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The federal Architect of the Capitol is under scrutiny for ethics violations after apparently using his office to give “patriotic” private tours in the weeks leading up to the contentious elections of November 2020. The Washington Post is reporting that Trump appointee J. Brett Blanton is now... View full entry
The Biden administration on Monday reversed a Trump-era rule dictating what kind of art can be commissioned for federal buildings as part of an effort to have public art better reflect America's diversity.
The new rule removes content and style restrictions that Biden administration officials say excluded many artists from consideration for the Art in Architecture program, which commissions visual art in federal buildings.
— CNN
The rule is a holdover from the Trump administration, which enacted the measure late in 2020 with the vague but distinct guideline that commissions must depict “historically significant Americans or events.” Critics immediately saw the mandate as a racist attempt to whitewash public art in the... View full entry
As part of the institution’s renewed focus on pressing social issues through its selection of public programming, the National Building Museum has announced a major new exhibition looking into the part design professionals can play in a topic not too far removed from America’s visual... View full entry
The AIA has expressed support for legislation recently re-introduced to the U.S. Congress, which seeks to prevent future administrations and the federal government from mandating preferred design styles for federal buildings. The organization had previously been critical of a 2020 decision by the... View full entry
The federal government has announced plans to return $2.2 billion allocated to fund border wall construction. This comes following President Joe Biden’s proclamation, made on his first day in office, to halt the redirection of money for the wall. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)... View full entry
The four new appointees will replace four commissioners who were installed by former President Donald Trump, who helped craft the controversial “Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture” executive order, which decried modern architecture and sought to make neoclassical architecture the... View full entry
Last year, Trump and his "make federal buildings beautiful again" executive order sent shockwaves across the architecture community. Trump had strong aversions towards modern architecture calling these buildings "ugly" and "uninspiring." Since Archinect's initial coverage on the classical... View full entry
It was not the biggest or the best implosion ever.
An auction for the right to detonate the dynamite to begin the implosion of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., fizzled. [...]
The tower came down shortly after 9 a.m. amid a huge cloud of dust and an eruption of cheers.
— The New York Times
Opened in 1984, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino was the first of Donald Trump's three casino ventures in Atlantic City. All three ultimately went out of business, and while the former Trump Taj Mahal and Trump Marina Hotel Casino found new owners, it was the literal end for the Trump Plaza building... View full entry
In fact, America has beautiful and popular non-traditional structures – the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles – and it has crude and soulless classical buildings. Unfortunately, the authors of the order are not completely wrong when they say that some architects have ignored public feeling. — The Guardian
Rowan Moore, architecture critic at The Observer, responds to last week's presidential executive order that makes classical and traditional architecture the preferred style for federal buildings. "If architects don’t want to give ammunition to the repressive thinking behind this order," Moore... View full entry
The architecture community continues to respond to Trump's latest executive order promoting classical and traditional architecture as the "preferred style" for federal buildings. After signing the mandate at the tail end of his presidency, institutions and organizations have voiced their... View full entry
Following the signing of President Trump's new executive order that makes classical and traditional architecture the preferred style for federal buildings on Monday, the American Institute of Architects promptly responded with a public condemnation. "The AIA does not, and never will, prioritize... View full entry
With only 29 days of his White House mandate remaining, President Trump revisited a topic that had previously stoked sharp criticism from the architecture community and signed an executive order today that makes classical architecture the preferred style for federal buildings. The order opens with... View full entry
The website featuring a parody of Trump's presidential library went viral a little over a month ago. A discussion about it in the Archinect forum included comments like "much too nice," "not enough gold," "I like that Putin makes an appearance in most of the renderings," "far too tasteful for... View full entry
[...] the forces that his White House set in motion could outlive his administration: The GSA appears to have adopted a modernism ban, without any authorization in place. What seemed to be a pipe dream for admirers of classical architecture back in February now looks like procurement policy at the federal agency that manages office space and needs for the U.S. government. Design is already underway in Alabama for what might be Trump’s first mandatory classical courthouse. — Bloomberg CityLab
CityLab writer Kriston Capps on the current implications of the hotly debated, but ultimately never signed, "Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again" executive order the President floated back in February. View full entry
President Donald Trump is pushing for congressional funding that would allow the General Services Administration (GSA) to undertake a long-delayed renovation and modernization plan for the White House West Wing. Included in a recent legislative framework floated by Republican senators aimed... View full entry
