Behind The White House Move To Stop Ugly Federal Buildings (And The Architects Who Stand In The Way)

As the Second World War came to a rumbling close, the architects gazed out upon a shattered Europe utterly convinced of a series of new things: First, they, the architects, are in charge of architecture, and the only valid experts on the aesthetics of architecture. Therefore, the public and its leaders, who every day must view and live among their work, have no opinion that counts.

Elites as judge, jury, and, ultimately, executioner. Sound familiar? It’s all over the art world and much of politics. But recent moves in Washington might finally end the tyranny of high-minded ugliness that rules federal architecture.

An executive order drafted for the president’s signature is simply called Make Federal Buildings Beautiful Again. Although it remains at great risk of being torpedoed until the moment Donald Trump signs it, this order would do more than any move in recent history to undo the 1960s and ’70s blight every person passing through a major city is subjected to.