The Year 'Magatecture' consumed the White House

"All the changes to the White House over the past year read like a reality TV drama. Clashes with architects. A lawsuit over the East Wing demolition. Paving over the beloved Rose Garden and turning it into an exclusive club. President Trump's promise (or was it a threat?) to make federal buildings beautiful again primarily played out at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."

"It is tradition for presidents to redecorate the White House-the Oval Office and first family's private quarters typically get a refresh with each incoming administration-but for the most part, they serve as stewards of a public building. The White House of modern memory is largely the result of Jackie Kennedy's belief that it should be a living museum furnished with the finest American art, furniture, and decorative objects."

"What separates the renovations happening today from the ones of the past is just how slapdash they are. Trump seems keen on making his mark with little regard for design integrity-taping up a paper sign with "Oval Office" printed in gold Shelly Script, affixing gaudy gilded appliqués on just about any empty surface, and releasing error-laden digital renderings of the new ballroom with stairs leading to nowhere and misaligned windows."

"Ranking near the top of the downgrades is the refurbished Lincoln Bathroom, once a subtly art deco interior with seafoam green tile (courtesy of the Truman renovation) now sheathed in white statuary marble and accented with gold fixtures, like a three-star hotel powder room. Trump speaks the language of opulence, with little grasp of the vocabulary that makes rooms designed to this sensibility actuall"

Renovations at the White House have become conspicuously theatrical, featuring clashes with architects, legal disputes, and restricted public spaces. The changes embody a "Magatecture" aesthetic defined by largeness, gilding, and monetization. Presidential redecorations traditionally refreshed private quarters while preserving public stewardship and historical furnishings established by Jackie Kennedy and earlier Truman-era reconstruction. Recent work departs from careful preservation and exhibits slapdash execution: taped signage, gilded applique9s, flawed digital renderings, and a Lincoln Bathroom transformed from art deco seafoam tile to white statuary marble with gold fixtures. The result prioritizes ostentation over coherent design vocabulary.

Read at Fast Company