We ought to reflect on the architectural symbols of Western civilization if we actually love it and are determined to preserve it for posterity. There is no reason to assume that we are at the end of history, as it were, so that the survival of civilization is a foregone conclusion. On the contrary, we must be ready to fight for it around the clock, since it has its declared and secret enemies all over the globe, both domestic and foreign—the fuss over former president Donald Trump’s Executive Order on Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture was far from accidental; it revealed that he had touched on something central in the ongoing culture war.
Modernist architecture is neither beautiful nor ugly. It is nothing. Nothing. However, insofar as it takes up space, it stands in the way of beauty. Apparently, the driving force in present-day design studios limits itself to the desire for (1) fame in collegial circles, or (2) quick money. By the same game of chance, which immortalizes some artists while pushing others into oblivion, some architects achieve the former by testing “bolder” designs than other suppliers on the market, pretending to expand the boundaries of aesthetics; it depends heavily on PR, powerful connections, etc. However, all suppliers of architectural services may achieve the latter by eloquently seducing their uncultured customers, whether they are elected decision-makers or private entrepreneurs (developers). To present something beautiful to humanity is a rare concern nowadays—a self-absorbed urge for narcissistic gratification, sharply contrasting with declarations of progressive intentions, has won out over the altruistic principles of the past (cf. the lifework of English architect Henry Roberts, 1803-76).
Since the interwar rebellion against traditionalism, marked by symbol-stripped, puritanical constructions, architects have produced “machines” intended to serve strictly technical purposes, with or without sparingly dispensed specimens of contemporary “art” — affixed like framed paintings on a bare wall.
The forerunners of modernism........