Talk:Robert C. Weaver Federal Building

Comments (6/28/26)

User:Epicgenius: This is a very well-written article! For its length, I don't believe this is a large amount of comments. Please let me know when you've had a chance to examine my comments, and I will go ahead and also do the source review.

Lead

• You vacillate between the use of "10-story" and "ten-story" throughout the article. Personally, I would stick with "ten-story", but as long as it's consistent.
  • Done. - EG
• This sentence – "It was completed in 1968 and designed by Marcel Breuer in the Brutalist style." – I would flip the clauses around because the design preceded the construction.
  • Done. - EG
• "African American Cabinet member" in paragraph two creates a WP:SEAOFBLUE.
  • Done. - EG

Site

• "the District of Columbia Redevelopment Act, which established the District of Columbia Redevelopment Land Agency and provided for the clearance of land and redevelopment funds in the capital."
  • Done. - EG

Site selection and design

• "while also conforming to the site's limited area and to local height restrictions."
  • Done. - EG
• "The NCPC approved the plans in July 1964 after acceding to Weaver's proposal that the building include one parking space per 11 employees,[59] although those extra spaces were never built." --> I can't really explain why "those" sounds better than "these"; probably because the parking spaces didn't actually exist.
  • Done. I get what you mean; if it were a singular, "that extra space" would sound better than "this extra space". - EG

Construction

• $22.295 million --> Really, to the thousandths?
  • I think that's what the source said, but I rounded to 22.3 million. - EG
• "the project was variously expected to cost $22 million (about $162 million in 2024 dollars)[72] or $32 million (about $236 million in 2024 dollars[67])" --> Is it that there were only two estimates (one for $22 million and one for $32 million)? If so, then this sentence is fine. If there were multiple estimates between the two, then it should read "expected to cost between $22 million and $32 million".
  • There were two estimates. - EG
• "The project was originally supposed to be finished..." --> Recommend replacing "supposed" with something better, like "expected" or "projected".
  • Done. - EG
• "The building's final finishes were being installed by 1968."
  • I rephrased it. The finishes were underway, not yet completed, so "were installed" would not be accurate. - EG

Opening and early years

• "HUD moved its headquarters over to the new Southwest D.C. building starting in May 1968."
  • Done. - EG

Architecture

• "The HUD building, now the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building, was primarily designed by Marcel Breuer." --> Really unnecessary at this point.
  • Removed. - EG

Form

• "The building measures ten stories high..." --> especially juxtaposed with the "two" in the clause immediately after.
  • Done. - EG
• "The curved massing resembled two of Breuer's previous designs in France: the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris..."
  • Done. - EG

Outdoor spaces and plaza

• "Each elevation abuts an outdoor space or courtyard,[165][166] which, due to the building's design, were originally isolated from the other outdoor spaces."
  • Reworded. - EG

Basements

• "The first basement was supposed to have contained an auditorium, which was never constructed." --> Perhaps replace "supposed" with something like "intended" or "meant".
  • Done. - EG

Ground level

• "Oscar Stonorov's bust of the public-housing advocate Catherine Bauer Wurster, which adorns the building's south elevator lobby,[88][4][203] was the only artwork in the building upon its completion."
  • Done. - EG

Retrospective

• "both the Weaver and Humphrey buildings received frequent praise from architects,[13] but that the Weaver Building's arcade was unwelcoming and that the structure as a whole was "ungainly"."
  • Reworded. - EG
• Is Brutalist/Brutalism capitalized or not? The article Brutalist architecture seems to indicate not. If so, the usage of these terms in this article needs to be standardized (one way or the other).
  • Theoretically, (B|b)rutalism is a proper noun (like the International or Romanesque styles), but in practice it's commonly lowercase, so I've reworded it. - EG

Source review

This table lists 21 random passages from throughout the article (4.9% of 429 total passages). These passages contain 30 inline citations (4.7% of 639 in the article). Generated with the Veracity user script. Bgsu98 (Talk) 00:16, 29 June 2026 (UTC)

