President Donald Trump has nominated J. Brett Blanton as the next Architect of the Capitol.
Blanton would follow two acting directors, Christine Merdon and Thomas Carroll. If confirmed by the United States Senate, Blanton will serve a 10-year term as the official in charge of maintaining the Capitol complex, Roll Call reports. According to the report, Blanton has 25 years of experience in facilities operations and construction management, but is not a licensed or practicing architect. Rather, Blanton is a professional engineer licensed in the state of Georgia, according to Blanton's LinkedIn page.
Engineering News Record reports that Blanton was most recently a deputy vice president and senior engineering manager with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, the entity that runs the city's two major international airports.
According to Blanton's LinkedIn page, he has previously served as a transportation engineer with architecture and engineering firm ATCS and as a Joint Engineer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he "oversaw standards, tasking, and strategic direction of 54k military personnel military engineers worldwide."
Blanton earned a Master of Science in Ocean Engineering from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the United Stated Naval Academy in 1993.
If confirmed, Blanton will oversee the Capitol's 18.4 million square feet of building spaces. He will also have the unenviable task of heading the Cannon House Office Building Renewal Project, a five-phase renovation project slated to upgrade the Cannon House Office Building, a 111-year old Beaux-Arts office complex designed in 1908 by Carrère and Hastings, the architects behind the New York Public Library and other iconic buildings of the era. The project, Roll Call reports, is $100 million over budget and severely delayed.
8 Comments
Any comment from the AIA or NCARB on this? I doubt there is any requirement that the AOC is actually an architect ... but I would expect these organizations to lobby in favor of the AOC being a registered architect, if only for the optics.
or they could change the job title. it sounds more like a project management job than an architecture job
I'm sure they'll pledge to work closely with the new AOC.
If they're serious about title protection, they'll make an issue of this on a national stage. If not, they should start to advocate for deregulating the title.
Signed, Everyday Architect, AIA
In college I was told that 1 out of 400 people that start in architectural college finish as licensed architect. In the USA Architect is licensed title in all states. The engineers should be ashamed of carrying such a title when in reverse this would never happen. The title of architect used by the federal government is as in a Hollywood script, to imply a look and feel of elegance when the candidate in question by national existing standards is totally undeserving. The congressional system currently in place is an abuse on the profession and the selection is in err. The options are to remove the word Architect or insist that the use of the term carry a licensed architectural professional. I doubt any architects, who spent the hard earned years to acquire a license would disagree with my position. The president in this act is totally uninformed despite of his years in real estate development, which isn't saying much. We have appointed a pretend architect much like a Hollywood pretend artist.
For those getting their panties in a twist over this:
The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is the federal agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the United States Capitol Complex, and also the head of that agency. The Architect of the Capitol is in the legislative branch[1] and is accountable to the United States Congress and the Supreme Court.[2] [wikipedia]
Stop acting like the guy just got handed a big commission. He’s highly qualified and a competent selection for the post.
Miles, my complaint has nothing to do with Mr. Blanton, his qualifications, or his competency. I'm sure he'll make a fine AOC once confirmed.
I'm pointing out that AIA and NCARB will go out of their way to make sure a recent graduate doesn't have anything even remotely relating to architect or architectural in a title ... not in their portfolio, resume, website, or *gasp* business card ... until they become legally licensed to practice. Yet, on this matter, the confirmation of an engineer to carry the title and head the federal agency, Architect of the Capitol ... they will most likely remain silent.
It has nothing to do with the guy who got nominated, and more to do with NCARB, AIA, and those organizations misplaced title protectionism. Oh, and I just checked my panties ... not twisted.
The comment was in response to Ducas. Good news about your panties.
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