Biden Just Purged The Arts Commission That Advises Congress On Public Architecture

[ffr]

"Should we not receive your resignation, your position with the Commission will be terminated effective 6:00 pm tonight."

Shubow, appointed to chair the commission by former President Donald Trump in 2018, declined the invitation.
-snip-

A known hater of modern architecture, Shubow helped craft Trump's controversial executive order intended to promote neoclassical architecture as the official style for federal buildings in Washington and at new federal courthouses elsewhere. - NPR

Shhhhhh!

[maxsolomon]

1. OMG he's JUST LIKE STALIN

It will be a Brutalist HELLSCAPE!

[Ocelot II]

2. Trump hired that guy only because he couldn't get Albert Speer.

I'm glad Biden sacked him.

[Ilsa]

41. My first thought as well.

I bet Needy Amin would have liked to have built a super-dome arena that could hold half a million losers. Like Hitler's design, it would have it's own weather phenomenon to deal with.

[dalton99a]

3. Trump appointees are MAGA trash.

Get rid of them ASAP.

[Maraya1969]

4. I don't understand much of this but does it have anything to do with not wanting

new buildings to look like this:

[Maraya1969]

5. I just noticed Malala's dress and how it flares unnaturally out. I bet they put

metal coat hangers in there somehow to make it look like that.

[ProfessorGAC]

6. A Wire Attached To The Chair Is My Guess

Nice catch, BTW.

[Hekate]

19. That's what I've always thought, because nothing else (ie her hair) is blowing, so no fan nt

[canetoad]

49. It's a cardboard cut-out

Shhh!

[Hekate]

51. Sounds likely: she projects that much life and soul.

[Pinback]

12. God, that scene looks like it was directed by David Lynch.

Truly the stuff of nightmares.

[Metro135]

24. Or Diane Arbus

[Pinback]

36. Ha, yes. (nt)

[Sibelius Fan]

7. How sad that the toy cars the kid plays with are limos.

[Maraya1969]

34. Yes, He probably would have more fun with toy dump trucks.

[Lonestarblue]

11. Tasteless, ugly room!

Given Trump’s lack of taste, I hope Biden’s team changes the paint design Trump approved for the new Air Force 1. The current AF1 looks majestic. The Trump one looks boring.

?quality=85&width=1920&quality=70

[jmowreader]

14. He only did it that way...

...because they wouldn't let him write "Trump" on it.

[DENVERPOPS]

21. With a few minor changes

at the last minute before painting it could resemble the Russian Flag.........

[Hekate]

23. That decor is grotesque. It's wretched excess at its worst. Iconic Donald...

...and he’s the only one smiling.

Speaking of iconic Donald, did Mary Trump ever address his habitual seated pose with his hands in front of his crotch? Is he displaying or defending or both?

[Ocelot II]

37. Versailles redecorated by Saddam Hussein's pimp is the best description I've seen.

[GoCubsGo]

26. He and Limbaugh must have used the same decorator.

As Variety put it, the place was "bizarre and effeminate." (I highly recommend reading the whole description. It's hilarious!)

?w=263

[Pinback]

44. Hilarious writing. Thanks. (nt)

[bucolic_frolic]

29. Don't miss the apparently domed ceiling inside the square, middle at the top

These people need a psychiatric evaluation. Frightening that interior design seems normal to anyone.

[gohuskies]

8. Magats love fascist architecture

No surprise Shubow was enamored of Il Duce style architecture

[lpbk2713]

9. Purge all Trump appointees and all other dead weight.

In all US Govt departments, bureaus, commissions, boards, councils and agencies.

[calimary]

20. ALL of them. In EVERY department. At EVERY level.

Clean house, Joe! Get rid of the rest of the infestation. Political termites they are. Hellbent on undermining (at the least) and destroying (at the most) from within.

Get rid of them ALL!

[lpbk2713]

39. Eliminate the rotten apples.

They are security leaks at the very least. They can pass
on what they know to any entity that can cause harm.

[calimary]

43. Or give them a heads-up to help them hide/destroy potential evidence.

[karin_sj]

10. Good! Now do the same with DeJoy!!

[Hekate]

28. He has a term of office, like the FBI Director. Apparently the process to get rid of him is for...

...the USPS Board to vote to do it.

However, something I have never seen addressed in the news media, is my suspicion is that he has broken actual laws by what he has done and is doing.

Again however, Trump broke the government in many ways, and I think a lot of Inspectors General were purged in the Stalinistic sense. Joe is cleaning house, but it’s a bigger task than breaking things.

[AZLD4Candidate]

13. NPR says Biden is "purging people?" That's a rather slanted way of saying it

That completely invokes Stalinist ideas.

