National Civic Art Society Announces Its 2024 Walking Tour Series

Mt. Pleasant Library

The National Civic Art Society cordially invites you to take part in our 2024 walking tour series of the architecture of historic neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area: Mt. Pleasant, Foggy Bottom, Old Southwest, U St. / Black Broadway, and Glen Echo, MD.

About the tour leader: Jeanne Fogle is a Washington, D.C. historian who was born in the nation’s capital, where her family has lived for more than 170 years. She has authored four books on Washington, D.C.’s social and architectural history: Two Hundred Years: Stories of the Nation’s Capital; Proximity to Power - Neighbors to the Presidents Near Lafayette Square; Washington, D.C., a Pictorial Celebration; and A Neighborhood Guide to Washington's D.C.'s Hidden History. For 21 years, Fogle served as an adjunct professor of Washington History and Regional Tour Guiding and Tour Managing at NOVA. Her great-grandfather George F. W. Strieby was an accomplished fresco artist whose work adorns the U.S. Capitol.

Tours are limited to 1.5 hours in length and start at 10:00am. Each tour's meeting place will be revealed to registrants. The cost per tour is $10. NCAS members, students, interns, and Hill staffers may obtain free tickets by e-mailing info@civicart.org. If you have any questions, please e-mail info@civicart.org or call (202) 670-1776. Tours take place rain or shine.

Registration is required. You can register HERE.

Tour 1. SATURDAY APRIL 27 - 10:00am-11:30 - MT. PLEASANT

Mt. Pleasant was founded just after the Civil War and was Washington’s first suburb. This rural, bucolic community was home to some of the city’s “movers and shakers.” The village evolved into a fashionable streetcar suburb, then a working-class neighborhood, a haven for immigrants, and is known for its lovely homes and ethnic and racial diversity.

Tour 2. SATURDAY MAY 4 - 10:00am-11:30 - HISTORIC FOGGY BOTTOM

The area now called Foggy Bottom was central to the early development of Washington. Shipping and manufacturing were established; working-class rowhouses and grand mansions were built. It became a Civil War military outpost. The 20th century brought government buildings, a university, a culture center, co-ops, condos, and renewal.

Tour 3. SATURDAY MAY 11 - 10:00am-11:30 - OLD SOUTHWEST

For 150 years, Southwest was the largest working-class, waterfront neighborhood in Washington. The city’s first military post was established there. Immigrants and African-Americans settled in the area. In the 1960s, Southwest underwent “Urban Renewal,” creating a mix of 19th-century, mid-20th-century-modern, new, and some less-lovely structures.

Tour 4. SATURDAY MAY 18 - 10:00am-11:30 - U ST. / BLACK BROADWAY

The U St. area, once rural, housed Civil War camps that by 1869 was the site of Howard University. This area became a city within the city, a neighborhood at the edge of downtown, that was built by and for the African-American community, where theaters and jazz clubs were surrounded by neat rowhouses, shops, churches, and schools.

Tour 5. SATURDAY MAY 25 - 10:00am-11:30 - GLEN ECHO, MARYLAND

Glen-Echo-on-the-Potomac was part of the 1874 Chautauqua Movement of Summer Camps for families. Huge structures were built, important lecturers invited, lots were sold, and houses were built. After one year, it failed. It later became Washington’s best-loved amusement park. Today, it is a magical place located in a charming neighborhood.

Register HERE.

NCAS President Justin Shubow to Speak in Oslo at a Conference on Beauty and Ugliness in Architecture

On May 4, 2024, National Civic Art Society president Justin Shubow will be giving a talk on ordinary people’s preferences in architecture at a conference in Olso, Norway. The theme of the conference is Beauty and Ugliness in Architecture. Other speakers include James Stevens Curl, Michael Diamant, Nikos Salingaros, Branko Mitrovic, and Nir Buras.

NCAS Research Fellow Myron Magnet Publishes Article on the U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Reception Rooms

U.S. State Department Treaty Room

The January issue of the New Criterion magazine features an essay by National Civic Art Society Research Fellow Myron Magnet on the superb classical art and architecture of the U.S. State Department's diplomatic reception rooms. 

