Pershing Park, which sits in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 14th and 15th streets, is a Modernist park plaza designed by landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg and constructed in 1980 to 1981. The construction of the plaza in the early 1980s grew out of efforts to beautify Pennsylvania Avenue in the 1960s and 1970s. This beautification and redevelopment was carried out by the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation (PADC), which operated from 1972 to 1996. Simultaneously, Congress authorized construction of a General John J. Pershing Memorial in 1956 and 1966.
In 1974, the PADC’s redevelopment plan was released and within in it proposed six new plazas and parks fronting Pennsylvania Avenue. In addition to Pershing Park was Freedom (Western) Plaza – directly to the east of Pershing Park – John Marshall Park, Meade Plaza, Market Square, and Indiana Plaza. All six of the new public spaces were designed by prominent architects and landscape architects of the Modern and Postmodern variety.
At the east end of Pershing Park is the General John J. Pershing Memorial, which was designed by architect Wallace K. Harrison, and memorializes General John J. Pershing and the American Expeditionary Forces of World War I. The memorial features a bronze statue sculpted by Robert White and installed in 1983.
Initially successful, Pershing Park became neglected over the years. At the same time, Congress authorized construction of the World War I Memorial in 2014. The park was eventually slated for redevelopment and, in 2021, the park reopened following a rehabilitation. Despite some alterations to the plaza, Friedberg’s original design is largely intact.
Pershing Park now includes a new World War I Memorial on the west end of the public space, across the plaza from the original Pershing Memorial. The most prominent element of the new memorial, designed by architect Joe Weishaar, is A Soldier’s Journey, a sculpture by Sabin Howard, and the Peace Fountain. This bronze sculpture, at 58-feet long, features 38 human figures, including “The Everyman” soldier. The soldier moves through five “vignettes” of World War I: Departure, Initiation, Ordeal, Aftermath, and Return. With the installation of the sculpture in 2024, the national World War I Memorial was officially completed nearly 100 years after the DC World War Memorial (1931) on the National Mall.
National Register: August 6, 2025
]]>The Euram Building, completed in 1971, is a Modernist office building designed by George Hartman and Warren Cox of the major Washington firm of Hartman-Cox Architects. Since its construction by the Maritime Company in the early 1970s, the Euram Building has received widespread praise for its innovative design.
The building’s site was purchased by the Euram Corporation around 1968. The Euram Corporation, an investment firm associated with an Italian bank, wanted “a better than average building that would contribute something to the city.” Constructed between 1970 and 1971, the Euram Building’s design was likely inspired by a never constructed building at nearby 1 Dupont Circle designed by well-known architect Kevin Roche. The work of Louis Kahn, another noted architect of the era, has also been referenced as inspiration for the building’s design.
In 1971, architectural critic Benjamin Forgey of the Washington Star wrote, “It is rare to come upon a new office building that is truly designed, and rarer still to find one that is designed with boldness, originality, and tact.” That same year, the Euram Building received an award from the Washington Board of Trade, and, in 1972, it was honored by the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Potomac Valley Chapter. Decades later, in Modernism in the District of Columbia, a 2009 survey, Robinson & Associates wrote, “At the time, the Euram Building resembled no other in the District and broke every rule of the Washington office building design that had been established over the previous two decades.”
Located on the south side of Dupont Circle between 19th Street NW and New Hampshire Avenue NW, the eight-story Euram Building’s footprint is trapezoidal in shape, with its apex facing Dupont Circle. The building is framed by brick piers, with alternating glass ribbon windows and pairs of concrete girders stretching between the piers. This gives the building a horizontal emphasis, particularly along 19th Street and New Hampshire Avenue, the east and west elevations, respectively. The building’s concrete crossbeams – what look like slots between the girders – are also visible on these elevations. These perpendicular crossbeams are visible in the building’s interior courtyard (or atrium), where they support the cantilevered floor space.
