Arthur Cotton Moore is a sixth-generation Washingtonian with an intense love for the city, as well as an intense awareness of its faults. Since becoming an architect in 1965, he has followed two separate career paths: one, carrying out jobs for clients, including a major renovation of the Library of Congress; the other, proposing bold civic improvements. The latter preoccupation, Moore writes in his new book, Our Nation’s Capital: Pro Bono Publico Ideas (International Arts and Artists, 2017), compiled largely by his wife Patricia Moore, was carried out with “no clients, no compensation by money or favor, and no pursuit of architectural commissions.” In other words, nothing to rein in his fertile imagination.

Some of the ideas seem impractical (he proposed moving the Supreme Court to an extension of the National Mall, in recognition of its importance to the tripartite system of government). Others would be ruinously expensive.

But a few of Moore’s ideas were prescient: In 1982, he proposed building a broad stairway to connect the Kennedy Center to the Potomac River, from which it was entirely disconnected. A stairway is part of the Steven Holl-designed renovation of the Center currently under construction. (Moore also proposed covering the Center’s flat roof in solar panels; that hasn’t happened.)

Some of Moore’s ideas are sensible and ought to be considered, or at least admired for their audacity. Here are a few:

Model of the Nation’s Capital

Moore proposed creating a model of Washington, DC, similar to the Panorama of New York City at the Queens Museum (but diamond-shaped, liked the capital). His model, a tourist attraction that would also help city planners, would be housed in a pavilion near the National Building Museum.

Memorial Bridges

To find room for more memorials on the National Mall (and make crossing major avenues safe for pedestrians), Moore proposed building bridges laden with monuments, comparable to the bust-festooned Charles Bridge in Prague.

Ike Monument Near WWII Memorial

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial under construction on Maryland Avenue is overblown, isolated, and confusing. Moore proposed a smaller memorial that, sensibly, would have a visual connection to the World War II Memorial already on the National Mall.

Roof Over I.M. Pei & Partners-designed Church

The 1971 Brutalist Third Church of Christ, Scientist, designed by I.M. Pei & Partners’ Araldo A. Cossutta, was demolished in 2014. It could have been saved (and a new public plaza created) if developers had followed Moore’s plan to construct an office building above the church.

A Train That Never Stops

Rail travel on the busy Northeast Corridor would be more efficient if Amtrak adopted Moore’s idea: A monorail at each station would sidle up to passing trains. Departing passengers would move from the monorail to the train, while arriving passengers would move from the train to the monorail; the train itself would continue moving at full speed.