Background: The United States Capitol, home to the U.S. Congress since 1800, is a widely recognized staple of democratic government around the world. The Capitol Dome itself has not undergone a complete restoration since 1959-1960, and as a result of age and weather, suffers more than 1,000 cracks and deficiencies.
 
While the Capitol has been enlarged to accommodate the growing House and Senate over history, the center of the original Capitol beneath the Dome, the Rotunda, withstands time as it still serves as a ceremonial space and showroom of art and statuary.
 
Knowing that the Rotunda would be unavailable to visitors for short periods of time during restoration of the Dome, the Architect of the Capitol wished to provide a virtual experience through a mobile app for visitors to tour the Rotunda’s historic treasures, paintings, statuary, and architecture.  The Dome restoration is scheduled to be completed in 2016 and well in advance of the 2017 presidential inauguration, which is held at the Capitol.

Creative Solution: The Architect of the Capitol's U.S. Capitol Rotunda app has brought the history and features of the Rotunda to life through a mobile app built with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite (Adobe DPS) technologies. Through this virtual resource visitors to the Capitol may explore and learn about the Rotunda even during its closure periods.

With the interactive app users explore spectacular 360-degree views and panorama images of the Rotunda.  The app was designed using elegant typefaces and stunning photography to mirror the integrity and architectural splendor of the historic Rotunda.

With a swipe of a screen — video, info-graphics, photography, and historic illustrations provide the next-best experience to actually touring in-person.  The app was created in horizontal orientation for tablets and in vertical orientation for smartphones to optimize the user experience. It is free and available for Apple iOS at the App Store and for Android on Google play.