F. Edward Hebert Federal Building (1939)

Federal Building (1939), originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

The 12-story art deco F. Edward Hebert Federal Building on Lafayette Square was designed by architects Louis Simon and Howard L. Cheney in 1939.

Lafayette Square, the second oldest urban park in New Orleans is also surrounded by Gallier Hall (formerly City Hall, James Gallier, Sr., 1845), the Federal Reserve Bank (Goldstein, Parham, Labouisse, 1963), the Hale Boggs Federal Building and U.S. Court House (Freret & Wolf, August Perez & Associates, Mathes Bergman & Associates) and the John Minor Wisdom U.S. Court of Appeals (Hale and Rogers, 1908).

Since the city's inception, New Orleans has organized public buildings around public parks, initially with the location of the Cabildo on the Place d'Armes (now Jackson Square) and more recently with the development of the Civic Center (1958) around Duncan Plaza.

[photo: Anthony DelRosario]