Trump’s proposal for federal building architecture is wrong
Your Turn
Some things are better left buried in the past.
At a time when our country is exploding with new forms of design and creativity reflecting the progress of our American ideals, a proposed executive order would take architectural design back two centuries.
Called “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again,” this proposed policy would require our government to rewrite the Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture, issued in 1962, to ensure the classical style rooted in the pantheons of Greek and Roman history be the preferred and default style of new or renovated federal buildings and courthouses where the costs exceed $50 million. This is bad policy. The Guiding Principles now in place note that “an official style [of architecture] must be avoided,” and that new buildings should reflect their time: “Design must flow from the architecture profession to the government. And not vice versa.”
Symbols matter. Art matters. The way our public buildings look matters. They are a reflection of who we are as a society, and what we are striving to become at a particular time in our history.
Ironically, the news of this proposed order comes during Black History Month. The lingering memories of these classical forms of architecture evoke the South during the times of slavery, along with knowledge that slaves built many of the nation’s capital buildings.
To declare during Black History Month that new or renovated federal buildings take on this character is insensitive to the AfricanAmerican experience, and to the American experience.
Black history, after all, is American history. The use of classical forms for modern federal courthouses will serve to intimidate people in the legal process; they’re more likely to remind people of the roots of slavery — the big house on plantations — more than they would inspire people to remember the roots of western civilization.
Why is this happening? Apparently, the order says the federal government has “largely stopped building beautiful buildings that the American people want to look at or work in.”
I understand why our country’s first public buildings used Greco-Roman design. At the time our country was founded, with a new form of government, our leaders looked for architectural expression in the empires of
Greece and Rome as a symbol of emerging greatness for America. Decorating federal buildings with Ionic columns and Greek capitals spoke to their desire to be preeminent among the world’s countries.
Today, America is preeminent among the world’s countries. We don’t need the bones of dead empires to build our future anymore.
Look, we are awed by the great buildings and monuments of our time because they speak to us across the ages. Some buildings are preserved so we may remember. Others are demolished so we can forget.
The government’s top architect gets it — David Insinga, chief architect of the General Services Adminstration, reportedly resigned in protest.
Reports of the proposed order’s reach vary. But it’s not hard to imagine the impact such an order could have had on the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. Designed by architects Sir David Adjaye, Phil Freelon and J. Max Bond, this well-crafted, symbolic icon has won accolades from around the world.
The National Museum of the American Indian, designed entirely by Native architects, is one of Washington D.C.’s most visually striking buildings. The NMAI is a visually beautiful building, with curvilinear forms resembling rock formations eroded over time by wind and water.
Had this order been in place, both would be behind pillars. To stymie the creativity that captured and portrayed the history of African-Americans and Native Americans in these architectural gems would have buried them in classical graves that express someone else’s worldview.
The American Institute of Architects has condemned the proposed policy: “The AIA strongly opposes the uniform style of mandates for federal architecture. Architecture should be designed for the specific communities that it serves, reflecting our rich nation’s diverse places, thought, culture and climates. Architects are committed to honoring our past as well as reflecting our future progress, protecting the freedoms of thought and expression that are essential to democracy.”
I agree. As an African-American architect that has spent a career creating spaces and buildings that reflect diverse communities from Detroit to Atlanta to Las Vegas, I understand the power of design to reflect our better angels and our highest ideals.
Let the past stay buried in the past. Don’t implement this proposed policy, and let us continue creating public buildings that reflect who we are today, as we build a brighter future for all Americans together.
Rainy Hamilton is principal-in-charge and president of HamiltonAnderson Architects.