Environmental Protection Agency, Constitution Avenue December 2021
An old love affair gone sour
In my childhood seeing the Federal Triangle meant we were just a stone's throw from the Smithsonian Museums. Those massive Greco-Roman columns for me as a kid on a trip to the capital from rural Pennsylvania were awe inspiring. In later years as a college student, I continued to love the severity of those facades. They stood for so much it seemed - democracy and order at the very least.
From the summer course at Georgetown, "Art and Architecture of Washington, DC" I learned much more about the Federal Triangle. What stood out the most to me after the course was the complex's incompleteness. And if you looked closely back in those days, there were sections of the building that were just left looking "incomplete" as if construction might recommence "soon". Why had it stopped? There were two huge impediments - the lovely District Building and the towering Old Post Office. The Federal Triangle project was designed with their demolition in mind, so the plan went ahead and built right up to both of them. They still stand today - clearly they were never torn down.
The original idea for the Federal Triangle Project was not in its current location (nor was it a triangle). The US government needed more space as it grew and it was proposed that all the houses around Lafayette Square be leveled and replaced with huge neoclassical structures to house the ever expanding government. A few of the old houses on Lafayette Square were torn town in anticipation of the project, but it never came to fruition. History intervened, but mostly it became clear that space was going to be too small. Planners looked elsewhere. The triangle between Avenue B (to become Constitution Avenue) and Pennsylvania Avenue from the Treasury to the Capitol was the perfect spot for a densely-packed set of government buildings to house the multiplying number of "Departments" of the US government.
There was a casualty - the old DC Central Market. In its heyday it was the largest market of its kind in the country. It was popular and desperately needed by the residents of the District. However, it was in the way, the land was sold, and the market moved. In addition, there were two other buildings on the footprint of the proposed complex, the Post Office and the District Building. Both were "grand" and had cost a lot of government money. Tearing down an existing "statement" building in any city is bound to cause controversy. In DC the issues were that the Post Office was necessary and at its functional peak and the District Building had just been built 25 years prior to give more space to the local government. Those buildings weren't going anywhere. What to do? Well, just pretend they weren't there and build right up next to them in hopes they might vanish? That is actually what happened.
The approved final plan of the Federal Triangle was known as the "Louvre Plan" and based roughly on a Parisian-inspired design of the time. Those grand, incomplete half-circles of columns were meant to be full roundabouts reminiscent of Place Vendôme in Paris. Had the plan been carried out to execution, those final elements of the Federal Triangle Louvre Plan would have been impressive indeed. Alas, only two-thirds of the buildings were built and the best bits of the design could not be completed. The construction literally was left off as if it could have been picked up and finished at a moment's notice. That is my memory of the Federal Triangle from University years.
Finally, there was pressure to use the remaining, empty space more wisely (much of the unbuilt area around the District Building was a parking lot) and the Ronald Reagan Building was built to finish off that end of the Triangle. It was modern. but gave a nod to the original design and, of course, the District Building wasn't going anywhere. I am not a huge fan of the Reagan building, but I do prefer it to a parking lot and it does finish off the space if imperfectly.
The size of the porticoes of the Federal Triangle are massive. It is like ancient Rome for a land of giants. The Federal Triangle impresses, but after a lot of travel I find it more oppressive now (even though I am a big fan of neo-classical architecture). For some reason, later in life I find the whole Triangle to be something picked out of Speer's rubbish pin of the Thousand Year Reich. It is is too cold and austere. Maybe my view of government has changed?
Finally, the Old Post Office - a building I really loved - was in fact a much repeated design across the USA. On my Jubilee Trip, I found several "Old Post Office" towers in different cities in the Midwest. Suddenly the uniqueness of that famous building on Pennsylvania Avenue was lessened. In fact, if I were to vote, the Landmark Center in St Paul, MN is much better both inside and out (with a lovely park next to it, to boot) and for me is the crème de la crème of that building design. Now knowing the Old Post Office's architectural style is not really special, I would be more inclined to have it torn down and that portion of the Federal Triangle completed to the original plan. The Federal Triangle is unique in the USA (it was the largest construction project in the country in the 1930s). The Old Post Office by contrast is a much repeated design.
These days I look on that impressive façade running the length of old "B Street, NW" in Washington, and see Imperial Rome come to dominate. I don't see the Louvre nor do I see Place Vendôme. Maybe an old man just sees big government looming over his retirement....
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