Christopher Hawthorne is the architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times.

Photographs of: U.S. Embassy in Santiago Chile courtesy of the embassy; the Great Wall of China by Keren Su/Corbis; Lucca, Italy, from Archivio Pubbli Aer Foto; Lucca Wall by Dennis Marsico/Corbis; Wurster Bluilding by Jonathan Blair/Corbis; Marine barracks in Beirut after 1983 bombing from Corbis; the Albert P. Murrah Federal Building by Bob Daemmrich/AFP/Corbis; aerial view of US Embassy in Santiago, Chile courtesy the embassy; U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru, by Peter Aaron/Esto; jersey barriers in front of Treasury Building by Christopher Hawthorne; Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House by Christopher Hawthorne; proposed redesign of LAX by Nick Ut/AP/Wide World Photos; Washington D.C.'s Urban Design and Security Plan from National Capital Planning Commission; Washington D.C.'s Urban Design and Security Plan from National Capital Planning Commission; Washington D.C.'s Urban Design and Security Plan from National Capital Planning Commission; Golden Gate Bridge with soldiers by Peter DaSilva/Corbis Sygma; Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse © Richard Barnes/Della Valle and Bernheimer Design Inc.; Lloyd D. George U. S. Courthouse and Federal Building, Las Vegas © Peter Aaron/Esto.