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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
Lately, though, I’ve found myself sitting on a lot of cramped metal benches of the kind that don’t invite you to linger long, or harsh concrete ones that leave you cold. That’s because public seating is becoming an endangered species. If a park bench is not being removed, the backup plan is often to make it uncomfortable. “Hostile architecture” — an urban design strategy intended to impede “antisocial” behavior — is proliferating all over the world. — The New York Times
Cities like San Francisco and Boston have quietly removed seating over the last decade in misguided efforts to curb outdoor sleeping. Interventions like sleep-preventing benches and other forms of cruel deterrents aimed at the homeless population have spilled over into the public sphere. Recently... 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
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 United States General Services Administration (GSA) recently published a project solicitation notice for a planned federal courthouse in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida area that mandates a "classical architectural style" for the facility. In response to the solicitation, the American... View full entry
First Lady Melania Trump has announced plans to spruce up the grounds of the White House Rose Garden. According to a report from The New York Times, the project will bring electrical upgrades, a new walkway, and new flowers and shrubs to the garden, which is situated between the West Wing... View full entry
Florida's new Public Financing of Construction law requires contractors on publicly funded coastal projects to study how those projects could be impacted by sea level rise before starting work. — Construction Dive
Construction Dive reports that project studies will need to estimate the increased storm risk during a 50 year lifespan for these structures as well as the likelihood of substantial flooding that could take place on a project site over the next 50 years. The new law also requires that designers... View full entry
A bill introduced on July 13th by Nevada Representative Dina Titus aims to write the General Services Administration's "Guiding Principles" for federal architecture into federal law. The bill, titled the "Democracy in Design Act," represents an effort to stop the implementation the... View full entry
The United States House of Representatives has passed a substantial infrastructure bill that includes an addendum from New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez repealing the Faircloth Amendment, a 22-year-old regulation that caps the overall number of public housing units that can be built... View full entry
Following a rare show of bipartisan support, the Bird-Safe Buildings Act of 2019 has passed the United States House of Representatives and is now headed for consideration by the Senate. The bill would require "each public building constructed, acquired, or of which more than 50% of the facade is... View full entry
The City of Chicago has put out an RFQ seeking architects interested in working on small-scale commercial improvement projects within some of the city's "underserved neighborhoods." Describing the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund (NOF) initiative that is fueling the RFQ call, a city website explains... View full entry
The new 265,000 square-foot Lowell Justice Center courthouse in Massachusetts designed by Finegold Alexander Architects has opened to the public. The $146 million facility houses Superior, District, Housing, Juvenile, Probate, and Family Court facilities, including 17 courtrooms... View full entry
