The Pentagon symbolizes U.S. military might.  Because of its massive size and labyrinthine dimensions, some have called it “Fort Fumble,” while others have dubbed it the “Potomac Puzzle Palace.”

The Department of Defense headquarters is the largest office building in the world. The Pentagon has three times the office space of New York's 102-floor Empire State Building, and its area is five times the area of the Capitol, which houses the U.S. Congress.  The home of the national defense establishment is shaped in the form of a pentagon (hence the name).  The architects chose this shape because five highways led to the site allocated for construction.  The Pentagon was built in a low-income suburb of Washington, known as Hell's Bottom.

The Pentagon was intended to unite U.S. military agencies, which were dispersed throughout Washington.  Before the beginning of World War II, the Department of War (the Department of Defense’s forerunner) had 24,000 employees, who worked in 17 different buildings, making communications timely and expensive.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd U.S. president, asked Congress for permission to build a single building for all military agencies.  Construction of the new building, with space for over 40,000 employees, began on September 11, 1941. 

New technologies were used to speed up construction and keep a lid on costs.  More than 300,000 cubic meters of cement was used; the structure’s architects sought to avoid using steel, as the country was at war and needed this precious material for the front.  Other aspects of the building were also kept modest: its facade was lined with Indiana limestone, instead of more expensive marble.  Unlike other government buildings in the nation's capital, the Pentagon lacks architectural decorations.  Construction was completed in a record 16 months and cost $83 million.

The Pentagon’s well thought-out design makes it one of the world’s most ergonomic office buildings.  While its corridors have a total length of 28 kilometers, their special design (5 concentric rings and 10 spokes) make it possible to get from any point in the building to any other point within 7 minutes.  Still, occasionally even veteran employees get lost.  One Pentagon legend tells of a Western Union clerk who was lost in the building for three days; when he finally found his way, he was made a Colonel.

To get an idea of the truly immense size of the Pentagon, consider the following facts: According to the Think-Quest Web site, over 23,000 people (both military and civilian) currently work there; over 200,000 phone calls are made every day from a telephone network stretching over almost 260,000 miles; the local postal service delivers over 1.2 million letters and packages every month; the Pentagon is the home of several large libraries; throughout the building, there are 131 staircases, 19 escalators, 7,800 windows, 4,200 wall clocks, 691 water fountains and 284 restrooms. 

Not surprisingly, a building as large as the Pentagon demands considerable maintenance. Unfortunately, keeping the structure in good working condition and technologically up-to-date has not always been an easy task. Some of the materials used in construction, such as lead-based paints and asbestos, have since been recognized as hazardous; heating and air conditioning systems haven't met national standards since 1953; canalization pipes leak and some are so rusty that a pencil can puncture them; and overloaded circuits lead to about forty local power outages every day.

Stage-by-stage reconstruction of the Pentagon began in 1993.  It is expected to cost $1.2 billion.  Since the entire building cannot be closed at the same time, the Pentagon's five sections are being rebuilt in turn. The first section of the Pentagon was supposed to be ready by September 16, 2001, just five days before terrorists crashed an American Airlines airplane into the western side of the structure. One hundred twenty-five Pentagon employees died that day.  Today, the only sign of the tragedy is a one-meter limestone slab, blackened from the explosion and inscribed with the worlds: "September 11, 2001."