Archinect - News

New executive order could make classical architecture "the preferred and default style" for America's public buildings

2020-02-04T13:50:00-05:00

Is neoclassicism about to make a big comeback?

It looks likely, as a new executive order under consideration by President Donald Trump attempts to make classicism the "preferred and default style" for new and upgraded federal buildings.

According to an exclusive report by Architectural Record, the predictably named "Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again" executive order would seek to reposition classically inspired architecture as the country's default public building style. The shift comes in opposition to the longstanding style agnosticism displayed by public buildings in recent decades following the creation of the Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture directive crafted in 1962 by former New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

Moynihan's directive—which states that "The development of an official style must be avoided" and that "Design must flow from the architectural profession to the Government and not vice versa"—has resulted in a wide ranging set of innovative pu...

Does America still need classical architecture?

2019-08-18T14:00:00-04:00

Perhaps, as a real-estate developer, President Trump might appreciate the richness of America’s heritage of classical public buildings. It’s not inconceivable that he would support reform of the Guiding Principles. Otherwise, U.S. senators and representatives should do all they can to ensure that classical principles guide future federal architecture projects. In doing so, they will be contributing to a renewal of American civilization.

During the administration of President John F. Kennedy, sociologist, politician, and diplomat Daniel Patrick Moynihan drafted the "Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture," a set of architectural guidelines that inform the design of building projects undertaken by the Public Building Service (PBS) and the General Services Administration's Design Excellence program.

For Moynihan, the principles reinforced an ideology of good design in federal building projects. Moynihan expressed, "The belief that good design is optional, or in some way separate from the question of the provision of office space itself, does not bear scrutiny, and in fact invites the least efficient use of public money."

Writing for City Journal, Catesby Leigh voices support for reinvigorating federal buildings through classical architecture and traditional design, which, Leigh argues, have already produced the U.S.'s most prominent civic structures.

Leigh writes: "The design of federal buildings should be guided...

A surprisingly classical look for Google's London HQ from Heatherwick Studio + BIG

2017-06-01T20:14:00-04:00

Back in 2015, the 11-storey, AHMN-designed scheme for Google's headquarters was deemed "too boring" by Google CEO Larry Page. Heatherwick Studio and BIG were brought in to add some pizazz to what was an admittedly fairly straightforward, boxy design. Today's freshly unveiled renderings show a more visually nuanced building than their predecessor, but the structure does not push design boundaries in the overt way that many associate with BIG and Heatherwick.

Indeed, the abundance of bordered, angled bay windows creates the effect of a colonnade; viewed from the exterior, the building resembles a kind of Parthenon mash-up. Floor-to-ceiling glass windows and a roof garden quickly place the building in its modern context, but this is a building that takes pains to join a conversation, not start one.

Thomas Heatherwick explained in a statement that "The area is a fascinating collision of diverse building types and spaces and I can't help but love this mix of massive railway stations, roads...

Edoardo Tresoldi builds a ghostly wire mesh structure in Abu Dhabi

2017-05-22T12:32:00-04:00

Last year, artist Edoardo Tresoldi made waves with his wire mesh sculpture in Foggia, Italy. Installed adjacent to the basilica of Siponto, the sculpture is a full-size cathedral in its own right, built on the ruins of an older church that once stood on the site. The wire mesh creates an ethereal, spectral appearance, like a hologram or a project. Now, the artist has returned with another stunning installation—a massive event space for a royal event in Abu Dhabi.

Covering a 7,000 square meter space, the installation was built over three months. Like the sculpture in Foggia, this one is made of wire mesh and references classical architecture. After the event, pieces of the installation will be reinstalled separately in universities, parks and museums across the city.

Robert Adam awarded 15th Richard H. Driehaus Prize

2017-01-19T15:20:00-05:00

Robert Adam, founder of ADAM Architecture, has been named the recipient of the 15th Richard H. Driehaus Prize, an award given each year to an architect "whose work has had positive cultural, environmental and artistic impact in keeping with the highest ideals of classical architecture in contemporary society." Alongside a bronze miniature of the Choregic Monument of Lysikrates, the award comes with a $200,000 prize.

“Robert Adam has made seminal and sustained contributions to his discipline by establishing a dialogue between the traditional and modern modes of architecture,” states Richard H. Driehaus, founder, chairman and chief investment officer of Chicago-based Driehaus Capital Management LLC. “He has had tremendous success by experimenting with contemporary materials and methods within the context of local and regional traditions.”

Adam was educated at Westminster University and was a Rome Scholar in the early '70s. In 1977, he founded ADAM Architecture. In addition to his design...

Editor's Picks #422

2015-07-06T13:40:00-04:00

Nicholas Korody interviewed Andrés Jacque (of the Office for Political Innovation ) about COSMO, the winning entry of this year’s MoMA PS1 Young Architect’s Program competition. Therein he argued "I believe that the architect’s role nowadays can also be providing alternatives, and enriching through diversity the collective catalogue of desirable possibilities."

Thayer-D commented "I don't think this qualifies as architecture, but it's very interesting" to which Kozumelle responded "I have seen this in person and it is not architecture in the strictest sense but still a wonderful, fantastic idea. Jaque's ideas are always politically charged and veer into other territories and he does it well."

Plus, for Screen/Print #34 Amelia Taylor-Hochberg featured the latest edition of KTISMA , from the University of Oregon’s School of Architecture and Allied Arts.

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The Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition selected Paris-based Moreau Kusunoki Architectes as the grand-prize winners.

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London's traditionalist architects come back swinging in their fight against skyscrapers

2015-01-05T13:39:00-05:00

In a warren of rooms inside a 400-year-old townhouse on the Essex-Suffolk border, a counter-revolution against the most dramatic rebuilding of the London skyline in decades is gathering strength. Eschewing computer power for sharp pencils and tracing paper, father and son architect team Quinlan and Francis Terry are drafting classically inspired designs for some of the capital’s most prominent sites in a fightback against plans for hundreds of new skyscrapers.

Sketching Out a New Course for Architects

2011-10-03T15:35:46-04:00

Two blocks from the stately columns, arches and sculptures of Grand Central Terminal, a rogue band of architects is engaged in a retrograde venture: They're teaching a new generation how to draw and paint the elements of classical architecture—all those columns, arches and sculptures—with nothing more than pencils and paints on paper. No computers. Ever.