A quandary - what do we think? No one on DL wants to side with Trump, but no one on DL likes brutalist government architecture much, either.
Biden Tosses Trump's Classical Architecture Order
by Anonymous | reply 62 | March 4, 2021 6:19 PM |
I actually love Brutalism, OP. I’m a child of the 70s so I grew up with it. I agree with Biden on this one.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | February 25, 2021 7:32 PM |
It's not a binary choice between classical and brutalist, OP.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | February 25, 2021 7:33 PM |
(If it were, I'd be with you.)
by Anonymous | reply 3 | February 25, 2021 7:33 PM |
They were eyesores then and they are eyesores now.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | February 25, 2021 7:35 PM |
Hitler preferred classical architecture.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | February 25, 2021 7:38 PM |
Hitler also was a vegetarian. Don't be Hitler: eat meat.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | February 25, 2021 7:40 PM |
Stalin would have loved brutalism.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | February 25, 2021 7:41 PM |
There's nothing human about that Health and Human Services building.
If you go to Budapest, one side of the city is just beautiful, with the older classical architecture and lovely parks, and then on the other side you see the grim stuff built by the Soviets.
You don't have to be Hitler or Trump to recognise that much of modern architecture is grim and depressing.
It's like saying Hitler liked Beethoven, therefore, Beethoven is bad.
Give me classical architecture any day.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | February 25, 2021 7:53 PM |
There are dozens of cool examples of Brutalist architecture around the world. Trump is an idiot!
by Anonymous | reply 9 | February 26, 2021 10:14 AM |
I don't mind it.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | February 26, 2021 10:26 AM |
Even the name of the order sounds like something from Borat’s Kazakhstan: Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | February 26, 2021 11:36 AM |
Biden didn't order all new buildings be in the Brutalist style, OP, so your post doesn't make any sense.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | February 26, 2021 11:37 AM |
R7, actually Stalinist architecture was Neoclassical inspired.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | February 26, 2021 11:43 AM |
We love 'em in DC -- and we don't care what you think.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | February 26, 2021 1:52 PM |
Shitler needed an exec order for this?
by Anonymous | reply 15 | February 26, 2021 1:55 PM |
As an Architect, I would say that the ideal would be buildings that still relate to human scale. Some people prefer classical design as it is indeed based on human scale and it does tend to age well. Good modern architecture in theory would do the same. But, Government neo-brutalism is designed to ignore human scale and is often the result of the designers just trying to do something new and different. And as there are more hack designers than genius ones, the buildings typically look ugly and date quickly. Buildings designed for totalitarian government like the Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were typically designed to celebrate the State and make the individual seem unimportant.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | February 26, 2021 2:02 PM |
I seriously doubt you're an architect R16.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | February 26, 2021 7:38 PM |
Hitler breathed oxygen, so breathing oxygen makes you Hitler.
Hitler wrote a book, so writing a book makes you Hitler.
Hitler was a painter, so painting makes you Hitler.
Doing anything Hitler does makes you Hitler.
If you have the same letters in your name in any order, you're Hitler.
You're Hitler, I'm Hitler, we're all Hitler!
Everybody's Hitler!
Hitler Hitler Hitler!
by Anonymous | reply 18 | February 26, 2021 7:42 PM |
Glad this got canned. It stunk of Third Reich aesthetic requirements. Next would have come the uniforms for the federal employees.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | February 26, 2021 7:57 PM |
The order should have stayed. There is no reason government buildings, or any buildings for that matter, need to look like Jenga stacks.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | February 26, 2021 8:02 PM |
It looks silly when you build completely new buildings in classical or other historical styles (Georgian, etc.). It's like someone winning the lottery and building his idea of a "mansion" from scratch. It's gauche, in a way. It suggests that the person is a provincial moron who doesn't know about contemporary architecture, and when it can be good and better suited for contemporary needs. Or it's like a McMansion with state-of-the-art home electronics (e.g., a rollaway OLED): it just looks absurd.
Restoring buildings built in classical styles, however, is fine with me. Like the Moynihan terminal. They didn't have good contemporary architecture when they built those buildings, usually.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | February 26, 2021 8:06 PM |
That's a false choice as you've posed it, OP. Brutalism is not an architectural style that's much proposed or built any more.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | February 26, 2021 8:08 PM |
R17- YES BITCH.. I am a practicing Architect and a successful one at that. My work has been published in numerous magazines and I lecture to organizations and college students interested in studying architecture. So kiss my ass.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | March 1, 2021 1:48 PM |
Classical architecture is great. Brutalist buildings are fine, too.