Good job, NPR. You just gave right wing echo chambers its newest talking point.

[Hekate]

31. "Joe's cleaning house.... A new broom sweeps clean" is better phrasing than "purging."

More accurate, too.

[NBachers]

35. National rePublican Radio - I can usually last 20 seconds before I slam the radio off in disgust.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

15. Modernest architect Howard Roark in Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" eschewed neoclassical architecture

for not representing the spirit and needs of the modern man. Roark believes in himself, he knows himself to be creative, genius and singularly focused and hard-working. All of those values go against the mantra that Ellsworth Toohey is trying to spread through society -- that conformity, mediocrity and banality are the values that must accepted, and reflected in its architecture. Toohy has never created anything, but is determined to destroy Roark and all he stands for.

When a government building Roark designed which had already been accepted by the government was subsequently "improved" by a committee by adding Greek columns, Roman fascades, etc., he blew it up.

I still shudder to think that T***** might have snuck through his design for the Air Force One livery as one of his final acts of destruction.

[Ursus Rex]

27. The article states that the prior guy was following directives to promote NeoClassical.

I think the NC style is beautiful, and lot of current designs look like suburban insurance agency offices, but I'd bet that the reason for promoting "NeoClassical" was to inspire more Plantation Nouveau.

[Initech]

16. Ugly rooms! Ugly buildings! I have the best taste in architecture! SAD!

OWNED!!!

[BobTheSubgenius]

17. Yeah. Exactly.

Needs a couple of onion domes and some obviously fake gilt. Oceans of gilt paint.

[Initech]

30. His decorating style I like to call "dictator chic".

I mean seriously that just oozes class doesn't it? And it wouldn't be out of place in any third world country.

[Hekate]

32. That it is

[Tree Lady]

40. That is beyond ugly

And I bet it costs a fortune.

[Initech]

42. Lewis Black had a bit one time:

"Can you guess which of these gaudy palaces belongs to Saddam Hussein and which one belongs to Donald Trump? That's a trick question - they're both Trump's!"

[BobTheSubgenius]

50. I described it as Versailles throwing up in a brothel.

[Cha]

18. Another braindead Zombie

Gone!

TY Pres Biden & frr!

[ffr]

46. Not just one braindead Zombie, Cha, more than one!

One of the three commissioners asked to resign, landscape architect Perry Guillot, says he was "disappointed" to receive the letter but accepts the decision that his position has been terminated. He was appointed to the commission by Trump and began his term in January.

Bye-bye Guilliot! Your loyal stint to the orange stain is over!!!

[Cha]

47. TY!

[chocolatpi]

22. Thank the gods, the Biden Administration is proving it

is very high energy and a master on the political stage.

[hibbing]

25. Wish we could do something about hostile architecture n/t

[Hortensis]

33. 1962's now-unpurged "GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR FEDERAL ARCHITECTURE""

Two of three principles of architecture in a democracy of, by and for the people, written by (obviously liberal) Daniel Patrick Moynihan, originally in a report to President Kennedy:

The policy shall be to provide requisite and adequate facilities in an architectural style and form which is distinguished and which will reflect the dignity, enterprise, vigor, and stability of the American National Government. Major emphasis should be placed on the choice of designs that embody the finest contemporary American architectural thought. Specific attention should be paid to the possibilities of incorporating into such designs qualities which reflect the regional architectural traditions of that part of the Nation in which buildings are located. Where appropriate, fine art should be incorporated in the designs, with emphasis on the work of living American artists. Designs shall adhere to sound construction practice and utilize materials, methods and equipment of proven dependability. Buildings shall be economical to build, operate and maintain, and should be accessible to the handicapped.

The development of an official style must be avoided. Design must flow from the architectural profession to the Government. and not vice versa. The Government should be willing to pay some additional cost to avoid excessive uniformity in design of Federal buildings. Competitions for the design of Federal buildings may be held where appropriate. The advice of distinguished architects ought to, as a rule, be sought prior to the award of important design contracts.

https://www.gsa.gov/real-estate/design-construction/design-excellence/design-excellence-program/guiding-principles-for-federal-architecture?utm_medium=website&utm_source=archdaily.com

Every word is incompatible with an authoritarian state.

[Hekate]

38. That's really impressive. I was a youngster in 1962, so never heard of this report...

...especially as so much was cast into shadow by the events of the next year. I know who Moynihan is, though —

[Hortensis]

48. Me either. Trump's authoritarian imposition of a state-

ordered style was immediately recognized by many for what it was, and that's when I first read about the standard being replaced, of freedom of architectural expression appropriate to a free society.