Brick from the Waterside Mall development in Southwest neighborhood of Washington, DC

ca. 1972

This multi-sided concrete brick interlocked with others to pave the rear plaza of Waterside Mall, an office building and shopping center in Washington, DC’s Southwest quadrant. Designed by I.M. Pei, the modernist mall faced opposition when it opened in 1972 as part of an urban renewal project that displaced local businesses and longtime residents as early as the 1950s. Community members complained that, rather than meeting their needs or providing adequate services, as promised by developers, it catered to the federal agency that rented offices in the complex. Waterside Mall stood as a relic of failed urban redevelopment and a physical reminder of the disconnect between government plans and local realities until its demolition in 2007.