Architectural critics are drawn back to Trump’s proposed Washington, DC projects rather than broader positive shifts in architecture such as adaptive reuse and affordable housing. A planned 250-foot triumphal arch modeled on Paris’s Arc de Triomphe is described as absurd and tacky, featuring gilded lettering and a large statue. The building frenzy is framed as motivated by real-estate value, with Trump calling the construction “real estate” and promising it will be “amazing.” His presidential library is portrayed as a hotel-based knock-off of One World Trade Center. The approach is characterized as 1980s-style spectacle, using arches, ballrooms, and even lines for the White House to create controlled, attention-grabbing experiences.
"He is also jonesing to build a kind of knock-off One World Trade Center (but this time, of course, with a hotel) as his presidential library (perfect for a man who probably hasn't read a book in 30 years), driving home that he is, above all, a developer at heart. His understanding of power derives from this fundamental belief that to control the land is to control the world."
#washington-dc-architecture #trump-real-estate-development #monumental-design #adaptive-reuse-and-affordable-housing #political-symbolism
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