Robert C. Weaver Federal Building

Washington, D.C., United States

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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The Robert C. Weaver Federal Building is a ten-story brutalist office structure in Washington, D.C., designed by Marcel Breuer and completed in 1968 as headquarters for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Breuer's design features a distinctive curvilinear precast concrete facade shaped like two back-to-back "Y"s, with four curved wings extending from an elongated core and deeply recessed rectangular windows set within concrete panels. The ground floor recedes behind concrete pilotis, while a 6-acre plaza designed by Breuer serves as the roof of an underground parking garage. Formally dedicated on September 21, 1968, following groundbreaking in 1966, the building was renamed in 2000 for Dr. Robert C. Weaver, the first Secretary of HUD and the first African American Cabinet member. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is one of two federal buildings Breuer designed in the District of Columbia, and it has been praised for its architectural merit, though its brutalist style has drawn both admiration and criticism over the decades.

Architect

Marcel Breuer

Movement

expressionist architecture brutalist architecture

Built: 1968
Type: office building
Materials: precast concrete, concrete
Heritage: District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites, National Register of Historic Places listed place
Place: Washington, D.C., United States

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Location

38.88389, -77.02278