Which D.C. Building Deserves to Be Demolished?
IN A CITY FULL OF BEAUTIFUL BUILDINGS, the nation's capital is scarred by plenty of ugly ones. In fact, The Post's Marc Fisher contends, the Third Church of Christ, Scientist at 16th and I streets NW, a stunning example of unfriendly Brutalist architecture, is so terrible it should be demolished, even though the D.C. Historic Preservation Office has proposed giving the structure, pictured at left, historic status.
It's the latest conflict over modern architecture, and specifically Brutalism — a worldwide battle that was profiled in the Financial Times in August.
Plenty of other local buildings have been derided for straying from the city's norm. Which one would you like to see erased from the landscape?
From left, let's start with the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library at 9th and G streets NW. D.C.'s deteriorating central library was designed by 20th century master Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Plenty of people think the modernist structure deserves to meet the wrecking ball, but it recently attained landmark status as the city tries to figure out what do next: Restart efforts to build a new library elsewhere or improve the current building.
At center is the headquarters for the Department of Housing and Urban Development at 7th and D streets SW, designed by Marcel Breuer. With its raw concrete exterior, it, like the Christian Science church and the headquarters for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (a Breuer design as well), meets the specifications of Brutalism design, which was popular in the 1960s and '70s, but is unfashionable now.
And at right is the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, located next to the White House. This building, designed by Alfred Mullett, and completed in 1888 after 17 years of construction, might provide the best lesson for current debates over "modern" architecture. When the building was completed, it was already out of fashion and derided for its lavish ornamentation. There were immediate proposals for demolition or severe remodeling. But that never happened, and today it is an historic fixture on the White House campus that's described as "a masterpiece."
Which one would you like to see disappear? Or is there another building you'd like to see zapped from the map? Let us know in comments.
» "A Place Unfit for a Congregation, Much Less a Historic Designation" [Marc Fisher/WaPo]
» "Modernism Gets Brutalist Treatment" [FT]
File photos from The Washington Post and the General Services Administration
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Addison Road
No question, the FBI building needs to go. It is a terrible design and is particularly ilsuited for a city.
By including the OEOB you imply that just because one style is out of fashion for the moment doesn't mean it will always be so. That is true to a degree, but it is a fundamental failure of the architectural profession to recognize that all styles are not equal, and some styles that were once fashionable are objectively bad styles that do not deserve the protection of preservation simply because they were once fashionable.
By their very nature brutalism and (to a lesser degree) the International style run counter to what makes a city work. Buildings of these styles deserve no respect from city dwellers because they never gave city dwellers any respect themselves.
By Reid , Posted November 1, 2007 1:53 PMInteresting point.
By mgrass , Posted November 1, 2007 3:11 PMamen on the FBI being demolished. it's a blight on the city visually, financially, and socially. it's a dead spot in town, especially with our new security-at-all-costs mentality.
the FBI should move out into the exurbs like the NSA where they can have a one-mile buffer around their building.
then, when they're gone, knock the buildling down and replace it with something that will draw people in (more street-level retail) and put a bunch of condos/apartments on top.
more people living downtown is what we need. greater residential density downtown will make the stores there even more viable, and bring in more and better retail options.
the FBI building is everything that could be wrong with a downtown. adios, gentlemen, enjoy fort meade.
By IMGoph , Posted November 1, 2007 8:15 PM