In these polarizing times, it seems little wonder that even federal buildings have turned into political battlefields. In his final weeks in office in late 2020, President Trump signed an executive order establishing classical architecture as the official basis for federal building design— only to have Joe Biden promptly revoke the order upon taking office two months later.
A new exhibit at the National Building Museum wades into the dispute by examining the style of architecture that many observers love to hate. In studying eight modern structures in Washington’s urban core, “Capital Brutalism” attempts to bring context to a style that seems ever-present around the District of Columbia. MORE
It’s not that I want govt buildings to be ugly, it’s that I object to spending tax money on architectural elements or styles whose only purpose is ornamentation. Furthermore, costs for primarily aesthetic ends (e.g. consistency with surroundings) be held to a reasonable minimum.
I’m glad the article mentioned the J. Edgar Hoover building, a/k/a FBI Building. I remember when it was built in the 1960s and everybody who saw it stopped in their tracks and exclaimed, “Good grief, that’s sure one seriously ugly building!” It turns out that the innards suck, too. Poorly laid out, inadequate HVAC and so damp, interior traffic chopped up. The people who have to work there hate it, I’m told. But because it’s the FBI Headquarters building, I WOULDN’T CHANGE A THING FOR THOSE BASTARDS!
When I walk under a building that has A/C units sticking out of the windows I get nervous. A couple of rusted through bolts is all it takes for that thing to come loose and tumble down a few stories and smash into your skull. Lights out, forever.
Not just that, but the damned things are ugly.
Are Federal Buildings designed to be ugly, or intimidating?
Washington D.C. should never have air-conditioning ANYWHERE. Nor heat. The maghots should only work 2-3 months a year and nothing ahould be done to make it easier.
It was built in a swamp for a reason.
The Soviets had a lot of architecture like that, it looked like bunkers.
I’m not sure this is the essay I remember and was looking for on that topic. It’s been a while.
This “elitism” also manifests today in terms of aesthetics. People, desperately trying to make themselves “elite”, now luxuriate in ugliness, and cast themselves as morally superior in doing so. They declare things that are objectively ugly – and yes, beauty is an objective reality because it is a constitutive quality of God – as beautiful, and then imagine themselves as “elite” because they are beyond God Himself and His “peasant” aesthetic. One has to consciously pervert one’s mind to hate beauty and celebrate ugliness. But that is precisely what this culture is all about, and why there is almost no beauty in art or architecture any longer, and why much of the popular music of today is, in fact, dissonant, hellish noise.
https://www.barnhardt.biz/2014/11/19/1936/
Our local Health district bldg. in Spokane has 4 corner pieces on top of the bldg. that look like giant round urinals. We jokingly refer to it by calling it the 4 thumbs building or the place where the Jolly Green Giant stops to take a piss. It is truly an ugly govt. bldg. built back in the 60’s or thereabout. The old County Courthouse built in the late 1800’s which is located only a couple of blocks away is a magnificent older castle style bldg. with spires on top and has aged well. it is jokingly referred to as Disneyland North. With a large lawn in front and large old trees as well it really is a great looking older courthouse. The only thing that sucks about it now is all the damned security lines with metal detectors etc. they have put in place since 9/11. I used to be able to walk around freely inside the courthouse to do my business in the 50’s and earlier, not anymore. When I had jury duty there 20 years or so ago, we had to go thru the needless rigamarole of going thru security every day for two weeks, it’s like they don’t trust us anymore with any free access to govt. bldgs. since 9/11.
In the 90’s and earlier, in the 50’s I was just born in 1953.
Trump was right; Biden was wrong. Big surprise.
The Classical Orders are fitting for our Republic. As an architect, I can attest: to design within the constraints of the classical orders is HARDER than “modern” styles, including Brutalism. BUT the result is at once: unifying and edifying. Why? The Classical elements are derived from human experience, from nature and from the Deity. They are wrought with symbolism in their very fabric; they explain the relationship between man, nature and his god. The perfect expression for the aspirations of self-government.
Every gov’t building should look like a prison.
And, in fact, should BE a prison – that’s supposed to be where criminals are kept.
DC should be surrounded by impenetrable fences topped with razor wire and guard towers every 100 yds with orders to shoot to kill any who attempt to enter or attempt to leave.
We have elevated traitors, criminals, and perverts to high office for far too long.
mortem tyrannis
izlamo delenda est …
Once again I bring up the Forum 30, in Springfield, Il.
30 Stories tall…and Flared out at the top….It was immediately Dubbed
“The Penis of the Prairie”
The polite term is “Brutalism”, but in the business, we called it the “Fuck You school of architecture”.
I read somewhere that DC was NOT supposed to be residential, only office bldgs.
And then there’s the “Obama Presidential Center” blighting the skyline of Chicago. Weird how it’s hard to find pictures of that outsized Star Wars set. It is, as Tony R accurately calls it, most definitely from the “Fuck You school of architecture”.
I can’t wait to see how Biden says “Fuck you” in concrete.
Ugly people doing ugly things in ugly buildings, it all fits together.
@Thirdtwin.
I get ya. I just looked it up and I could not find any current pictures of it. I saw a bunch of models but not the real thing except for a very distant view of it under construction. It looks from the architectural models like a pyramid with the top 2/3 cut off.
Another good reason for not visiting Chicago.