Ribbon windows and pairs of post-tensioned girders are visible on the north elevation, but only at the second floor, just above the main entrance, and the top two floors. Like the east and west elevations, perpendicular crossbeams are also visible at these floors. These beams are most evident when looking up at the top floor (eighth floor) and the recessed seventh floor that stretch between the angled brick of the front of the building. The angles of the triangular brick piers lead towards the interior courtyard.
The main entrance, located between the angled brick piers of the north elevation, leads to a large, open-air interior courtyard that rises through the entire building (86-feet in height). Offices, visible through glass, are cantilevered above this trapezoidal-shaped space. At the south end of the courtyard are two brick cylinders that contain the building’s elevator shafts.
Despite its Modernist design and features, the Euram Building hints at the coming “contextualism” of Postmodern architecture, which would flourish in the 1980s and 1990s. Thus, the building references the Dupont Circle Building (1931, Mihran Mesrobian) just across 19th Street and the Patterson House (Washington Club, 1903, Stanford White) on the northeast side of Dupont Circle.
Postmodern design would become a hallmark of Hartman-Cox Architects. The firm would go on to design some of DC’s most significant Postmodern buildings, including the National Permanent Building (1974, since altered), the Bond Reading Room at the Folger Shakespeare Library (1983), Market Square (1990), and One Franklin Square (1990). In 1994, Forgey wrote of the “Washington School” of architecture, a school Hartman-Cox Architects adhered to. This architectural movement pays attention to “sense of place” and a building’s “site and surroundings,” as well as “traditional historical styles and motifs in the design of new buildings.”
Although clearly Modernist, the Euram Building was the beginning of the firm’s move towards a new style of architecture that considered the surrounding context. Hartman-Cox Architects has won more than 100 awards, including the AIA Architectural Firm Award in 1988.
DC Inventory: May 1, 2025
National Register: July 9, 2025
Within Dupont Circle Historic District and Massachusetts Avenue Historic District
]]>Located at the intersection of Independence Avenue and 7th Street SW, immediately south of the National Mall, these two rectangular office buildings, Federal Office Buildings (FOBs) 10A and 10B, were designed in the International Style and completed in 1963 to house the Federal Aviation Agency (later Administration) (FOB 10A, FAA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (FOB 10B, NASA). In 2004, the two federal buildings were named for aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright.
Constructed by J.W. Bateson Company, FOBs 10A and 10B were designed by two architectural firms: Holabird & Root & Burgee and Carroll, Grisdale & Van Alen. Stylistically, the two office buildings were heavily influenced by New York City's Lever House (1952) and Seagram Building (1958), as well as the then-popular suburban corporate campus. Sitting at the southeast corner of the intersection, 10B (approx. 1.95 acres) is located on a smaller lot than 10A (approx. 3.6 acres), which sits at the southwest corner. 10B (six-stories tall) is also shorter than 10A (ten-stories tall). Both buildings have flat roofs.
FOB 10A is clad in white marble with fixed-sash, bronze-framed windows, and FOB 10B is clad in white marble with fixed-sash, anodized aluminum-framed windows. 10A's first and second floors are recessed behind a perimeter colonnade. 10A's main entrance faces Independence Avenue, while 10B's faces Maryland Avenue. Additionally, 10A has concrete plazas adjacent to its north and south elevations, while 10B only has a plaza on its south elevation (at its main entrance). A tunnel connects the two buildings.
Despite the buildings' Modernist design, this site has a long history. In particular, FOB 10A is located on the site of the infamous Yellow House, a 19th century slave pen where Solomon Northrup, who authored Twelve Years a Slave, was imprisoned. Later on, this area became a dense, vibrant neighborhood, and by the early 20th century, approximately 35,000 Washingtonians resided in Southwest DC. By the 1940s, the neighborhood was viewed as "blighted" and isolated, and was targeted for urban renewal.
Therefore, these two federal buildings, like others in Southwest Washington, resulted from postwar urban renewal. During this time, the federal government (through the General Services Administration) constructed — while hiring private architects — many buildings in Modernist architectural styles, particularly in relation to the Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture (1962). The government also took a new interest in public art and site design, including plazas. Finally, the federal government wanted to move federal workers out of "tempos" (temporary office buildings that had sprung up on and around the National Mall during World Wars I and II).