The article begins:

Don’t mistake the sumptuously produced, lavishly illustrated America’s Collection: The Art & Architecture of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the U.S. Department of State for just one more coffee-table bagatelle. It’s an important reminder that architecture is as much about the interior as the exterior of buildings, that its role is to adorn and enhance the activity it houses as well as to present a gracious face to the public world. Chief among the landmarks of architectural history, after all, are Michelangelo’s muscular staircase hall in the Laurentian Library, for instance, or Robert Adam’s neoclassical rooms built into the Elizabethan Syon House, or the interiors of the great cathedrals in Christendom. Like those additions to the Laurentian and Syon, the forty-two splendid, classical State Department rooms are built within an earlier building, a bland, modern behemoth, to which these rooms stand as a corrective, even a mild reproach. We can and should build like this, these interiors seem to whisper.

Read the whole things HERE.

NCAS President Justin Shubow Delivers Talk in Palm Beach on Federal Architecture

On January 17, 2024, the National Civic Art Society and the Palm Beach Freedom Institute hosted "Can Federal Architecture Be Great Again?: Trump, Biden, and the Politics of Beauty," a talk by NCAS President Justin Shubow.

About the speaker: Justin Shubow is president of the National Civic Art Society, a nonprofit organization that promotes the classical tradition in public art and architecture. He is former Chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency comprising seven presidential appointees who are the aesthetic guardians of Washington, D.C. Shubow has testified in Congress on topics such as the future of the National Mall and the design of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial. He is the author of The Gehry Towers over Eisenhower: The National Civic Art Society Report on the Eisenhower Memorial, a critical examination of the memorial’s competition, design, and agency approval.

He has published architectural criticism at Forbes online, First Things, Public Discourse, The Washington Post, and The Weekly Standard. Shubow is a former editor at the Forward newspaper and Commentary magazine, and is a recipient of a Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship. He has delivered talks on architecture and other subjects at the U.S. Department of State, American Enterprise Institute, Baylor University, Colorado College, Hamilton College, and the Universities of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, and others.

Shubow received a B.A. from Columbia University, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and completed four years of study in the University of Michigan’s Ph.D. program in philosophy; he has taught philosophy courses as an instructor at the University of Michigan and Yale College. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation and the Board of Academic Advisors of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization.

Palm Beach Event: Can Federal Architecture Be Great Again?

A Federal Courthouse in Florida Completed in 2007

The National Civic Art Society and the Palm Beach Freedom Institute cordially invite you to "Can Federal Architecture Be Great Again?: Trump, Biden, and the Politics of Beauty," a talk by NCAS President Justin Shubow.

Date: Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Time: 6-8 PM
Location: a venue in Palm Beach, Florida to be disclosed via e-mail confirmation
Attire: Palm Beach cocktail

Kindly RSVP by January 12 by e-mailing president@palmbeachfreedom.org. No admittance without confirmation.

About the speaker: Justin Shubow is president of the National Civic Art Society, a nonprofit organization that promotes the classical tradition in public art and architecture. He is former Chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency comprising seven presidential appointees who are the aesthetic guardians of Washington, D.C. Shubow has testified in Congress on topics such as the future of the National Mall and the design of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial. He is the author of The Gehry Towers over Eisenhower: The National Civic Art Society Report on the Eisenhower Memorial, a critical examination of the memorial’s competition, design, and agency approval.

He has published architectural criticism at Forbes online, First Things, Public Discourse, The Washington Post, and The Weekly Standard. Shubow is a former editor at the Forward newspaper and Commentary magazine, and is a recipient of a Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship. He has delivered talks on architecture and other subjects at the U.S. Department of State, American Enterprise Institute, Baylor University, Colorado College, Hamilton College, and the Universities of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, and others.

Shubow received a B.A. from Columbia University, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and completed four years of study in the University of Michigan’s Ph.D. program in philosophy; he has taught philosophy courses as an instructor at the University of Michigan and Yale College. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation and the Board of Academic Advisors of the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization.

NCAS President Justin Shubow Appears on Liberty Law Talk Podcast

Liberty Law Talk, a podcast of Law & Liberty, featured an interview of National Civic Art Society President Justin Shubow in which he talks about the influence of civic architecture on body politic, the role of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (which he used to chair), the future of memorials, and more. 

You can listen to the podcast or read the transcript HERE. 

