The Center for Land Use Interpretation

Proximity Issue: The Barricades of the Federal District

The Capitol Building - February, 2002

In the months following the 9/11 attacks on the United States, the public space of the nation’s Capitol was transformed. The barricades that emerged took many forms, including “Jersey barrier,” which were originally designed for use on highways. Around the Mall, these eight foot long, free-standing “impact deflectors” were installed in such quantity as to become an almost continuous, defensive dashed line, allowing people through, but keeping errant vehicles from being able to, for example, drive up the steps into the Air and Space Museum. These temporary measures were in place indefinitely, changing slowly into more “architecturally harmonious” forms, fixtures in the plazas and porticos that constitute the public face of America’s headquarters.

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