The Redevelopment Land Agency purchased the sites for FOBs 10A and 10B in 1957, and transferred them to the federal government three years later. During this time, most of the sites' existing buildings were demolished. Construction on 10A (FAA) and 10B (NASA) started in 1961, with federal employees moving in by 1963. The new office buildings included a garage, cafeteria and snack bar, and clinic.
With the creation of the Department of Transportation (DOT), the new department secretary and undersecretary used FOB 10A, starting in 1967 (DOT is now located in Southeast Washington). Simultaneously, the Federal Aviation Agency became the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). NASA used 10B until 1992. The FAA now uses both 10A and 10B.
DC Inventory: October 24, 2024
National Register: October 11, 2024
]]>The Hubert H. Humphrey Building exemplifies Brustalist architecture, which first developed in the 1950s, and is also a significant work by a major architect, Marcel Breuer. Brutalism is known for its use of exposed, rough concrete surfaces, heavy massing, recessed windows, and stark appearance. The style also developed as the need for energy efficiency was becoming a greater concern.
Completed in 1976, the Humphrey Building was designed by Marcel Breuer and Associates — with Marcel Breuer as Principal Architect and Herbert Beckhard as Senior Partner — and Nolen-Swinburne and Associates. The two firms were already collaborating on the nearby Department of Housing and Urban Development (Robert C. Weaver Federal Building) (1968). The Humphrey Building, like the Weaver Building, was designed and built in an era of urban renewal and interstate highway construction, and within a new approach to the design and construction of federal buildings, as illustrated by the "Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture" (1962).
Southwest Washington, the location of the Humphrey Building, was targeted for large-scale urban renewal. The Southwest Washington Redevelopment Plan (1954) included proposed sites for future federal buildings. The Humphrey Building was the last of these six federal buildings to be completed. Simultaneously, a highway connector between Interstate 95 and Interstate 395, known as the Center Leg, was proposed. This proposed highway was controversial with planning officials, due to its proximity to the U.S. Capitol and National Mall. Eventually, the Center Leg would tunnel under the Mall and the north and south ends flanking the Mall would be hidden beneath two new federal "air rights" buildings — one of which being the future Humphrey Building. This complicated site, as well as cost concerns and layers of review, would make the Humphrey Building's design and construction a long process that spanned a decade.
Starting in 1966, Breuer and his colleagues were given the task of designing a building around the new highway tunnel and its ventilation stacks, as well as a new sewer line. Following pushback and subsequent design revisions, the new plan was approved by the General Services Administration (GSA) and the relevant federal planning agencies by 1969. Site work began in 1972 and the federal building opened in 1976. The following year, the new Department of Health, Education, and Welfare headquarters was dedicated. Shortly before the dedication, legislation was passed naming the new federal building in honor of Minnesota Senator and former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, who was able to attend the dedication shortly before his death. In 1980, the Humphrey Building became the headquarters of the newly created Department of Health and Human Services.
The Humphrey Building and plaza are located just south of the National Mall on Independence Avenue SW, between 2nd and 3rd streets. Despite the extensive use of concrete, the lobby is visible from the plaza (and vice versa) through glass windows. The building is cantilivered over the hardscaped plaza, which features Heroic Shore Points (1977), a large, red aluminum sculpture by James Rosati. The sculpture was commissioned by GSA through the Art in Architecture Program, which brings public art to federal properties. The granite plaza includes both a stepped depression and stepped pyramid.
The steel-frame office building is eight-stories tall, including a penthouse below a flat roof. The building also has three basement levels. The building's cladding is composed of travertine panels (on the first and second floors), cast-in-place concrete, and precast concrete panels. The building has stairwell towers at each corner (four in total), which also support the building's "bridge-trusses" and, in turn, its concrete slabs. The building includes entrances on all four sides, but the main (public) entrance is located on the north elevation facing Independence Avenue.
