Perspectives: The Plan to 'Make Federal Buildings Beautiful Again'
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From the Left
MAGA War on Architectural Diversity Weaponizes Greek ColumnsI was passing by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington the other afternoon when the raking winter sun made the patterned, bronzed-aluminum facade glow. The building seemed to warm its patch of a frozen National Mall, alongside the chilly phalanx of gray stone behemoths, nearly all classically designed.
Style-wise, I don’t know what to call the museum’s architecture. David Adjaye, the Ghanaian-British architect, led the design team. The building is classicizing, with its base and capital, at the same time that those patterns on...
From the Right
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...
From the Center
Trump plans on 'Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again' with executive order: reportPresident Trump is planning on “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again” with an executive order that would make a classical style the default for federal buildings in Washington and other parts of the country, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
The draft order would encourage Greek and Roman architectural designs instead of modern architecture. The order is expected to go in front of Trump next month, a person familiar with the development told the Times.
“Classical and traditional architectural styles have proven their ability to inspire such respect for our system...
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