Opposite the capital is the austere drum of the state museum that anticipates by almost a decade Gordon Bunshaft's better known Hirshorn Museum in Washington, D.C. Unlike the Hirshorn's serene central garden, the state museum's core is utilitarian—toilets, elevators, and service spaces, with exhibits on the perimeter. The slender tower to the north, set back from the street behind a modest garden, houses the stacks space of the state archive. The flamboyant juxtaposition of “cupcake” and “clothespin” was clearly modeled on Oscar Niemeyer's capitol complex in Brasilia of the previous decade. After their Art Deco beginnings with the Harrisburger Hotel (
DA15), Lawrie and Green designed many of the modern buildings in the capital including the Education Building (1967).