A recent study by researchers from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and the University of Almeria has revealed some surprising parallels between the urban planning of Washington D. C. and the city of Aranjuez. Published in the American journal Urban Planning and Development, the work shows that the urban design of the American city – where the White House is located – not only took as a reference European models such as Versailles, but is directly inspired by the plan of the Madrid town.
Experts argue that Pierre L’Enfant, the cartographer commissioned by Thomas Jefferson and President George Washington to design the federal capital in 1791, adapted the layout of Aranjuez to a new scale for the American context. Among the parallels found are the strategic arrangement of its main buildings, the system of 12 radial avenues that converge at symbolic landmarks, and a network of streets with a trapezoidal structure, all very marked characteristics of Aranjuez’s urban planning.
Plans of Aranjuez in the European Courts
The research, supported by historical cartographic analysis, indicates that L’Enfant used the meander of the Potomac River to reflect the meander of the Tagus in Aranjuez. In addition, he replicated the location and functions of the great buildings, and translated the great gardens and ceremonial spaces of the city of Madrid into iconic elements such as the National Mall and the alignment of the White House to the Capitol. Cristina Velilla Lucini, researcher at the UPM, explains that “there are no documents that prove that L’Enfant knew him, but the evidence speaks for itself”.
Access to plans sent by Charles III to different European courts, and contacts between French urban planners and Spanish experts of the time, reinforce the hypothesis of direct influence.
The result is an internationally recognized American capital – known for its monumentality and urban axes – which, according to the researchers, is in reality an extended echo of the Spanish landscape and geometric model. The finding underscores the importance of Aranjuez as an urban and cultural reference, and reopens the debate on European influences and knowledge transfer in the history of global urban planning.