If I could write as well as R.R. Reno*, I would have said this decades ago—I read a lot of architecture magazines.
Nearly 3/4 of Americans (72%) – including majorities across political, racial/ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic lines – prefer traditional architecture for U.S. courthouses and federal office buildings. At least Americans can agree on ugly. National Civic Art Society/Harris Survey Shows Americans Overwhelmingly Prefer Traditional Architecture for Federal Buildings — National Civic Art Society.
In the Dec. issue of First Things R.R. Reno comments: "Modern and postmodern architecture have no visual vocabulary for distinguishing civic from commercial life, which is why during the last 2 decades every attempt at grandeur has ended up looking like an airport terminal." . . . "Modern architecture of the International style can be elegant and pleasing. Its blank walls of glass are the perfect idiom for faceless modern corporations. Postmodern architecture can be ironic and clever, which is why our disenchanted elite like it so much. But these styles cannot speak a civic language, and this is why the public disfavors them and wishes our government would return to older ways of building."
I would disagree with Mr. Reno that it's only the last 2 decades. The most ugly architectural style for public buildings in my opinion is "brutalist," and it looks like it sounds. It's an assault on the eye, and must drive building managers crazy. In Columbus we have the Ohio History Center near the Fair Grounds, built in 1970, but it had become ubiquitous in the 1950s-1970. Very famous architects contributed to this horror. AIA gives them awards, probably because there's so much concrete in them, there's no way to get rid of them.
Antiracist Hysteria by R. R. Reno | Articles | First Things *Scroll to “While we’re at it.”
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