To excerpt:

Justin Shubow: [T]he founders saw classical architecture as returning to the roots of democracy in Rome and Greece. So it made sense that they chose that architecture instead of, say, gothic or something else for the buildings of government. It’s interesting—in the 19th century, when the British Parliament was deciding what their new parliament building was going to look like, they had a competition, and the competition required that the building be either Gothic or what they called Elizabethan. There was opposition to having a classical parliament because people said that style was too Republican, meaning it was too anti-monarchical.

And so I think there is this long association in America tying classical architecture to democracy. And you look at certain structures like the U.S. Supreme Court, which is modeled on temple architecture with the steps leading up with the columns with the pediment. This is a classic American building type, the courthouse that everyone recognizes. It’s what you see on TV and in movies. And when people see that, I think they see a temple of justice. There’s something about the temple form that resonates.

[...]

[T]here are certain modernist architects who think of themselves as creative geniuses with emphasis on innovation and “creativity.” They don’t believe that emulating traditional architecture is something that should be done. A lot of them think that they just know better than ordinary people. Even if their designs are not appreciated by the public, they think that they are achieving the highest goals of architecture. And maybe someday, the public will be educated and come around to liking their designs. But of course, say Brutalism has been around for 60 years now, and it’s still widely disliked, and I don’t think it ever will be liked.

There is something about architecture schools that brainwash or deform architects’ minds. There is a study that the longer architects have been in school, the more their preferences diverge from that of laypeople. There was a separate study that found that not only do architects evaluate buildings in a different way from the public, but they can’t even predict how lay people will respond to their buildings. That’s how differently they think from lay people.

And it’s important to understand that a building is not like a painting on a wall or a piece of music. You can’t avoid it. Architecture is forced upon us, and so therefore it’s the most political of the arts, small p political. And when you get to public buildings, it’s explicitly political since these buildings are speaking to who we are and who we wish to be.

NCAS President Justin Shubow Interviewed on DC EKG Podcast

A show about the “what and why” of Washington, D.C., the DC EKG podcast featured an hour-long interview of National Civic Art Society President Justin Shubow. The show was hosted by Joe Grogan, former director of the U.S. Domestic Policy Council, and Eric Ueland, former director of White House legislative affairs.

The episode covered the need for classical federal architecture, President Trump’s Executive Order on the subject, and pending legislation in Congress that would essentially codify that Order. Shubow also discussed whether the Brutalist Department of Health and Human Services headquarters in Washington is the ugliest building in the city.

You can listen to the podcast, which was published on November 6, 2023, HERE.

NCAS President Justin Shubow Interviewed on First Things' Podcast Regarding Federal Architecture Legislation

First Things magazine's podcast features an interview of National Civic Art Society president Justin Shubow by senior editor Mark Bauerlein in which they discuss legislation pending in the U.S. House and Senate that would dramatically re-orient federal architecture from modernism to classical and traditional design. The bills would require that public input be given substantial weight when the government makes design decisions.

You can listen to the podcast HERE.

Relatedly, Politico interviewed Shubow about the aforementioned legislation. To quote the article:

The growth of government in the decades after World War II happened to take place during one of the most maligned periods in public architecture. Like college campuses, government properties have been among the modernist era’s most conspicuous offenders, perhaps because the people commissioning the buildings were not the ones who would have to live or work in them. When it’s their own private home or business, people tend to be much less deferential to the artistes drawing up the blueprints.

In Shubow’s telling, that deference is the problem — baked right into the 1962 [Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture] his rivals want to enshrine in law. “Design must flow from the architectural profession to the Government,” it declares, “and not vice versa.” Rather than a gesture of support for creativity, he says, the language essentially orders public servants to abandon their duty of keeping an eye on the contractors. (He notes that the AIA, which has blasted the GOP bill in the name of free expression, isn’t quite a dispassionate academic group: It’s a trade association for architects, i.e. those very same contractors.) ...

Shubow takes satisfaction in a June report from the Government Accountability Office that advises the GSA to formally require and incorporate community input on building designs — a byproduct, he says, of the attention given to Trump’s classical-architecture orders.

It’s a recommendation that’s going to be hard for anyone in politics to criticize, no matter what their opinions on au courant architecture. For elected officials, it may feel un-American to legislate a default national style — but it would seem downright suicidal to openly tell the general public that their views don’t count.