Reference #	Letter	Source	Archive	Status	Notes
Site
The building is surrounded by wide roads and a highway;
15	a	Architectural Record 1968, p. 101.
History
A site had not been selected by that April, when the United States House Committee on Appropriations approved $3 million in funding for site selection and further planning activities.
47		newspapers.com
Work began on July 20 of that year,
70	a	Hyman 2001, p. 241.			Cannot access; will AGF.
71		newspapers.com
but a May 1966 strike by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America temporarily delayed construction.
74		Corrigan, Richard. "Carpenters' Talks Break Off." Washington Post. May 3, 1966.			No link provided; will AGF.
giving the building a cost of $38 per square foot ($410/m2) of office space.
89	a	newspapers.com
Rather than merely fix the leak, HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros encouraged GSA to renovate or reconstruct the plaza to make it more worker- and pedestrian-friendly.
107	b	Grooms 1997, pp. 108–110.			Cannot access; will AGF.
acting HUD Secretary Roy Bernardi said the project "was necessary for us to conduct our work, which includes a necessary place for public gatherings."
120		archives.hud.gov	web.archive.org
Architecture
for which Breuer received the commission after positive reception to the HUD design.
143	a	newspapers.com
and among the first precast-concrete U.S. federal buildings overall.
13	c	Hyman 2001, p. 150.			Cannot access; will AGF.
146	a	books.google.com
The northern courtyard has a playground, a private parking area, and a staircase to L'Enfant Plaza;
168	a	National Park Service 2008, p. 9.
A curving driveway, delineated by concrete bollards,
162	d	National Park Service 2008, p. 8.
171	b	Architectural Record 1968, p. 103.
Above are concrete girders that measure 5 feet (1.5 m) thick, spanning the distance between each pilotis. The girders and pilotis were both created using wooden formwork, and, as such, the wood-grain markings are still visible on these decorative elements.
157	c	National Park Service 2008, p. 4.
176	c	Quinn Evans Architects & Oehrlein & Associates Architects 1999, p. 72.			Cannot access; will AGF.
The second- to fourth-story panels are load-bearing, so they are both thick and solid.
76	d	books.google.com
185	c	Quinn Evans Architects & Oehrlein & Associates Architects 1999, p. 71.			Cannot access; will AGF.
Late in the design process, the GSA had wanted to use another material for the floor slabs, as accountants had estimated that the cost of precast concrete floors would be exceptionally high; the agency eventually used Breuer's original design, and the floors were fabricated for significantly less than estimated.
76	i	books.google.com
The first basement includes a mailroom, printing plant, document-management department, media space, and fitness center, and a loading dock facing southwest. The ceilings and floor surfaces are made of tiles, while the walls are made of concrete within the elevator lobbies and plaster within the hallways.
108	k	National Park Service 2008, p. 5.
201		Quinn Evans Architects & Oehrlein & Associates Architects 1999, pp. 108–109.			Cannot access; will AGF.
There is also a freight elevator lobby in the south core.
195	b	Quinn Evans Architects & Oehrlein & Associates Architects 1999, p. 87.			Cannot access; will AGF.
The second floor originally had a pantry and cafeteria (later converted to offices), while the third floor has a snack bar and credit union.
199	k	National Park Service 2008, p. 7.
220		Quinn Evans Architects & Oehrlein & Associates Architects 1999, p. 100.			Cannot access; will AGF.
Reception
Breuer received architectural praise for the completed design,
143	c	newspapers.com
224	b	newspapers.com
and a masterpiece of Modern architecture.
112	g	washingtoncitypaper.com	web.archive.org
When the Weaver Building was proposed for demolition, a writer for The Guardian said the move was part of Trump's efforts to reform the architecture of Washington, D.C., in the more classical styles that he preferred, criticizing the plans as a potential loss of national heritage.
231	c	theguardian.com
References
Some sources cited the panels as weighing 12 short tons (11 long tons; 11 t).
25	h	Houstoun 1977, p. 53.
186	a	search.worldcat.org			Cannot access; will AGF.

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