Satire is alive and well in Bob Keefer’s “Making Architecture Great Again” (EW 2/13), a stunningly humorous take on the Wayne Morse Federal Courthouse as President Donald Trump declares war on architectural diversity.
Trump, by executive order, plans to require new federal architectural projects be built in the likeness of ancient Greek and Roman temples.
Classicism is ultimately a backward step when innovative new ideas, rather than enforcing a dogmatic order, provoke inevitable allusions to authoritarian regimes of the past.
The U.S., along with building federal projects across the land, has architectural nonconformity convey an expedient message: freedom, optimism and innovation.
Yesterday when I drove by architect Thom Mayne’s masterpiece, its stainless steel facade glowed in dappled winter sun. Contrary to popular belief, the Borg has not landed in downtown Eugene.
Mike E.Walsh
Eugene