Bricks and Mortar: Architecture and U.S. Domestic Security

• Published in: International journal of intelligence and counterintelligence Vol. 32; no. 4; pp. 770 - 780
• Main Authors: Tromblay, Darren E., Podulka, Richard D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Routledge 02-10-2019; Taylor & Francis LLC
• Subjects: Architecture; Clearing houses; Government agencies; Houses; Law enforcement; National security; United States > US
• ISSN: 0885-0607; 1521-0561
• DOI: 10.1080/08850607.2019.1605808

Tromblay and Podulka examine the architecture and domestic security in the US. The physical architecture which houses the two most significant domestically-focused intelligence services in the country, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is a metaphor for those agencies' respective conditions. At their most elemental level, buildings house a human function: living, eating, working, and sleeping. The designer's task requires identifying and understanding the functions and associated sizes, fit the pieces together properly, and wrap them in a skin for protection. All cultures use this process. At its most basic, this process results in an authentic building whose function is revealed in its aesthetic. But both agencies' headquarters are no longer suited to their respective missions, and this disconnect imposes constraints on their operations.