US General Accounting Office Building, Federal office building in central Washington, D.C., United States.
The US General Accounting Office Building is a modern seven-story federal office building in central Washington, D.C., spanning an entire city block between G and H Streets. The exterior shows geometric forms and horizontal bands that define its broad, solid structure.
The building was dedicated by President Harry S. Truman in 1951, marking a turning point toward modern construction methods for federal facilities. This dedication signaled the start of a new era in lean, functional government architecture.
The building shows how federal architecture changed after World War II, as government offices moved away from traditional courtyard designs toward more compact layouts. You can see this shift clearly in the solid, closed form of the block structure that differs from older government buildings.
The building sits at 441 G Street NW and houses both the Government Accountability Office and the Army Corps of Engineers headquarters. Its central location makes it easy to reach by public transportation.
The building pioneered a solid block design instead of the typical fish-bone office layout, influencing how office buildings were constructed in Washington, D.C. afterward. This design solution set a new standard that many later government projects adopted.
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