By Elliot Carter

Washington's Metro system opened for service to great fanfare in 1976. The initial line included just five stations stretching from Farragut North to Rhode Island Avenue, and it had taken seven years to build.

WMATA subcontracted the work to three consulting firms. De Leuw, Cather & Company worked out the engineering, Bechtel Corporation handled construction, and Harry Weese & Associates got to design the architecture . (Harry Weese was a talented architect who would go on to have an interesting career in Chicago.)

Harry Weese had a visionary idea for Metro's architecture. His clean and monumental design aimed to be the antithesis of New York's subway, with its graffiti, low ceilings and industrial appearance. Zachary M. Schrag describes the concept in his definitive book The Great Society Subway:

"Weese proposed vaults, turning stations into underground equivalents of classic nineteenth-century rail stations, with their cast-iron trainsheds ... Vaults allowed him to dispense with columns, improving sightlines and giving trainrooms a sense of spaciousness."