<P> In 1929, Chief Justice William Howard Taft argued successfully for the Court to have its own headquarters to distance itself from Congress as an independent branch of government, but he did not live to see it built . The court was finally designed by Cass Gilbert, who created many other structures in the United States . </P> <P> The Supreme Court Building is located at 1 First Street, NE (former site of the Old Brick Capitol, across the street from the United States Capitol) and was designed by architect Cass Gilbert (as Gilbert's last major project; he died before it was completed). It rises four stories (92 ft (28 m)) above ground . The cornerstone was laid on October 13, 1932, and construction completed in 1935, having cost $94,000 less than the $9,740,000 budget authorized by Congress ($136 million in 2016 dollars). "The building was designed on a scale in keeping with the importance and dignity of the Court and the Judiciary as a coequal, independent branch of the United States Government, and as a symbol of' the national ideal of justice in the highest sphere of activity ."' </P> <P> The Supreme Court Building is built in the Neoclassical style . The public façade is made of marble quarried from Vermont, and that of the non-public - facing courtyards, Georgia marble . Most of the interior spaces are lined with Alabama marble, except for the Courtroom itself, which is lined with Spanish ivory vein marble . For the Courtroom's 24 columns, "Gilbert felt that only the ivory buff and golden marble from the Montarrenti quarries near Siena, Italy" would suffice . To this end, in May 1933, he petitioned the Italian Premier, Benito Mussolini, "to ask his assistance in guaranteeing that the Siena quarries sent nothing inferior to the official sample marble ." </P> <P> Not all the justices were thrilled by the new arrangements, the courtroom in particular . Harlan Fiske Stone complained it was "almost bombastically pretentious...Wholly inappropriate for a quiet group of old boys such as the Supreme Court ." Another justice observed that he felt the court would be "nine black beetles in the Temple of Karnak," while still another complained that such pomp and ceremony suggested the justices ought to enter the courtroom riding on elephants . The New Yorker columnist Howard Brubaker noted at the time of its opening that it had "fine big windows to throw the New Deal out of ." </P>

What type of column is found in the u.s. supreme court building