Image: Unused cladding holes - east facade - J Edgar Hoover Building - Washington DC - 2012

Description: Looking west at the east facade on the 9th Street NW side of the J. Edgar Hoover Building (the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation) in Washington, D.C., in the United States. The office building, constructed in the Brutalist style, began construction in 1967 and was completed in 1975. Brutalism is an architectural style that refers to the French language term "beton brut" -- or "raw concrete." Many architects were impressed with advances in constructution techniques which allowed bare concrete to remain visible without adding granite or marble cladding, or polishing the concrete (both very expensive to do). The FBI building was intended to be clad in granite, and holes were left in the facade to accommodate the steel pegs for the cladding. But this was abandoned shortly before the building was constructed as too costly and unnecessary. The FBI building is widely disparaged as one of the ugliest buildings in Washington, D.C., and in the United States.
Title: Unused cladding holes - east facade - J Edgar Hoover Building - Washington DC - 2012
Credit: https://www.flickr.com/
Author: Tim Evanson
Permission: This image was originally posted to Flickr by dctim1 at https://www.flickr.com/photos/23165290@N00/8078467971. It was reviewed on 12 October 2012 by FlickreviewR and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-sa-2.0. 12 October 2012
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
License: CC BY-SA 2.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Attribution Required?: Yes