The Lobby and Great Hall span the first two floors. These floors are setback, beneath the cantilvered third through seventh floors. The eighth floor penthouse is also setback, behind "fin-like" truss ends which extend downward along the building's four elevations. The building is notable for its recessed, one-light, aluminum windows on the third through seventh floors, and their brise-soleils.
Breuer, born in Hungary, attended and then taught at Germany's Bauhaus School — which was founded by Walter Gropius in 1919 and had a major impact on world architecture and the development of Modernism. While there, Breuer designed his Wassily chair, a tubular steel chair that has since become world famous. Following the rise of Hitler in the early 1930s, Breuer moved to London and then Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he taught architecture, along with Gropius, at Harvard University.
Marcel Breuer and Associates was founded in New York City in 1946. Beckhard joined the firm in 1951 and became Breuer's business partner in 1964. Breuer went on to design many high-profile commissions and receive various honors and awards. The Humphrey Building was one of Breuer's final projects and Beckhard oversaw — in consultation with Breuer — the project's completion.
DC Inventory: July 25, 2024
National Register: September 12, 2024
]]>The remnants of this row of Federal style buildings date back to the 1790s. The Seven Buildings, which sit just northwest of the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue, figure extensively into the early history of, not only Washington, DC, but also the United States.
With construction initialized in 1796 and completion in 1800, it had been noted by newspapers and sources of the time that the State Department moved into one of the Seven Buildings. However, that claim has since been found to be untrue, as records from the Department of State refer to the nearby Six Buildings, which were demolished in the mid-1980s. The Seven Buildings would serve as the home of President James Madison and his family from 1815 to 1817, due to the aftereffects of the War of 1812. The Seven Buildings would also be the home of Vice Presidents Elbridge Gerry, Martin Van Buren (prior to his election as the 8th President), and Secretary of the Treasury Robert J. Walker.
During the 19th century, other distinguished guests frequented these Federal style buildings, including Naval Hero Stephen Decatur, who would hold a short residence at the Seven Buildings. Decatur is best known for his service in the Quasi-War (1798-1801) and the War of 1812. He was given a Congressional Gold Medal and a ceremonial sword after many years of service. He and his wife purchased a part of the Seven Buildings during the War of 1812, living there between 1812 and 1815.
Strong, swirling opinions surround the alterations and additions made to these historic buildings, as they were partially demolished in the 1960s. What remains is the historic facade of 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, a stark historic contrast to the large, nearly Brutalist architecture that surrounds it. In Capital Losses, James Goode remarked that the additions made in the 1980s are a “tasteless massive office complex” and that “a worse architectural solution to their preservation and ambience could not be imagined!” The large office building is currently being used as the Embassy of Mexico, constructed in 1988. The plaque memorializing the location reads: “At the dawn of the 1800s, this complex housed the Declaration of Independence.” The plaque adds: ”As a testament to the strength and depth of the ties that bind our two countries and peoples, Mexico commemorates the bicentennial of its independence and the centennial of its revolution with this plaque.”
DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
(Omitted from list: March 7, 1968; Redesignated: May 23rd, 1984)
(1901-09 and 1913 Pennsylvania Avenue NW omitted from list on July 24, 1968)
Demolished in the 1960s
]]>Purchased in 1920 by Mildred Barnes Bliss and Robert Woods Bliss, Dumbarton Oaks has expanded and transformed over time from a private home to a key research center within Washington, DC. The house was originally constructed in 1801. The Blisses began their long ties to the house as collectors and researchers of pre-Columbian and other ancient artifacts, which were then transferred to the care of Harvard University in 1940. At this time, the property was transformed into a research center, museum, and library. The Federal style home underwent major renovations and expansions in order to house the collections the Blisses had amassed. The couple collaborated with numerous architects for each expansion, and the additions were designed to display the collections. The most famous addition is the Pre-Columbian Pavilion, completed in 1963, and designed in a contrasting modernist style by Philip Johnson. The Blisses’ reach extended far and wide, and these connections greatly influenced the house’s use during World War II. Relief organizations, as well as the federal government, used the house for the war effort, with the Blisses advocating for the protection of at-risk art and sites across war-exposed areas. In addition to these efforts, in 1944, the house held initial negotiations between multiple countries that would result in the formation of the United Nations the next year. Robert Bliss had voiced his support to open the house to any purposes the federal government needed, and this greatly influenced the decision to hold the meetings at Dumbarton Oaks. Today, the house connects directly to the museum, and still displays the extensive collections that the Blisses had begun a century prior. The collections span multiple fields of interest and time periods, with each playing into each spouse’s research interests. The house has undergone extensive renovation and restoration since the Blisses’ deaths in order to maintain the property’s unique character.
