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Biden Tosses Trump's Classical Architecture Order

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.

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by Anonymousreply 62March 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 Anonymousreply 1February 25, 2021 7:32 PM

It's not a binary choice between classical and brutalist, OP.

by Anonymousreply 2February 25, 2021 7:33 PM

(If it were, I'd be with you.)

by Anonymousreply 3February 25, 2021 7:33 PM

They were eyesores then and they are eyesores now.

by Anonymousreply 4February 25, 2021 7:35 PM

Hitler preferred classical architecture.

by Anonymousreply 5February 25, 2021 7:38 PM

Hitler also was a vegetarian. Don't be Hitler: eat meat.

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by Anonymousreply 6February 25, 2021 7:40 PM

Stalin would have loved brutalism.

by Anonymousreply 7February 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 Anonymousreply 8February 25, 2021 7:53 PM

There are dozens of cool examples of Brutalist architecture around the world. Trump is an idiot!

by Anonymousreply 9February 26, 2021 10:14 AM

I don't mind it.

by Anonymousreply 10February 26, 2021 10:26 AM

Even the name of the order sounds like something from Borat’s Kazakhstan: Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture.

by Anonymousreply 11February 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 Anonymousreply 12February 26, 2021 11:37 AM

R7, actually Stalinist architecture was Neoclassical inspired.

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by Anonymousreply 13February 26, 2021 11:43 AM

We love 'em in DC -- and we don't care what you think.

by Anonymousreply 14February 26, 2021 1:52 PM

Shitler needed an exec order for this?

by Anonymousreply 15February 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 Anonymousreply 16February 26, 2021 2:02 PM

I seriously doubt you're an architect R16.

by Anonymousreply 17February 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 Anonymousreply 18February 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 Anonymousreply 19February 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 Anonymousreply 20February 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 Anonymousreply 21February 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 Anonymousreply 22February 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 Anonymousreply 23March 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:

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by Anonymousreply 24March 1, 2021 1:56 PM

It's not either or OP.

by Anonymousreply 25March 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 Anonymousreply 26March 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 Anonymousreply 27March 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 Anonymousreply 28March 1, 2021 2:35 PM

So called MODERN architecture is UGLY.

Almost anything built after world war two is just POST WAR BLIGHT.

by Anonymousreply 29March 1, 2021 2:37 PM

Most of these replies are very predictable.

by Anonymousreply 30March 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 Anonymousreply 31March 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 Anonymousreply 32March 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.

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by Anonymousreply 33March 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 Anonymousreply 34March 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 Anonymousreply 35March 1, 2021 4:00 PM

Trump wanted to make a Germania...didn’t quite go the way he planned.

by Anonymousreply 36March 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.

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by Anonymousreply 37March 1, 2021 4:09 PM

Excellent buildings of all styles.

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by Anonymousreply 38March 1, 2021 4:11 PM

Yes, there are only two types of architecture.

by Anonymousreply 39March 1, 2021 4:22 PM

A bit too much Gehry on that AD list, but nice to see the variety. Fascists hate eclecticism.

by Anonymousreply 40March 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.

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by Anonymousreply 41March 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 Anonymousreply 42March 1, 2021 4:38 PM

No use = no excuse

by Anonymousreply 43March 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 Anonymousreply 44March 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 Anonymousreply 45March 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 Anonymousreply 46March 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 Anonymousreply 47March 2, 2021 6:02 AM

I'm inspired by the new electrographic architecture and Japanese minimalism.

by Anonymousreply 48March 2, 2021 6:16 AM

No one should ever listen to that man's opinions on buildings.

by Anonymousreply 49March 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 Anonymousreply 50March 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 Anonymousreply 51March 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 Anonymousreply 52March 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 Anonymousreply 53March 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 Anonymousreply 54March 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 Anonymousreply 55March 2, 2021 9:01 AM

[quote] Biden understands that. He's not consumed by egotism

Do you know that already?

by Anonymousreply 56March 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 Anonymousreply 57March 2, 2021 10:17 PM

Conservatives are Philistines. Trump was just pandering. His own buildings are boring modernist.

by Anonymousreply 58March 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 Anonymousreply 59March 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 Anonymousreply 60March 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 Anonymousreply 61March 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 Anonymousreply 62March 4, 2021 6:19 PM
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