United States
Hubert H. Humphrey Building
United States
Exterior only
Visible from the street; the inside is private.
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The Hubert H. Humphrey Building, located at 200 Independence Avenue SW in Southwest Washington, D.C., serves as the headquarters of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Completed in 1977 and designed by Marcel Breuer, the eight-story structure exemplifies the brutalist style, though the fact sheet categorizes it as postmodern. The building's distinctive form was shaped by practical constraints: its location above a sewage line, the Third Street highway tunnel, and adjoining air ducts necessitated an innovative design in which the upper stories are suspended from steel trusses, while the lowest two floors remain set back from the facade. The exterior features travertine and cast-in-place and precast concrete, with a substantial setback from Independence Avenue creating a large plaza. The interior is organized by three cores containing elevators and infrastructure, with floors three through seven maintaining consistent layouts except for the sixth floor, which houses the HHS secretary's suite. Dedicated on November 1, 1977, in honor of former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, the building is one of two federal structures Breuer designed in Washington, D.C., and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Movement
- Built
- Type
- building of public administration
- Place
- United States
This building on
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Location