Wall Street Journal Publishes Op-Ed by NCAS Research Fellow Myron Magnet Supporting Federal Architecture Bill

The June 27, 2023 edition of the Wall Street Journal featured an op-ed by National Civic Art Society Research Fellow Myron Magnet:

Government Buildings Don’t Have to Be Ugly

The Founders favored the classical style. The Beautifying Federal Civic Architecture Act would make it the standard.

By Myron Magnet

Federal architecture for 60 years embodied the administrative state’s rules and regulations. Imposed by unelected mandarins, federal designs celebrate technocracy and faceless power. Yet thanks to a joint effort in Congress, our era of elitist and spiritually impoverished government buildings may soon come to an end.

Federal design should “uplift and beautify public spaces,” “ennoble” the U.S, and “command respect from the general public.” These are three provisions from the Beautifying Federal Civic Architecture Act, which Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana have introduced. The legislation would make classical architecture the default style for major federal buildings in Washington and classical or traditional regional architecture the norm elsewhere. Any deviation would require that the General Services Administration explain its decision to Congress. . . .

---

You can read the complete op-ed HERE.

National Civic Art Society Hails Bicameral Legislation That Would Beautify Federal Architecture

Today, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced a bill, ‘‘Beautifying Federal Civic Architecture Act,’’ that would dramatically re-orient federal architecture from modernism to classical and traditional design. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Braun (R-IN), Ted Budd (R-NC), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Mike Lee (R-UT) are original co-sponsors. You can find Senator Rubio's announcement here.

The Act is a companion to a bill of the same title (H.R.3627) recently introduced in the U.S. House by Representative Jim Banks (R-IN), who published an op-ed about it at Townhall.com.

The National Civic Art Society (NCAS) strongly endorses this much-needed bicameral legislation.

Justin Shubow, President of the National Civic Art Society, issued the following statement:

“The National Civic Art Society strongly supports the Beautifying Federal Civic Architecture Act. It is crucial that the design of federal buildings reflects the preferences of ordinary Americans—namely, that such buildings be beautiful, uplifting, and designed in a classical or traditional style. Whereas the current government process for choosing building designs involves zero input from the community, this legislation democratizes design by requiring that there be substantial input from the general public. We applaud Senator Rubio and Representative Banks for their leadership on this important issue. The National Civic Art Society looks forward to working with Senator Rubio’s and Representatives Banks’ offices to ensure they succeed in making their bills law.”

Both bills:

• Require that applicable Federal public buildings (i.e., federal courthouses, federal agency headquarters, federal public buildings in Washington, D.C., and any other federal public building that could cost more than $50 million to erect) should uplift and beautify public spaces, inspire the human spirit, ennoble the United States, command respect from the general public, be visually identifiable as civic buildings, and respect regional architectural heritage;

• Make classical and traditional architecture the preferred style for said federal public buildings;

• Make classical architecture the preferred and default style for federal public buildings in Washington, D.C. absent exceptional factors necessitating another kind of architecture;

• Require input from the general public and future users of an applicable federal public building, and give the former substantial consideration, before the selection of an architectural firm or design style;

• Establish a council that would recommend updates to policies, procedures, and practices of the GSA so that GSA adheres to the bill’s requirements.

In 2020, NCAS commissioned a poll conducted by the non-partisan polling firm The Harris Poll gauging Americans’ preferences for federal architecture. This poll of over 2,000 U.S. adults found that nearly three-quarters of Americans (72%)—including majorities across political, racial/ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic lines—prefer traditional architecture for federal office buildings and U.S. courthouses. The survey found that 70% of Democrats prefer tradition, compared with 73% of Republicans. The survey report and its methodology can be found here.

The National Civic Art Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. that educates and empowers civic leaders in the promotion of public art and architecture worthy of our great Republic. Among NCAS’s activities and accomplishments, we:

• spearheaded a presidential Executive Order re-orienting federal architecture in a classical and traditional direction.

• direct an effort in New York City to build a new classical Pennsylvania Station inspired by the original by McKim, Mead & White.

• led a successful advocacy campaign for a classical design for the National World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C.

• launched and led a six-year campaign to stop Frank Gehry’s design for the National Eisenhower Memorial, which resulted in Congress holding up funding for four years.

• produced the documentary “Washington: The Classical City,” about how the nation’s capital became an iconic classical city.

Video of a Debate: Should Washington, D.C. Raise Its Height Limit?

