is found in the ratio between the period of a pendulum the length of the entire monument, and the period of a pendulum the length of the height of the pyramidian. The ratio is the same number as the square root of 10: 3.16227

·        A pendulum height of 555.555 ft has period of 26.1201 seconds. Divided by the period of the height of the pyramidian equals 3.16227, the square root of 10.

26.1201 seconds 8.2599 seconds 10

10.The base of natural logarithms can be derived from the base side length of the obelisk.

·        The mean base side of the Obelisk is 55.053178837 feet. Square the side, divide by 2 and then divide by 100. Now find the Natural Log to get : e the base of natural logarithms:

55.05317837² = 3030.852448

3030.852448 ÷ 2 = 1515.426224

1515.426224 ÷ 100 = 15.15426224

15.15426224^-e = 2.718281828

These are a few of the many interesting geometric and mathematical correspondences I found demonstrated in the Washington Monument. The author welcomes inquiry from the interested student seeking clarification or additional information regarding the framework out of which these observations arise.