Posted on 10/17/2020 11:25:29 AM PDT by Kaslin
Since the overwhelming majority of Americans have proven time and time again that they prefer traditional architecture, why do government agencies force ugly buildings on the American people?
A new study finds 72 percent of Americans prefer traditional architecture for U.S. courthouses and federal office buildings, including majorities across political, racial, sex, and socioeconomic categories. The survey was conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of National Civic Art Society and polled more than 2,000 U.S. adults.
These findings come in light of the possibility of a Trump administration executive order, appropriately named Make Federal Buildings Beautiful Again, that would require that new office buildings in Washington, D.C. be classical in design. Among other things, the order would revise the 1962 “Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture,” which forced modernism to be the official government building style. In response to the leak of the potential order, a bill entitled the “Democracy in Design Act” was proposed by House Democrats to overturn it.
However, based on the study, it appears Trump’s potential executive order would be happily received by a majority of Americans, with traditional architecture the clear winner for all demographic groups, including sex, age, geographic region, household income, education, race/ethnicity, and political party affiliations.
The study showed participants seven pairs of images depicting U.S. courthouses and federal office buildings. Each pair presented one building in a traditional style and one building in a modern style. For each pair, the survey question was: “Which of these two buildings would you prefer for a U.S. courthouse or federal office building?”
The selected images were edited to ensure fair comparisons. Factors such as sky color, angle of photo, light conditions, distance from building, weather conditions, and the like were all controlled either perfectly (e.g., sky color) or as perfect as possible via “careful photo selection and editing.”
Below is an example of one of the survey’s image pairings:
The resounding preference for traditional design was soundly bipartisan, being favored by 73 percent of Republicans, 70 percent of Democrats, and 73 percent of independents.
Preference for traditional architecture is shared across generations, being the top choice of 77 percent of those aged 65 or older, and 68 percent of those aged 18-34.
Both men and women prefer traditional architecture, but women are more likely than men to want U.S. courthouses and federal office buildings to be traditional, at 77 percent versus 67 percent, respectively.
A fruit among the flowers, and a guy wearing a bedspread.
Even the county courthouse in Langdon, Cavalier County, North Dakota underwent a horrendous "improvement" in 63 short years. Here is the courthouse shortly after the town was settled. Built in 1895. Architect J. W. Ross.
Replaced with this disgusting thing in 1958, architect Foss & Company.
I had no idea “Brutalism” was the name of an architectural style. Those are the ugliest buildings ever made by man.
Makes me want to pull up a huge cannon and open fire as in THE PRIDE AND THE PASSION. Those wall designs remind me of a cheapo version of Avila, Spain.
***You will see such marvels as a scrap piece of plywood, with screws in it, and twine entitled “Constructing the Letter “H”.***
Reminds me of a “modern art” show I saw fifty years ago in Tulsa OK. It consisted of a short “I” beam, sawed through the top “T”, to to the bottom part of the beam, bent down, and spray painted. The critics loved it.
I had been doing steel work like that in a hot structural steel fabrication shop with no credit as the parts were bolted into building structures.
I am reminded of what one “artist” said about his work....”Everything I SPIT is ART!
Classic architecture speaks of endurance, stability, and permanence.
‘Corporate’ designs look well in business parks, before the storm.
Government Center in Boston: ugliest of the uglies.
flr- ping
Wright pulled houses back from the street too - to isolate the people living inside from the community. Then opened up the inside so no one had privacy unless they were in their bedroom.
I had a theory years ago Wright was a sociopath pervert... I’ve forgotten my ‘proof’ but it seemed plausible at the time.
Oh, wow, that’s awful. The new one looks like an elementary school.
Ugly buildings are easier and cheaper to build and don't require as much skilled labor. Also, there are government buildings intentionally ugly to keep people away... to make citizens uncomfortable if they come close.
I was with a friend years ago and he was showing me a new downtown government building and asked what I thought of it. Since I knew he had been in on the design I tried to think of something nice to say and hemmed and hawed for a while - then he said, "You think it's ugly don't you?" And I said, 'yes but I'm sure other people will like it'. Then he went through a check list of all the things done to make people uncomfortable to come close to the building - even including the extreme up-lighting against the stark structure that would cast long shadows on the wall of a person walking on the sidewalk.
There's actually an 'art' to creating buildings that make people uncomfortable...
Jack Kemp had one of the best lines about the “Brutalist” architecture of the HUD building.
“10 floors of basement.”
It is indeed gorgeous. Looks like it should be sitting beside a canal in Venice (Italy!, not Venice, CA).
I have done building engineering report surveys of many of the federal building in downtown DC. Not only are the Brutalist buildings of the 60s and 70s butt ugly, there are also maintenance and energy nightmares. They have little or no insulation and are extremely drafty.
Sounds fascinating!
Once I proudly took visitors from Rome, Italy to see "one of the oldest public buildings in the U.S.", which was Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the Constitution was signed. They were very polite, but it was all they could do to suppress their eyerolls at the great age of a building from the mid-18th century! LOL! I quickly realized my gaffe. Saint Paul walked on many of the same stones in the streets of Rome that are still there...
LOL! Brilliant!
A New England saltbox is my favorite style when it comes to residential homes.
I also love Dutch Colonial. I guess that comes from having grown up in NY State.
The buildings posted on this thread ... just eeeewwww.
Hilarious!
On a trip through Tuscany, we stopped by a house that had “1492” on the façade. Curious, I asked the owner if that was the address. It was the date of construction, of course.
It’s easy to forget how long ago Columbus sailed across the Atlantic. Our crazy-ass world of today judges him and subsequent events based upon today’s address and not the date of construction.
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