United States Tax Court

Architect: Victor A. Lundy
Style: Mid-Century Modern
City: Washington, DC

The United States Tax Court Building, completed in 1972 at 400 Second Street, NW, was designed by Victor A. Lundy, who was handpicked for the commission in 1965 without a competition. The design followed the 1962 "Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture," commissioned at President Kennedy's request, which called for federal buildings conveying "dignity, enterprise, vigor, and stability" and paid special attention to landscape.

the building

A whole city block. The court building and its landscaped plaza occupy the entire block bounded by D, E, Second, and Third Streets, replacing the cramped quarters the Tax Court's predecessor, the U.S. Board of Tax Appeals, had shared inside the IRS Building in the Federal Triangle since the 1930s.

the style

Lundy's sculptural modern design was a deliberate departure from the Federal Triangle's classicism nearby, aimed at the Kennedy-era ideal of dignified but distinctly modern government architecture.

significance

The building is a DC Historic Landmark (#L_0708) and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

nearby

Henry J. Daly Building 0.1 mi · Art Deco · 1941
Old City Hall (District of Columbia Court of Appeals) 0.1 mi · Neoclassical
E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse 0.2 mi · Stripped Classicism · 1949
National Building Museum 0.2 mi · Art Nouveau · 1887
Canadian Chancery 0.2 mi · Contemporary Modern · 1986
Germuiller Row 0.3 mi · Victorian Terrace

All 315 buildings in Washington, DC