Department of Education Plaza
Washington, DC
Contributed by Project for Public Spaces
This plaza is the perfect opportunity for the federal government to move past the fortress mentality that it imposes on its buildings.
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Why It Doesn't Work
The federal government needs to move past the fortress mentality it has imposed on every building it operates. The Department of Education on Independence Avenue is the perfect site to move beyond the perpetual state of fear that pervades every federal building in Washington and, increasingly, across the nation. On a street leading up to the Capitol, full of museums--from the fantastic Smithsonian to the Hirschhorn and National Air and Space Museum--it could become one of the nation's most striking and popular public spaces.