"Brutalism" refers to a specific architecture type of which the Reeves Center is not an example. Like it or dislike it. But don't call it brutalism.
Thanks for addressing this issue. I, too am tired of the canard that the Reeves Center sparked the revival of U Street. As you note, if it played such a major role in U Street's rebirth, then why is the area immediatley around it the most derelict part of U Street. I mean, while almost every other building on the street has been rehabbed and every empty lot in the neighborhood has been built on or is being built on, the corner directly opposite the Reeves Center boasts......an empty lot used to store cars (the worst possible use of urban land) and an empty, boarded up building.
Whether or not the Reeves Center is brutalist might be open to debate, but there is no question that it is ugly and that it detracts from the neighborhood and the buildings around it. The ground floor retail space relates poorly to the sidewalk and does not draw people in. After 6pm, the entire corner is a dead spot in an otherwise lively corridor. My favorite part of the building is the 12-story facade of exhaust vents facing 14th Street. Isn't that the kind of feature that is supposed to be in the back of the building, facing the alley? A century ago the City Beautiful movement gave us civic buildings that are now landmarks beloved and treasured by everyone in the community such as Union Station and the Wilson Building. Heck, I would venture that more thought and care went into the design and construction of the pumphouses at Fort Reno Reservoir than went into the Reeves Center. The previous generation of civic leaders gave us a bunch of ugly buildings that after only 30 years are well past their "design life," have aged poorly and detract from surrounding communities.
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