> “They thought this was the Pentagon’s most top secret meeting room, and the entire Pentagon was a large fortress built around this hot dog stand.”
I like this story. It neatly captures strangely symbolic, even poetic, meaning. What does Pentagon and its entire defense edifice ultimately protect? The American way of life, which is mostly hot dog stands and burger bars.
> The Pentagon was declared a national historic landmark in 1992, and because the courtyard is one of the five historically protected features of the building, the hot dog stand must be replaced by a building of roughly the same size, and exactly the same shape as the Pentagon, Eaton said.
> “In general, the design will kind of replicate what we have here right now, but it’s going to be much more modern and a lot bigger. It will really give us an efficient food service delivery system for the Pentagon,” said David Gabel, the renovation program manager for Pentagon renovation and construction.
Really? Apparently in the US preserving a landmark means making it "much more modern and a lot bigger"? I don't understand you guys sometimes.
It's the courtyard that's the preserved feature, not the stand itself. Presumably the requirements just translate to "from the perspective of a visitor to the courtyard, there should be a pentagonal thing in the center, yey-big, with an owl on it." It could be a real building or a facade, it wouldn't matter, except inasmuch as it affects the courtyard.
I like this story. It neatly captures strangely symbolic, even poetic, meaning. What does Pentagon and its entire defense edifice ultimately protect? The American way of life, which is mostly hot dog stands and burger bars.