Maybe it was a budget issue, maybe it was too much of that red tape the government is always going on about, or maybe it was an attempt at something unique that just flopped. Either way, these four buildings represent some of the worst architecture the District has to offer. On your way to the great U.S. monuments, take a step off the path most travelled and set your sights on some of the ugliest buildings you can find in D.C. — or maybe even the country. 

USPS Headquarters - Southwest Waterfront

Photo courtesy of USPS Headquarters
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW

No, we aren’t talking about the classical revival-style Old Post Office, a national historic landmark that was reborn as the Trump International Hotel in 2016. We’re talking about the national headquarters of the United States Postal Service (USPS), located right near The Wharf. 

Built in the 70s, this building is a monstrosity built with small pebbles and concrete. Rectangular and daunting, it offers up imagery you might find in films about old, cold, Soviet nations. The one positive, happy thing you might find here is a mailbox painted like Spongebob Squarepants, but even that is just a reminder of how dismal your surroundings are.

Robert C. Weaver Federal Building - Federal Triangle

Photo courtesy of Robert C. Weaver Federal Building
451 7th Street SW

Right next door to the USPS HQ is the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building — the headquarters of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. From pictures, you can see the attempt at a futuristic design with hovering, UFO-esque structures that you can walk among, as well as the curved design of the building altogether.

Of course, attempts at these types of design rarely age well, as is the case here. The structures look misplaced and other-worldly, not to mention the chances of them being a liability. The walls are mostly concrete, with small, set-in windows reminiscent of a prison, minus the bars. 

J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building

Photo courtesy of J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building
935 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.

The design for the headquarters of the FBI was first conceptualized in the 60s by Charles F. Murphy and Associates. The structure would be box-like with “a central core of files surrounded by offices,” the FBI noted on its website. And the end result was just about as exciting as that original concept sounded. 

Another anti-wonder of the District, the concrete building is a massive structure with an odd, perpendicular level spanning across the roof. But its Federal Triangle location ensures there is reprieve for your eyes not far off along the National Mall.

The Hirshorn

Photo courtesy of The Hirshorn
700 Independence Avenue SW

I may earn a few stones thrown my way with this one, but the Hirshorn feels like one of the District’s most out-of-place structures, particularly given its position along the National Mall. The great concrete donut is the backdrop to the works in the sculpture garden; the drab gray may help the colors to pop but does hardly that for the spirit. The majority of the building lacks windows, and while the interior flows nicely, as the Washington Post noted, it looks more like a fortress than an art museum from the exterior.

I will give credit to G. Martin Moeller Jr., senior curator at the National Building Museum, who expressed some delight in the ground-level windows, and open center. “You’ve got the sense of transparency,” he said to the Washington Post, “you can see through to the other side, or look up and see the sky.”