US Department of Agriculture South Building
| US Department of Agriculture South Building | |||
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| National Register of Historic Places | |||
 US Department of Agriculture South Building |
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| location | Washington, DC | ||
| Coordinates | 38 ° 53 '16.9 " N , 77 ° 1' 48" W | ||
| Built | 1930-36 | ||
| architect | Louis A. Simon | ||
| Architectural style | Neoclassicism , modernity | ||
| NRHP number | 07000643 | ||
| The NRHP added | July 5, 2007 | ||
The US Department of Agriculture South Building was constructed from 1930 to house the additional offices of the United States Department of Agriculture in Washington, DC . The construction of the US Department of Agriculture Administration Building on the north side of Independence Avenue was indeed completed in 1930, as a result of the global economic crisis , however, set in motion agricultural programs needed additional staff and additional office space than could be accommodated in the main building. The building was erected in several stages. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 5, 2007 .
The building was completed in 1936 and was the largest office building in the world until the Pentagon was completed . It has a width of 140 m and a length of 288 m. Around 4500 office rooms are spread over seven floors. The building's architecture is attributed to Louis A. Simon who served in the Federal Office of the Supervising Architect . The South Building is connected to the main building of the Ministry by two closed pedestrian bridges that cross Independence Avenue. Both offices and laboratories existed in the new building. It was originally referred to as " Extensible Building " because it could be expanded in construction phases.
Stylistically, the South Building is a slimmed-down application of neoclassicism , using classic shapes and proportions, but avoiding expensive and time-consuming details. Such a construction was used more and more in government buildings in the United States until it was superseded by the modern age . This construction method reached its climax with the construction of the Pentagon. In the case of the South Building, the lower level of detail also expressed the subordinate importance of the building to the main building of the Ministry opposite. The interior is based on a strictly adhered network of corridors, from which only the auditorium and the library deviate. It is even simpler than the exterior of the building.
The building is divided into seven wings oriented north-south, which are connected by the Headhouse on Independence Avenue and the Tailhouse on C Street. The plan was for the facades on 12th and 14th Streets to be visible from the National Mall , so they were clad in limestone . The facades on C Street and Independence Avenue were not visible from there, which is why bricks were the primary building material on these sides and limestone and terracotta components were only partially used. The side facing 14th Street has a monumental entrance with sixteen Corinthian columns. In the remaining places, relief panels between the windows show animals native to the United States. These panels were created by the sculptor Edwin Morris.
Since the laboratories were relocated to the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center , the building has been used for administrative purposes only.
Web links
- Agriculture South Building site of the US General Services Administration (English)
- History of the Washington USDA complex ( Memento from April 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ^ US Department of Agriculture South Building in the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed August 4, 2017.
- ↑ a b c d e Agriculture South Building ( English ) US General Services Administration. Archived from the original on April 14, 2009. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
- ↑ Histories of the USDA Headquarters Complex Buildings ( English ) US Department of Agriculture. 2004. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
- ↑ Pamela Scott, Lee, Antoinette J .: Southwest Quadrant . In: Buildings of the District of Columbia ( English ). Oxford University Press, New York 1993, ISBN 0-19-509389-5 , pp. 237-238.
