{"id":43857,"date":"2014-07-25T21:40:24","date_gmt":"2014-07-26T03:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/07\/25\/on-the-ugliest-government-buildings-in-washington.html"},"modified":"2014-11-05T10:24:59","modified_gmt":"2014-11-05T17:24:59","slug":"on-the-ugliest-government-buildings-in-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/07\/25\/on-the-ugliest-government-buildings-in-washington.html","title":{"rendered":"On the Ugliest Government Buildings in Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"
An amusing photo essay, to be sure, but a few note"<\/p>\n

1. Ah, I remember the 70s, and its architecture. In fact, I remember it so well that I remember when it was all brand new and pretty and used extensively in various science fiction TV shows and movies as What The Future Will Look Like.<\/p>\n

Which aesthetic, like pretty much everything else from the 70s, has been soundly rejected. Alas, you can easily toss that polyester leisure suit and replace that avocado green tile in your kitchen. You can't quite as easily toss that three-city-block government office you built back then.<\/p>\n

2. Concrete is a pretty awful material to work with. In retrospect. It does not at all age well. And, let's face it, Washington, DC, sits on a swamp. \u00a0Lots of humidity and heat and rain and all that will make any building look a bit worn, and concrete most of all.<\/p>\n

(Visit London some time, if you don't believe me.)<\/p>\n

Add to that what I strongly suspect is seriously tight capital maintenance funding for government buildings (because why should they be treated any differently from the rest of our infrastructure?), and it's not at all surprising that these structures (and their surrounding grounds) are not aging well.<\/p>\n

Sure, they're going to keep the buildings on the Mall and other tourist locales in shape, but if we're letting our major bridges and interstate highways fall apart, what are the odds we're going to keep the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development headquarters looking shiny and pristine. Especially when there are plenty of folk in DC who'd just as soon see it abolished.\ufeff<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

\n \n <\/div>\n

The 7 Ugliest Government Buildings In Washington, D.C.<\/a>
\n DO NOT PROCEED if you are allergic to concrete.\n <\/p>\n

View this post on Google+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An amusing photo essay, to be sure, but a few note" 1. Ah, I remember the 70s, and its architecture. In fact, I remember it so well that I remember when it was all brand new and pretty and used extensively in various science fiction TV shows and movies as What The Future Will Look … Continue reading “On the Ugliest Government Buildings in Washington”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,739,66,83,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-architecture","category-media-art","category-media-photography","category-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1249,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/02\/06\/critical_mass.html","url_meta":{"origin":43857,"position":0},"title":"Critical mass","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 6-Feb-02 8:30pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Those of us who were around in the mid-70s remember how Bruce Springsteen coincidentally made the cover of both Time and Newsweek. 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And judging from this, the...","rel":"","context":"In "Homeland Security"","block_context":{"text":"Homeland Security","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/homeland-security"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":138223,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/03\/11\/ding-dong-avons-new-logo-is-calling.html","url_meta":{"origin":43857,"position":2},"title":"Ding, dong … Avon’s new logo is calling …","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 11-Mar-19 7:02pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm always kind of fascinated by logo design and branding. Avon's new logo is definitely a call-out to the 70s past, and a break with the rather stark imagery they used last time around. For myself, the 70s one is what I remember; indeed, if pressed, I couldn't have told\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commercials & Branding"","block_context":{"text":"Commercials & Branding","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-commercial"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/avon_logo.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/avon_logo.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/avon_logo.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/avon_logo.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/avon_logo.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/avon_logo.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11017,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/04\/24\/the_old_architecture_chan.html","url_meta":{"origin":43857,"position":3},"title":"The Old Architecture Changeth","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 24-Apr-07 12:12pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The Pasadena Convention Center\u00a0is undergoing a massive refurbishment.\u00a0 Though the central building will remain largely as-is (on the outside), the flanking building -- 70s-era, low-slung,\u00a0half-sunken bunkers made of pebble...","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/pasadena-convention.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":138616,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/04\/15\/fire-at-the-cathedral.html","url_meta":{"origin":43857,"position":4},"title":"Fire at the Cathedral","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 15-Apr-19 11:38pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The damage to the 800+ year old Notre Dame structure is a cultural tragedy","rel":"","context":"In "Architecture"","block_context":{"text":"Architecture","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/architecture"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Notre-Dame-024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Notre-Dame-024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Notre-Dame-024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Notre-Dame-024.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Notre-Dame-024.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Notre-Dame-024.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":128051,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/09\/18\/preambling.html","url_meta":{"origin":43857,"position":5},"title":"Preambling","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 18-Sep-15 5:03am","format":false,"excerpt":"There is a generation of kids who were watching TV in the mid-70s who cannot hear \"We the People\" without thinking of this cartoon.There are far worse ways to remember the Preamble to the US Constitution.I'd love to see the kids today watching this. Heck, I'd like the Congresscritters and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43857"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43950,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43857\/revisions\/43950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}