Some of D.C.’s most polarizing buildings take center stage in “Capital Brutalism,” the National Building Museum’s latest exhibit.
Brutalism — the style that was prevalent from the 1950s through the 1970s — is the prevailing architectural style in many Capitol Hill buildings and Metrorail stations.
“It’s the type of architecture that people associate with federal government buildings,” said Caitlin Bristol, the National Building Museum’s director of exhibition development.
The new exhibit points out that brutalist architecture really took shape in D.C. during the urban renewal efforts of the 1960s and 1970s.
During that time, some of D.C.’s most high-profile buildings were constructed. Seven buildings and the Metro are included in the exhibit, including the J. Edgar Hoover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Building.
“It’s a type of architecture that is very controversial. It’s a little provocative. People have strong feelings about it one way or the other,” said Bristol, who gave WTOP a tour of the new exhibit. “Its very indicative of a particular time in architecture history. Its important for us to delve into here at the Building Museum.”
Dr. Angela Person, associate professor of architecture at the University of Oklahoma, and architectural photographer Ty Cole co-curated Capital Brutalism.
“People have a lot of feelings about the Hoover Building,” said Bristol. “A lot of reasons people are conflicted about brutalism are that they are very stark, they are very heavy. Sometimes, there is not a lot of light or air movement. They are very severe looking.”
Other buildings in the exhibit are the Weaver Federal Building, the HUD Building and the Hirshhorn Museum.
When asked whose idea it was to go in this direction, Bristol said, “JFK actually commissioned this idea of federal architecture.”
Capital Brutalism will be at The National Building Museum until February 2025.
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