Herbert C. Hoover Building
- Architects
- Louis Ayres York and Sawyer
- Year
- 1927
- Style
- Neoclassical
- City
- Washington, DC
- Collection
- the city beautiful
Completed in 1932 as the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Commerce, this Federal Triangle building was designed by Louis Ayres of the New York firm York and Sawyer. It was renamed for Herbert Hoover in 1981, honoring the man who ran the department as Secretary of Commerce from 1921 to 1928 before becoming president in 1929.
the building
A president's namesake. The building was renamed the Herbert C. Hoover Building in 1981, marking Hoover's tenure as Secretary of Commerce from 1921 to 1928 rather than his later presidency.
White House Visitor Center. The building's first floor houses the White House Visitor Center, placing a federal department headquarters directly in the path of tourists headed to the Ellipse and the White House grounds.
the style
Like its Federal Triangle neighbors, the building follows the complex's mandated Neoclassicism, giving the Commerce Department's headquarters the same columned, monumental face as the surrounding federal agencies.
More on Neoclassicalsignificance
The building is a contributing property to the National Register of Historic Places and is owned by the General Services Administration.
nearby
- District Building (John A. Wilson Bldg.)
- U.S. Capitol Gatehouses and Gateposts
- Department of Labor Building
- Willard InterContinental Washington
- Hotel Washington
- Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium