The Foreign Service Journal, December 2012

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2012 21 Jane C. Loeffler is an architectural historian and author of The Architecture of Diplomacy: Building America’s Embassies , reissued in an updated version in 2011. She has published numerous articles on related subjects and collaborated on books, including Villa Otium, A Diplomatic Home , published in 2012 by Embassy Oslo. In addition, she has testified as an expert witness before Congress, appeared regularly on panels and broadcasts, and published op-eds in the New York Times and the Washington Post . The State Depart- ment has acknowledged her contributions to its mission with a distinguished Public Service Award and a Recognition Award from its Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations. Ms. Loeffler holds a Ph.D. in American civilization fromThe George Washington University, and is affiliated with the Honors College at the University of Maryland. lence” initiative that embraces all elements of embassy construc- tion—from location to architect selection, design, engineering and building technology, sustainability and long-termmainte- nance needs. The new program sees innovation as an opportunity to enhance security, still the top priority. It is the State Depart- ment’s first major statement of design policy since 1954 when, at the height of the Cold War, it greatly expanded its building pro- gram and turned to modern architecture to convey the optimism and future orientation of democracy. What happened to bring about this dramatic shift to improve America’s foreign presence? Could it have happened without the SED, which seemed inevitable but proved so inadequate? What does the new programmean? Will more attacks on U.S. diplo- matic facilities undermine or add impetus to the program? And how is it linked to broader foreign policy issues? To begin to answer these questions, one has to first under- stand the rationale for the “fortress” model—an expedient solution to an urgent problem, to be sure, but one that narrowly defined an embassy as a protected workplace and overlooked its larger representational role. Attacks Lead to Stringent Security Standards In the aftermath of the 1983 terrorist attacks on the U.S. embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut, a bipartisan commis- sion chaired by retired Navy Admiral Bobby R. Inman was the first to call for major embassy improvements. Inman called for an array of new security standards to be applied regardless of location. These included the 100-foot setback, selection of 10-to-15-acre sites, blast-resistant construction, high perimeter walls, rigorous public access controls and (almost) windowless The design for the new Embassy Jakarta by Davis Brody Bond Architects and Planners, shown opposite, embodies many of the principles of the “Design Excellence” initiative. The project is expected to be completed in 2017. In contrast, Embassy Quito (Yost, Grube, Hall, 2008), above, is a Standard Embassy Design that features the prison-like look and high perimeter wall that is typical of SED structures. PhotocourtesyofBureauofOverseasBuildingsOperations,U.S.DepartmentofState