Editor’s note: This piece is in response to a Guest Comment by D.C. architect Shalom Baranes in our Aug. 19 issue that argues against demolishing the FBI building, in part to avoid environmental waste.
First let me very clearly state right at the outset that Mr. Baranes has been at or near the top of the profession here in the D.C. metro for all the decades that I have been here, perhaps even a bit longer. I very much respect the thought leadership he has brought to this profession and directly to the built form of this city. We owe a debt of gratitude for the quality of his thinking, for his longevity here and for his work. And so it is with ultimate respect that I must take exception to his recent commentary published in the Washington Business Journal regarding the possible fate of the (definitely ill-fated) J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building.
I come from a background in, and I stand by, the salvage, repair and restoration — affectionately known as adaptive reuse — of the existing…
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