 In April 2001 , USIP issued solicitations for a design and twenty @-@ six architects submitted proposals . Moshe Safdie had never heard of USIP before receiving the design request , but he was one of the five finalists chosen . The other four were Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects , Michael Graves and Associates , Polshek Partnership ( now known as Ennead Architects ) , and Weiss / Manfredi ( which withdrew ) . According to USIP president Richard H. Solomon , Safdie 's design was chosen because the other designs " were basically square buildings . " USIP 's headquarters is the second building in Washington , D.C. designed by Safdie . The first was the fortress @-@ like headquarters of the Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives , completed in 2008 , which dominates the busy intersection of Florida and New York Avenues NE . 
