United States Supreme Court Building

Brief information

The Supreme Court of the United States received its own building only in 1935, although before that the Court had sat for decades in the Capitol: first in a small basement room, then in the Old Senate Chamber. So the meaning of the building is read not only in its columns and marble, but in the very fact of its separation from Congress. It was placed one block east of the Capitol, next to the political center, but no longer inside it.

Architect Cass Gilbert designed a five-story building for the Court, 28 meters high. In 1929, William Howard Taft argued for the need for separate meeting places for the Court and Congress as different branches of government. After that, the former dependence on borrowed rooms was replaced by a building where the layout, materials, and sculptures all serve the idea of an independent judiciary.

What to notice first

It is worth comparing marble as the building’s main material. Vermont marble was used on the exterior, Georgia marble in the inner courtyard, and mostly Alabama marble in the interiors. The courtroom is set apart: it was decorated with Spanish marble, while its 24 columns were made of Siena marble. The different types of stone do more than decorate the surfaces; they show how the main hall is separated from the rest of the building in status.

The sculptures help the building read as a scheme of judicial power. In the east wing is “Justice, Guardian of Liberty”; in the west, “Equal Justice Under Law.” On the north and south sides are seated figures, “Contemplation of Justice” and “Authority of Law.” In the courtroom itself, the friezes connect ancient and later lawgivers. After this, the decor is perceived not as a collection of names, but as an attempt to present the Court as the continuation of a long legal tradition.