What is ABHORRENT is glass and steel. That’s the default now for new buildings of all purposes. Trump was actually on the right track here. (He was also right about critical race theory and transwomen competing in women’s sports.) We need less shit that looks like this:
by Anonymous | reply 24 | March 1, 2021 1:56 PM |
It's not either or OP.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | March 1, 2021 2:10 PM |
Uh, I think that architectural aesthetics are among the least of our concerns right now. The deadly pandemic, catastrophic economic circumstances, and rightwing neo-nazi movement are of more to concern to me.
I'm putting this one firmly in the column of 'Whatever, who cares.'
by Anonymous | reply 26 | March 1, 2021 2:19 PM |
Brutalism is beautiful. I have specifically traveled to Skopje multiple times to admire the exquisite architecture in the city. Tallinn, Rīga and Vilnius also have stunning brutalist buildings, but sadly many of them have not been well maintained. Yerevan has done a better job of keeping its Soviet architecture intact; Baku has a fascinating mix of UNESCO old town, Soviet government buildings and ultra-modern additions to the skyline.
Obviously a big fan and am thrilled to hear this news.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | March 1, 2021 2:33 PM |
Forcing “classical” architecture would have ended up with a lot of poorly and cheaply-done, hideous, historicist garbage. Now, we are free to have poorly and cheaply-done, hideous garbage of any style!
by Anonymous | reply 28 | March 1, 2021 2:35 PM |
So called MODERN architecture is UGLY.
Almost anything built after world war two is just POST WAR BLIGHT.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | March 1, 2021 2:37 PM |
Most of these replies are very predictable.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | March 1, 2021 2:39 PM |
[quote] There are dozens of cool examples of Brutalist architecture around the world. Trump is an idiot!
"There are dozens of us! Dozens!"
by Anonymous | reply 31 | March 1, 2021 3:06 PM |
We certainly don't need to spend taxpayer money to build palaces like Trump wanted, but it's a very simple matter for Pres. Biden to let the people who choose the architects to build government buildings to come up with a design that is utilitarian and cost effective, but attractive as well. Besides, I dare say these brutalist buildings probably didn't cost much or any less than much nicer looking buildings. We all know how things work when the government is paying the bill.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | March 1, 2021 3:35 PM |
Thank God! I want to keep designing people friendly places that say "comfortable" for my buildings, with shade and benches.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | March 1, 2021 3:48 PM |
How about 21st century architecture? It's not that bad and is specifically designed to work with contemporary building materials and practices.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | March 1, 2021 3:54 PM |
Today I learned when you're an architect with a capital A - Architect - this means you're a practicing and successful member of the profession published in numerous magazines and lecturing to organizations and college students interested in studying architecture. Or is that Architecture?
by Anonymous | reply 35 | March 1, 2021 4:00 PM |
Trump wanted to make a Germania...didn’t quite go the way he planned.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | March 1, 2021 4:02 PM |
I think people want buildings that'll be around for centuries, like the White House, but that's not how it works when it comes to new federal buildings: they have to accommodate newer building infrastructure, technologies, and sensibilities (fire safety, fiber optical cable, energy efficiency including new insulation, refreshing coworking spaces with natural light and excellent air circulation, green roofs, etc.).
The best will stick around for centuries, but most aren't meant for that. Keep the best, but move on with changing needs with new buildings.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | March 1, 2021 4:09 PM |
Yes, there are only two types of architecture.
by Anonymous | reply 39 | March 1, 2021 4:22 PM |
A bit too much Gehry on that AD list, but nice to see the variety. Fascists hate eclecticism.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | March 1, 2021 4:30 PM |
This kind of bullshit should be against the law. Whoever chose this stupid design for a medical building should be locked up.
by Anonymous | reply 41 | March 1, 2021 4:35 PM |
Eclecticism is no use for polluting the skylines with ugly crap.
Postwar London is even worse. Beautiful buildings that survived the blitz are being replaced with ugly, focus group approved, soulless corporate fart-outs.
by Anonymous | reply 42 | March 1, 2021 4:38 PM |
No use = no excuse
by Anonymous | reply 43 | March 1, 2021 4:38 PM |
OP, Biden is just trying to open the way to Ancient Sumerian.
