THE TREASURY BUILDING
THEN AND NOW

At the beginning of this exhibit, we arrived at a definition of architectural space: a volume contained by the structure of a building in which objects exist, humans live, and events happen over a course of time. The history of the open spaces at the Treasury Building bears elaborate witness to the space-shaping capacity of events and human needs. In the one hundred and thirty-two years since the Treasury Building was completed, its open spaces have undergone almost constant permutations. They have been partitioned, and then opened again. Air conditioning, electricity, elevators, and miles of telephone wire have been inserted into the fabric of the building. These intrusions, prompted by the needs and desires of the occupants of the building, coupled with a series of fires, have repeatedly altered the nature of Treasury's open spaces.

This photograph shows a tangle of conduits for wiring just after the 1996 fire at the Treasury Building.

This photograph shows the results of the 1996 fire in a fifth floor office. The water used to put out the fire caused the most damage, ruining the walls, destroying any office equipment, and causing the ceiling to collapse.

This photograph shows the destruction in the Media room, on the fourth floor of the north wing, immediately after the 1996 fire. Like many other spaces in the north wing, water, rather than fire, was the most destructive force.

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