The Beaux Arts/ Classical Revival movement had its day in the sun after the Neo-classical Great White City in Chicago built for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. The monumental buildings were clad in white plaster to simulate marble, They lasted for only a short time. But afterwards, leading firms of the time such as McKim, Mead, and White, Peabody & Stearns, and others embraced and spread the Classical Revival gospel across the country. Public and institutional buildings popped up in the Classically inspired Beaux Arts style in many cities because Classicism suggests permanence and timeless design. During this turn of the last century phase, even lavish private residences took on the temple forms that were popular during the Greek Revival antebellum period. A friend of mine refers to these latter day residential Classical piles as "Greek Revival-revivals". But again, architectural tastes continued to evolve and change over time. The 1920's German Bauhaus movement and emerging Prairie school movement blended and evolved into the modern International Style of the 1930's to 1960's. Art Deco was an offshoot, but it was cut short by the Great Depression and WWII.
The minimalist trend reached a peak in the aptly named Brutalist design movement of the 1960's and '70's along with modern abstraction in architecture exemplified by the Los Angeles Terminal Building with its flying saucer design. A characteristic of more recent architectural design is the liberty of free form in design not necessarily tied to styles of the past. Therefore, it seems odd to read that a president has declared by decree a return to Classical forms from the turn of the last century. That said, Classical design, derived from the architectural design of ancient Greece and Rome does impart an air of Imperialism and permanence. Adolph Hitler's influential planner and architect Albert Speer used Classical idioms on a grand scale that would glorify the country's leader and affirm the belief that the third Reich would stand for another 1,000 years.
In light of this new decree, I can see architectural parodies of Classical design emeging that are made of plastic, metal, and glass. As others have opined, I seriously doubt there will be much of an architectural legacy of Classically inspired government buildings built during this administration due to budgetary constraints. I personally appreciate and admire the remaining old Beaux arts courthouses and public buildings like our old post office that we're fortunate to still have. I expect that mainstream architecture will slowly continue to evolve and may increasingly reflect a coming age of scarcity of materials and high construction costs. "Green design" is continuing to grow in importance. The technology of 3-D printing used for construction purposes may be an important component of construction in the (near) future. Therefore, this oddball insistence on returning to Classical design is likely to be nothing more than a minor footnote in architectural history. Our democracy isn't ready for latter day emperors, yet. When I start seeing people on the street clad in Togas, I may change my mind.
- renamerusk likes this