text: Design influences The design of Federal Triangle was significantly influenced by the Louvre-Tuileries Palace complex in France and the concentration of government buildings in Whitehall in the United Kingdom. But planning for the complex was also deeply influenced by the City Beautiful movement and the idea of creating a civic center to achieve efficiency in administration as well as reinforce the public's perception of government as authoritative and permanent. For the architectural style of the buildings, the Board relied heavily on the McMillan Plan's recommendation of the Neoclassical style. Both the Board and Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon rejected the Modern style then heavily in vogue. Rather than a mass of tall, imposing buildings, two unifying open spaces (intended for ceremonial use, and under discussion by the Board at least by March 1928) would be utilized. The first would be a Circular Plaza (inspired by the Place Vendôme) bisected by 12th Street NW, and which would require the demolition of the Old Post Office Pavilion. The second would be a rectangular Grand Plaza on the east side of 14th Street NW between the proposed Department of Commerce building (west side of 14th Street NW) and the proposed Post Office Department building (east side of 13th Street NW). The construction of the Grand Plaza would have required the demolition of the District Building.
  The Board received significant input from the Commission of Fine Arts (which strongly advocated implementation of the McMillan Plan), National Capital Parks and Planning Commission, and the Washington Board of Trade. One guiding principle for the project was that office space for at least 25,000 federal workers must be included. Another was that, although the buildings would be modern steel frame structures, they would each be the same height and faced with limestone. The National Capital Parks and Planning Commission had the least influence over the overall design of the project, primarily because it had only recently been formed.