DC Inventory: November 8, 1964 (Joint Committee on Landmarks)
Within Georgetown Historic District
]]>While the Buchanan School Plaza in the Capitol Hill neighborhood has shrunk greatly since its construction, the original playground and park facilities built in 1968 represented major changes in playground design, concepts of play, and urban beautification projects in the United States. Funded and facilitated by First Lady Lady Bird Johnson and the Committee for a More Beautiful Capital, the plaza combined the talents of landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg, architect Simon Breines, and sculptor William Tarr to create the once highly-praised park. Designed as an “Adventure Style” playground popular in the 1960s and 1970s, the structures in the park used changes in elevation, open-ended structures, and a fluid layout to give children of all ages more freedom in how they played. Additionally, the park featured a multipurpose sunken court that served as a basketball court, ice rink, amphitheater, and more, allowing visitors of all ages to enjoy the space. The Committee first took interest in the land because of its location next to Buchanan Elementary School, which looked to have deteriorated itself, with the existing playground felt barren and uninviting to the neighborhood’s children. After touring the space with future DC mayor Walter Washington, the Committee chose the location as their next beautification project. The park’s creation brought community members together and gave local children a safe space to play, socialize, and gather after school and with parents whenever they liked. The design used changes in elevation and incorporated natural separation rather than walls and fences seen in other parks, creating a more fluid environment for children, teens, and adults to all share the facilities without feeling isolated from one another. The plaza also featured a pavilion that housed an administrative office, snack bar, and bathrooms. The park was bounded by William Tarr’s three sculptures titled Numbers, with the largest standing at 15 feet and the two smaller standing around two feet tall. All three stone sculptures are rectangular in shape and feature carvings on each side and throughout the length of each block. The designs feature geometric shapes, symbols, letters, and characters in other languages at various depths within the stone. The largest stands at the corner of 13th and E St SE, with the other two at the other end of the plaza, now tucked within an alley. The park served the community for many years, but by 1978 it had fallen into disrepair due to a lack of maintenance, as well as Buchanan Elementary School’s closure. Despite the loss, local resident John “Peter Bug” Matthews successfully petitioned the DC government to transform the plaza’s pavilion into a shoe repair shop and training center, which still stands today. Known as the Peter Bug Shoe Academy, the shop trains students in shoe repair and operates as a business. The shop has gained attention and a reputation within the community, with Matthews acting as a community leader for many years. Of the park’s original structures, only five remain: the sunken court, the pavilion (now Peter Bug Shoe Academy), and Tarr’s three sculptures. The land has since been divided into various housing developments, slowly chipping away at the park’s old footprint. The site remains as one of the few surviving examples of the architects’ Adventure style playgrounds, as many others around the country have also been demolished or redesigned.
