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The last year has seen a dramatic political shift to the right in the Western world (and elsewhere), marked in particular by Brexit and the election of Donald J. Trump. Alongside the former, the Tories secured a firm grip on the UK, with Prime Minister Theresa May stepping in to fill the void left... View full entry
Don't pay your national AIA dues if you don't agree with the direction of the association. At least, that's what Mette Aamodt is doing this year. According to a press release issued by the firm, Aamodt explains that she: is calling on architects to join her in refusing to work for... View full entry
Even before Donald Trump became president-elect, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for his name to be scrubbed from Istanbul’s Trump Towers. Erdogan pinned his plea to Trump’s Islamophobia, saying that the candidate “has no tolerance for Muslims in America.”
Now that Trump is weeks from assuming the presidency, cities that host his many branded properties have an additional concern to consider: the potential terrorism threat brought by his name.
— Washington Post
More on the President-elect:With Trump's Presidency dawning, the final Jane Jacobs work "Dark Age Ahead" wins new relevancyElaine Chao wants speedier approvals for DOT's infrastructure projectBefore Trump has even taken office, his infrastructure plan faces an uncertain futureCities should be very... View full entry
At a time when pundits and political scientists were celebrating the end of history, pointing to an emerging Democratic majority and extolling the virtues of a flat world of globalization, she ominously predicted a coming age of urban crisis, mass amnesia, and populist backlash in her final work, Dark Age Ahead. Eerily prescient as always, rereading the 2005 book today serves as a survivors’ guide to the Age of Trump. — citylab.com
"Jacobs outlines an increasing distrust of politicians and politics, a burgeoning new urban crisis in cities, worsening environmental degradation, entrenched segregation, and an “enlarging gulf between rich and poor along with attrition of the middle class” as signals and symptoms of a coming... View full entry
Nominee for Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao laid out her vision for DOT should the senate confirm her, and it's heavy on lifting regulations while breezing past funding issues. According to Politico:Chao said she wants to reduce "regulatory burdens when appropriate." And she hopes to speed... View full entry
It's not at all clear that President-elect Donald Trump's plans to spend massively on infrastructure are going to unfold as he promised.
Trump made rebuilding the nation's aging roads, bridges and airports very much part of his job-creation strategy in the presidential race. But lately lobbyists have begun to fear that there won't be an infrastructure proposal at all, or at least not the grand plan they'd been led to expect.
— AP
More on President-elect Trump:Former Texas Governor Rick Perry nominated as Secretary of U.S. Department of EnergyCities should be very wary of Trump's 'Plan for Urban Renewal'Trump pilfers Clinton's plan for an 'infrastructure bank'Why is Trump seeking private equity for public infrastructure? View full entry
President-elect Donald Trump has added another name to his cabinet: former Texas Governor Rick Perry will head the U.S. Department of Energy. The announcement has drawn mixed responses. The oil and gas industry, on the one hand, welcomed the fossil fuel industry-friendly climate change skeptic... View full entry
Among scholars and many city dwellers, urban renewal is remembered for its vast destruction of minority communities, when entire neighborhoods were razed for housing, highways and civic projects. [...]
Is Mr. Trump knowingly or accidentally embracing historical conflict? The answer depends, in part, on how much we think Mr. Trump, a real estate developer and son of a real estate developer, knows about the history of the conflict over the shape of the American city.
— nytimes.com
Related on Archinect:5 housing experts offer opinions about Ben Carson's direction as HUD headFrank Gehry on Trump: "I'm very worried about him"America's 'inner city' dichotomyPresident-elect Trump offers HUD post to Ben CarsonTrump pilfers Clinton's plan for an 'infrastructure bank' View full entry
New World Design Ltd. has shared a hypothetical proposal that would partially obscure the view of the infamous Trump Tower Chicago sign with four giant, gold-colored balloon pigs. [...]
the pigs would be tethered to buoys in the Chicago River and provide “visual relief to the citizens of Chicago,” many of whom are presumably tired of seeing Trump’s name everywhere.
— consequenceofsound.net
More acts of architectural protest:Architects Respond to the AIA’s Statement in Support of President-Elect Donald TrumpTaking a stand against privately-owned public spacesHawaii protesters block construction of giant telescope on sacred mountain Mauna KeaCooper Union graduates stage tuition... View full entry
What are the likely policy goals of a neurosurgeon appointed secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development by a man who can't stop disappointedly tweeting at Alec Baldwin? "There’s not a dearth of qualified Republicans for that job, so if you choose somebody with no background in... View full entry
... the dual Canadian-American citizen expressed serious concerns about the incoming commander-in-chief.
“I don’t know whether we should get into politics here because some of you may think Trump is OK, but I’m very worried about him,” said Gehry, 87.
“I remember in 1937 and being in Canada and listening to Hitler’s speeches on radio – and this resounded similar to me. It’s just frightening.”
— ipolitics.ca
Quoted above from a recent discussion at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Frank Gehry told the audience that he was not leaving the U.S. for France, while facing the imminent future of a "frightening" Trump presidency. In a previous interview with Le Figaro, a French newspaper, Gehry had mentioned... View full entry
Mr. Trump...has said that infrastructure redevelopment will be a priority of his first 100 days in office. And Ms. Chao has experience — politically and personally — in navigating the competing centers of power in the capital...But now that she is in line for a prominent position in Mr. Trump’s cabinet, it is her own ties to business that are likely to come under scrutiny. As labor secretary, she faced criticism that her department favored business and was lax on enforcement and worker safety. — The New York Times
More on Archinect:President-elect Trump offers HUD post to Ben CarsonTrump pilfers Clinton's plan for an 'infrastructure bank'Scott Frank, Senior Director of Media Relations for the AIA, resigns following the AIA's statement of support for President-elect Trump View full entry
It’s been a rocky few weeks for the American Institute of Architects. Shortly following the election of Donald Trump, AIA CEO Robert Ivy released a statement on behalf of the 89,000 members of the organization, stating, “The AIA and its 89,000 members are committed to working with... View full entry
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has offered the post of secretary of housing and urban development to former presidential candidate Ben Carson, who will consider it over the Thanksgiving holiday, a Carson spokesman said on Tuesday.
"The president-elected asked him to consider it and he's considering it," Carson spokesman Armstrong Williams said. Carson, a retired surgeon, dropped out of the 2016 presidential race in March and backed Trump.
— Reuters
More on the US Department of Housing and Urban Development: Turning down tenants because of criminal records may be discrimination, says HUDRebuild by Design Wins Innovation AwardU.S. Department of HUD announces the Rebuild By Design winners View full entry
What impact will Donald Trump’s league of global-warming deniers and fossil-fuel boosters have on U.S. climate action? The short-term prognosis might not be as damaging as some fear, but...it seems safe to assume that for the next four years, domestic climate policy will be in the deep freezer—while the rest of us heat up...[But] U.S. cities have the power to shrink that footprint and prepare for the worst, even in the absence of financial or regulatory support from the federal government — Citylab
A quick profile at how five American cities will continue progressing toward their goals to combat climate change, even without federal support from a Trump administration and a Republican-controlled Congress.More on Archinect:Trump says climate change is a "hoax", yet moves to protect his... View full entry
