United States Courthouse for the District of Columbia
This courthouse, built in 1952 after a design by Louis Justement, is a significant part of DC's legal landscape.
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Completed in 1952, the U.S. Courthouse for the District of Columbia was one of the last buildings constructed in the Judiciary Square and Municipal Center complex, which has been an important site for civic activity since the 1820s. Designed by nationally renowned architect Louis Justement, the courthouse is an example of an almost entirely unaltered example of the early 1950s stripped classicism that was predominant in federal architecture after World War II. Responding to the emerging government style of stripping classicism, the building displays many tenets of European modernism combined with a more traditional, classical design vocabulary.
The U.S. Courthouse accommodates all the necessary court functions and activities within a single building for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The multi-function building is indicative of Justement's concepts of space planning that set a precedent for contemporary technology utilization in courthouse buildings. Serving as the setting for numerous important trials and hearings in the past, the U.S. Courthouse retains its vital role within the city.
DC Inventory: April 26, 2007
National Register: July 5, 2007
