A relatively unknown aspect of President George Washington’s life is on display in the lobby of Hotel Fort Des Moines.

The traveling exhibit, “George Washington, Architect,” is divided into four parts, said Suzanne Schwengels, executive vice president of the Iowa Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The exhibit includes his design and building efforts at his Virginia plantation, his vision of a grand American capital city and his architectural legacy.

“It has been traveling all over the country,” she said.

Schwengels said the exhibit was designed to show a side of Washington many people don’t know about and to increase public awareness of the value of architecture and how it affects people’s lives.

“It was a national icon to teach concepts of good design,” she said.

The exhibit is immediately noticeable at the entrance of the hotel. Displayed on 12 life-size scrolls are the written words, photographs and drawings which make up Washington’s history as an architect.

The two-dimensional display is actually a reproduction of the original museum exhibition, which included three-dimensional objects such as bricks, papers, photographs and original documents, said Linnea Hamer, curator of exhibitions at the Octagon in Washington, D.C. The Octagon is the museum of the American Architectural Foundation, and both the original exhibition and reproduction were created there.

The reproduction, which will be at the hotel through April 21, also showcases several of Washington’s quotes.

“Rules of architecture are calculated, I presume, to give symmetry and just proportion to all the orders and parts of a building in order to please the eye,” Washington said in 1798. “Small departures from strict rules are discoverable only by the skillful architects, or by the eye of criticism.”

The last section of the display includes several pictures of different buildings around the country which have imitated the design of Mount Vernon, which Washington is credited for. Some of these include a funeral home, apartment building, bank and private club.

“Because he became so famous . there are lots of buildings out there that are modeled after Mount Vernon,” said Dennis Pogue, director of restoration at Mount Vernon in Washington, D.C. “It’s just become such a common element of building.”

A reproduction of Mount Vernon was created at the Chicago World Fair in 1893, Pogue said, and was recreated over the next 40 years in several other world fairs, including Paris.

“Millions of people around the world saw it,” he said.

Schwengels said the curatorial staffs of the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, the AAF and the Octagon put the exhibit together to honor the bicentennial of Washington’s death. It will move next to the Atrium of Capital Square in Des Moines, where it will be on display from April 23 through May 13.

“The idea behind this exhibit is to commemorate his death by celebrating his life,” Pogue said.