The Future of Architecture with a New Administration
If history tells us anything, the advent of a new Trump administration could have serious implications for the future of architecture in this country. Trump’s previous tenure in office saw several appointments to D.C. agencies that foretold a significant attitude change toward modern architecture. First, we might expect a repeat of Trump’s 2018/19 appointments to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in Washington. Starting with National Civic Arts Society President, Justin Shubow (2018), it was followed in 2019 with appointments of architects Duncan Stroik and James MCCrery, both faculty members of university programs at Notre Dame and Catholic University that focus almost entirely on classical architecture.
These appointments dealt almost entirely with vetting the designs on the Mall in the nation’s capital. One of the more high profile projects that received their blessing was the result of the World War I Memorial competition, a project that certainly fit the classical intent of the Arts Commission’s members. After a change in administrations, one of the first acts of the new Biden administration was to fire four of the “classical architecture” advocates who were members of the commission, replacing them with four new members led by architect Billie Tsien.
U.S. Federal Courthouse, Boston. Photo: courtesy Pei Cobb Freed
For architects, the elephant in the room could be the effect that changes at the top of the General Services Administration (GSA) may portend. It could well see the end of a vision supported early on by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who authored the 1961 study, “Guiding Principles of Public Architecture.” In calling for a new vision in the design of public buildings, away from the replication of classical architecture, Moynihan urged “that new buildings be the freshest and most relevant designs of the times, inspiring architects of each age to render a celebration of our democracy.” Beginning during the Kennedy administration, the selection of Harry Cobb of Pei Cobb Fried for the design of the U.S. Courthouse in Boston (above) was a certain sign of change. By the 1990s, the new “Design Excellence” program during the tenure of then GSA director, Edward Feiner, was established as part of the ultimate design selection process. One of the milestones during his tenure was the Eugene, Oregon federal courthouse competition, won by Morphosis (below) It broke markedly with the old classical tradition and set a new measure for federal building design.
Wayne L. Morse U.S. Courthouse, Eugene, Oregon Courtesy: Morphosis
Based on its history, the new Trump administration will undoubtedly seek to end this advancement in the history of public architecture, instead putting in place a system promising to be Prince Phillip on steroids.
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One thing about competitions, and having the fortunate experience I’ve
had, I’ve really learned that being ambitious for your client and society
is hugely important. – James Cheng
This is Thursday, April 11, 2024, and I am in the office of emersion DESIGN with architect James Cheng and J.T. Spence, the latter the former planner of the City of Covington, Kentucky, who was responsible for initiating the Covington Gateway Competition in 1993, won by James Cheng. -Ed
Architect James Cheng (left) Prof. John T. Spence (right)
COMPETITIONS: A question I almost always start off with: At what point in your early life did you decide to become an architect?
James Cheng: It really all started when I was in junior high and high school and really loved my art classes. So I told my dad, who was a chemical engineer, that I wanted to become an artist, and he said, there is no way I’m going to pay for you to become an artist. He had just come back from New Orleans where he saw all these starving artists painting and trying to sell their paintings. So he suggested that I try architecture. We did have a family friend who was an architect. So he had me talk to him, and my dad then found a program for rising high school seniors at Cornell—a little like a summer camp for architecture. This happened to be a wonderful fit for me; but I would not have known about it otherwise at the time. Having been involved in the Arts community, such as the Contemporary Art Center, I can see how difficult an artist’s life is. So I feel really fortunate that I ended up in the architecture profession.
COMPETITIONS: After Cornell, was the Covington competition the first one one you ever entered?
JC: No, I believe I entered a competition for Spectacle Island with some friends; and then there was a small house competition.
Model of Covington Gateway competition winner ©James Cheng
COMPETITIONS: As for the Covington competition, besides our announcement of it, it was pretty well publicized, even internationally. At that time the National Endowment for the Arts had begun to support competitions and may have provided some support for the Covington competition.
Covington Gateway competition diagrams ©James Cheng
J.T. Spence: Jeffry Ollswang (competition adviser) may have somehow been involved with that; but the City of Covington was responsible for the entire support of the competition. It was well publicized: we did posters and mailings, and we received 110 entries globally, from Australia, Japan and seven countries.
JC: I often went to the DAAP library (University of Cincinnati) and may have seen it in COMPETITIONS magazine there.
COMPETITIONS: We never met when you won the competition in Covington. But I was quite familiar with it as we had published an announcement about the competition in our magazine and I was present when the entries were set up for judging. I wondered that the Mayor of Covington never showed up for the events I attended, and thus thought this might be an unfortunate omen for the further development of the project.
JTS: That’s not as impactful as you might think, because Covington has a weak mayoral form of government. Moreover, our mayor had just returned from spending two weeks at the Mayors’ Institute of Design (in Washington) with its founder, Charleston Mayor, Joseph Riley. So he was very supportive of the idea of a competition. It was the other four elected officials that had no outward appreciation for what it meant. So I think they were less motivated to have the Mayor get credit for something in the city and (give the appearance of) diminishing their leadership role in the city.
COMPETITIONS: I was very aware of the mission of the Mayors’ Institute of Design. We were in continuous contact with the people who were running it at the time.
JTS: They gave us a very different vocabulary about what we were trying to get across to the elected officials, which was a vision of Covington’s future.
