The Future of Another Brutalist Landmark Put into Question
November 10, 2011
The J. Edgar Hoover Building, Washington, D.C.
The nation’s capital is home to several Brutalist buildings, almost all of which have their fair share of detractors. But the The J. Edgar Hoover Building, which headquarters the FBI and sits on Pennsylvania Avenue at the halfway point from the White House to the Capitol, is surely the city’s favorite building to hate. Since the structure–more of a campus, actually, or fortress, for that matter–was completed in 1975, it has been plagued with problems, from functionality issues to improper maintenance. When the design by Chicago-based firm Charles F. Murphy and Associates was first put forward, it purported to revitalize Pennsylvania Avenue, while bowing to the architectural heritage of “America’s Main Street” with
promises of open arcades and courtyards and commercial spaces along the entire first floor.
As it stands, the building creates a “black hole” in downtown’s urban fabric, in part, due to its enormous size and the
extensive security measures which closed off the courtyard to the public and prohibited the allocation of space to commercial ventures. As The Huffington Post reports, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a review Tuesday which assesses the building’s future and hints at what could be done with the property. According to the GAO report, the structure no longer supports “the FBI’s long-term security, space, and building condition requirements,” while the design of its offices is inefficient, “making it difficult to reconfigure space to promote staff collaboration. Staff dispersion across annexes likewise hampers collaboration and the performance of some classified work.” Because of the significant expense necessary to improve and renovate the Hoover Building’s “deteriorating” condition, the GAO lists two options, the first being the complete demolition of the existing building and a new headquarters built on top the site, while the second suggests that the FBI relocated to new facilities elsewhere. Another loss for America’s Brutalist architecture?
http://www.architizer.com/en_us/blo...-another-brutalist-landmark-put-into-question