DC Inventory: November 17, 2022
]]>Founded in 1888 by a group of high-level scholars, scientists, and adventurers, the National Geographic Society (NGS) has become a well-recognized scholastic and journalistic source for stories, maps, and photographs about science, exploration, and conservation. The four-building complex inhabited by the NGS has served as an exhibition space and publication office for over 40 years. Each of the buildings has a significant organizational, architectural, and local history that together forms the broader story of the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C. Hubbard Hall: Designed by architects Hornblower & Marshall, this Classical-Revival style building was constructed in 1904 through funding from the Bell and Hubbard families. As the first headquarters building for the NGS, Hubbard Hall was created with the intention of being both a functioning office and a comfortable communal meeting space for academic discussions. The building is an iconic structure on 16th Street, distinguished by its hipped roof with terracotta tiles, large arched windows, and a stone surround with a cross setting that reads “National Geographic Society.” 16th Street Administration Building: Designed by prominent Washington architect Arthur B. Heaton, this Classical-Revival style structure is clad in limestone with double-leaf brass doors and rusticated stonework. Constructed in 1912, the style is indicative of larger architectural trends in D.C. during the early 20th century. The administration building is connected to Hubbard Hall via a paved brick courtyard with granite steps. Additions were added to the building in 1931 and 1949. National Geographic Society Headquarters: Internationally prominent architect Edward Durell Stone designed this memorable Modern building in a New Formalist style with reinforced concrete hung with white marble. Constructed with minimum ornamentation, clear lines, and vertical orientation, the building was completed in 1963 and dedicated in 1964 to much fanfare. M Street Addition (Non-Contributing): This office and auditorium building does not reflect the historical and architectural design of the aforementioned structures included in the National Geographic Society Headquarters. Designed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, and constructed in 1984 with pale pink concrete panels and a mechanical penthouse, this non-contributing structure serves a function in the NGS, but does not contribute to the historic significance of the campus. Today, the National Geographic Society continues to utilize the headquarters as a museum exhibit space, working offices, and community education center.
DC Inventory: March 24, 2022
National Register: June 5, 2023
Hubbard Hall & Administration Building Located Within the Sixteenth Street Historic District
]]>Designed by local D.C. architect Joseph G. Herbert, the Valencia Apartments are representative of interwar urban development in the 1930s. The conventional, low-rise apartment building stands at three stories in an irregular U-shape. The structure includes Moderne stylistic elements, such as angular concrete ornamentation and an asymmetrical footprint. Located at the intersection of streetcar lines, bus routes, and important roadways, the Valencia demonstrates the increased need of new urban residents to have access to transportation networks. Following World War I, the expansion of the federal government resulted in an abundance of new jobs in the District. Due to the necessity of multi-family housing in the city, apartment buildings, originally associated with overcrowding and tenement-style conditions, became much more accepted and commonplace in the interwar years. The Valencia Apartments were constructed as an alternative to single-family housing options for middle-income families. It was built to house 32 families with spacious units, and remains largely the same today.
DC Inventory: July 28, 2016
National Register: January 17, 2017
]]>In March of 1974, wreckers were sent to the site of the future Federal Home Loan Bank Board Building to clear space for a new government structure. Despite hopes to add multiple buildings in the historic streetscape to the National Register, builders permanently damaged (and destroyed) the majority of the properties, including the former Washington Loan & Trust Company's 17th and G Streets Branch. Immediately afterwards, a citizen's group named Don't Tear It Down (now the DC Preservation League) sued the General Services Administration (GSA) for ordering the demolition. Ultimately the GSA won the case. However, following the negative reaction to the destruction, the agency attempted to incorporate further citizen input in their continuing construction of the new building. The design plans for the building were influenced by the then-popular Brutalist architectural movement, which produced stark, concrete buildings that often didn't incorporate well into the surrounding DC streetscape. Following the demolition controversy, architects at Max Urbahn Associates and Sasaki Associates created a design that respected nearby historic buildings and attempted to incorporate community elements into the architectural plans. At six stories tall with two perpendicular wings, the building forms an L shape. This angular design utilizes geometric shapes and glass windows to mimic surrounding structures. The entry lobby features, such as the circular staircase and wood paneling, flow seamlessly from the building’s exterior. Commercial spaces form the first floor with office spaces filling the rest of the interior. The second through sixth floors contain cubicle offices, meeting spaces, and two atria that extend from a skylight on the sixth floor. The second floor also contains a small auditorium. An exterior plaza once functioned as an employee courtyard with an ice rink, reflecting pool, and numerous tables for congregating. Since its opening in the 1970s, the building has remained an office space with minor alterations to the exterior and interior. Today, the building is home to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
DC Inventory: June 23, 2016
National Register: October 11, 2016
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