It is the DL SIGNATURE architectural style.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | March 1, 2021 4:39 PM |
Trump didn't know a fucking thing about Federal architecture nor how Federal buildings are designed with input from private sector architects and the community these days.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | March 1, 2021 5:46 PM |
R8, you seem unaware that Hitler and Stalin (and Franco for that matter) patronized and promoted Classical styles of architecture. They wanted to connect their regimes to older cultures and their monuments. They disliked modernism, and styles like Brutalism weren't even around then. The ugliness you see in Budapest and elsewhere is coming from other impulses (mostly just cheapness).
Likewise dictators and other such riffraff nowadays prefer Classical styles; even when they put up a grim black glass box on 5th Avenue they furnish it with their idea of what Nero or Louis XIV would have enjoyed.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | March 1, 2021 6:02 PM |
So pleased to see the Seattle Public Library on the list at R38. Honestly, I found it to be one of the most amazing buildings I've ever seen in my life.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | March 2, 2021 6:02 AM |
I'm inspired by the new electrographic architecture and Japanese minimalism.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | March 2, 2021 6:16 AM |
No one should ever listen to that man's opinions on buildings.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | March 2, 2021 6:41 AM |
[quote] Brutalism is beautiful. I have specifically traveled to Skopje multiple times to admire the exquisite architecture in the city. Tallinn, Rīga and Vilnius also have stunning brutalist buildings, but sadly many of them have not been well maintained.
Does Brutalist need more maintenance than Non-Brutalist, R27?
by Anonymous | reply 50 | March 2, 2021 7:22 AM |
Neither Biden, nor whoever wrote this order and put it in front of him to sign, give a damn about architectural styles. It's just pettiness.
by Anonymous | reply 51 | March 2, 2021 7:44 AM |
Actually, fuck you, r51. Trump's order was presumptuous and unnecessary. Choice of architectural style can be made on a case by case basis and Biden understands that. He's not consumed by egotism to the extent that he has to decree the architectural styles of hypothetical buildings.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | March 2, 2021 7:50 AM |
Brutalist architecture is also my absolute favourite. Everyone i mention it to thinks I’m weird for it. But I adore it.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | March 2, 2021 8:36 AM |
[Quote] [R17]- YES BITCH.. I am a practicing Architect and a successful one at that. My work has been published in numerous magazines
Hmm. I have to go with R17 on this one.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | March 2, 2021 8:45 AM |
[quote] Brutalist architecture is also my absolute favourite
Yes R53. I adored Brutalism from age 23 to age 27. Then I matured.
by Anonymous | reply 55 | March 2, 2021 9:01 AM |
[quote] Biden understands that. He's not consumed by egotism
Do you know that already?
by Anonymous | reply 56 | March 2, 2021 10:09 PM |
[quote] I actually love Brutalism
Can you share an example of your love with us, R1?
[quote] There are dozens of cool examples of Brutalist architecture around the world.
Can you share an example of that "coolness" with us, R9?
[quote] How about 21st century architecture? It's not that bad
Can you share an example of that "not badness" with us, R34?
by Anonymous | reply 57 | March 2, 2021 10:17 PM |
Conservatives are Philistines. Trump was just pandering. His own buildings are boring modernist.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | March 4, 2021 8:32 AM |
I love love Brutalism as well. Stop putting words in our mouths just because you don't understand what you see and think the height of architecture is a Victorian home filled with antiques and doilies.
by Anonymous | reply 59 | March 4, 2021 10:00 AM |
I think they should be built in an art nouveau style. Or maybe like Italian villas with amazing gardens.
by Anonymous | reply 60 | March 4, 2021 2:22 PM |
I wouldn't want to live in a city or suburban area where *everything* was done in Brutalist style, but I do appreciate it's neutral, monolithic appearance. I think it's great for places like art museums, college campuses, and office buildings. It has a timeless and functional look to it, whereas many of the buildings I've seen go up in my city throughout the 80's, 90's, and early 2000's look really dated and tacky already.
by Anonymous | reply 61 | March 4, 2021 3:46 PM |
I despise le Corbusier style bleak anthill architecture. It's made of slabs of naked concrete so it's going to last a long bloody time, too, we're stuck with it for generations.
by Anonymous | reply 62 | March 4, 2021 6:19 PM |