The Pentagon was designed in 1941 to consolidate the US War Department’s 24,000 employees in 17 buildings. The architects designed a pentagonal plan that would fit a five-sided parcel of land near Arlington National Cemetery. The building was completed in 1943 and is still the largest low-rise office building in the world. On September 11, 2001, the building was attacked by five hijackers, killing 64 people on the plane and 120 Pentagon employees.
In 1941, with World War II raging in Europe, the United States made plans to consolidate personnel into its War Department, which had 24,000 employees working in 17 different buildings around the District of Columbia. Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Casey was commissioned to design a building that would fit a five-sided parcel of land near Arlington National Cemetery and house a staff of 40,000. The architects devised a pentagonal plan that would fit the site perfectly. Each of the 29-acre facility’s five wedges would feature concentric rings of office space, connected by 17.5 miles (28 km) of corridors, with a courtyard at its center. Officials eventually agreed to build the building on a different site in northern Virginia, but kept the Pentagon’s unique shape.
An office building like no other:
In January 1943, after 17 months of construction, the Pentagon was ready for service. Its 6.4 million square feet (594,579 square meters) of space still make it the largest low-rise office building in the world.
During World War II, messengers used bicycles and roller skates to get around quickly. Later, electric vehicles helped transport people, until one shot down and injured the Secretary of the Air Force in the 1960s.
On September 11, 2001, five hijackers rammed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon, killing 64 people on the plane and 120 Pentagon employees.
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