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.
When teaching children to appreciate art it is important to encourage them to identify one aspect of a piece they find pleasing or distasteful.Art is about connecting good or bad.
You will see such marvels as a scrap piece of plywood, with screws in it, and twine entitled “Constructing the Letter “H”.
My rule of thumb is, "If it's something even I could make, it ain't art." Since I can at least draw stick figures, I'd say that puts me one up on "modern artists".
Because nothing new has happened in architecture in the last 100 years or so.
The ugliness, brutality, and emptiness are a reflection of the moral relativism that dominates the “Arts”.
Modern architecture is done with Computer Aided Design. Computers are great for angles more than for curves. I postulate that architects who use CAD to design buildings are not as good at architecture that is drawn with pencil.
As far as government buildings, everyone knows that designs are chosen based on factors not necessarily including architectural skill. Such factors would include things like family relationships, political contributions, favors granted or owed, and some others that have nothing whatsoever to do with ability.
Some modern architecture looks nice and inviting - windows that let in a lot of natural light and an interesting use of geometric shapes. But some of it is ugly and does not seem accommodating to the people who will use the building. I also think it is pointless to make a modern building that looks like an ancient Greek temple. I guess I don’t like either extreme.
Both those buildings are butt ugly
The painting of Obama is funny and mildly alarming - he looks like he is about to be engulfed by the plants all around him.
Yes. Novelty for the sake of novelty is a cancer. It affects all the visual arts. It afflicts music. And it has infected the humanities and social sciences in academia, where it is boosted by the publish or perish syndrome. In mature fields, it is difficult to impossible to find a truly new insight, and one eventually reaches limits on how many years one can spend researching in a desperate attempt to find a new source worthy of being explored. The goal should be to develop erudition and a profound appreciation for a classical canon, and to become a worthy teacher and guide. Instead, we see graduate students and young academics flocking to garbage studies to do something new and, they think, transgressive.
How hard is it to place a crucifix into a jar of urine? Most people would never do that but an artist would.
One time my wife had a college assignment to visit an art museum. One room was dominated by 4 giant styrofoam boards 20 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet, arranged in a large square. As we were reviewing the museum guide a security guard came over and asked us not to sit on the artwork. Somebody got paid for arranging 4 huge pieces of styrofoam and calling it “sandwich”.
Not all modernist (or post-modernist) buildings are like that.
And open floor plans suck.
But ... tell us how you really feel ;-)
Agreed with what you said.
Considering what that houses, the architecture is fitting.
Amen.
But is FLW still considered modern?
I love his homes.
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