The impressive simplicity of the outer walls is enhanced by a succession
and variety of portals, niches and arcades of Spanish and Italian origin
of great beauty. The simple dignity of the plain travertine wall
surfaces is heightened by tile-covered cornices terminated by pavilions.
A rich foreground of rhythmic planting of trees, shrubbery and flowers,
emphasizes the unity of the eight palaces, the corporate purposes of
which have been so successfully interpreted by Architects Bliss and
Faville.
The typical domes surmounting the eight palaces also express the
similarity of purpose for which these palaces are intended. In depicting
the industrial arts, these domes lend an Oriental expression to the
entire composition, consistent with the citadel character of the general
scheme. The banner poles, with their Oriental streamers, and the
illuminating standards, set in the foreground planting of the outer
walls, lend a consistent festive character to these long facades.