Ellen McCarthy, Brian O’Looney, Harriet Tregoning, and Justin Shubow Debated Whether Washington, D.C. Should Raise Its Height Limit. Matt Bell moderated.

Since 1910, the maximum height of buildings in Washington, D.C. has been greatly limited by federal law. On April 2, 2023, the National Civic Art Society and Congress for the New Urbanism sponsored a debate over whether D.C.'s limit should be raised.

Arguing for the negative were Justin Shubow, President of the National Civic Art Society, and Brian O'Looney, Partner at Torti + Gallas. Arguing for the positive were Ellen McCarthy, Partner at The Urban Partnership, and Harriet Tregoning, Director of the New Urban Mobility Alliance. Both McCarthy and Tregoning are former Directors of the D.C. Office of Planning.

The moderator was Matt Bell, Professor of Architecture at the University of Maryland and Principal at Perkins Eastman.

Watch the video HERE.

National Civic Art Society President Justin Shubow Argued That Washington, D.C.’s Height Limit Should Not Be Raised

A Debate Co-sponsored by the National Civic Art Society and Congress for New Urbanism: Should D.C. Raise its Height Limit?

The National Civic Art Society and Congress for New Urbanism cordially invite you to attend a debate on whether Washington, D.C. should raise its height limit.

NCAS President Justin Shubow will be arguing for the negative position, along with Brian O'Looney, partner at Torti Gallas + Partners. Arguing for the affirmative will be Ellen McCarthy, partner at The Urban Partnership, and Harriet Tregoning, director of the New Urban Mobility Alliance.

The debate will take place the morning of Sunday April 2, 2024 in Washington, D.C. Tickets for the event are $50. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. For details, see above.

In the afternoon, local architects and planners will lead two separate tours around the city. The Classical Washington Tour will focus on the National Mall and surrounding area. The Waterfront Development Tour will look at the new developments of Navy Yard and The Wharf. Both tours will rejoin at the end for a happy hour -- location TBA.

Register HERE. Note that registration closes March 27.

NCAS Co-Sponsors Juried Charrette for the Siting of New Smithsonian Museums

Looking south from the Smithsonian Castle to the Forrestal Building, NCAS's proposed site for two new Smithsonian museums.

A few months ago the Smithsonian Institution announced it will be building the American Women's History Museum and National Museum of the American Latino on sites in the Reserve on the National Mall--one site just next to the Washington Monument, the other on the Tidal Basin (see illustration below).

While the National Civic Art Society is strongly supportive of the construction of the museums, we believe that the proposed sites are wholly inappropriate. As NCAS President Justin Shubow commented in Politico, "There’s no grander or more symbolic axis in America. ... We must ensure that no buildings spoil these and other sight lines and symbolic landscapes, as well as public open space in general."

NCAS believes that a far superior site for the museums is the site currently occupied by the Forrestal Building (see photo above), an ugly Brutalist hulk that is currently occupied by the Department of Energy. Located at 1000 Independence Avenue SW, the prominent, honorific, and accessible site is just across the street to the south of the Smithsonian Castle.

To encourage the use of that site, we have partnered with Catholic University's architecture school to support a juried design charrette for CUA graduate students. The charrette is producing urbanistic proposals for siting the museums at the Forrestal site. 

The jury comprises former New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger; architects Anne Fairfax, Elizabeth Moule, David Schwarz, and Teófilo Victoria; and urban planners Dhiru Thadani and John Torti.

The students will make their presentations to the jury, which will provide constructive feedback, on Tuesday March 21, 2023 at Catholic University from 9:00 AM to until noon. The location is Miller Hall at the Crough Center (620 Michigan Ave. NE, Washington, D.C.). The event is free and open to the public. A light breakfast will be served.

We cordially invite you to attend. 

The Smithsonian's preferred sites for the American Women's History Museum and National Museum of the American Latino.

National Civic Art Society Appoints Myron Magnet Research Fellow

The National Civic Art Society is proud to announce that it has appointed Myron Magnet as its Research Fellow. A journalist and historian, Magnet is editor-at-large of City Journal magazine and was editor from 1994 through 2006. As editor, he oversaw special issues for which he commissioned designs for a new classical Lincoln Center, an inspiring new development at Ground Zero (including classical monuments by Alexander Stoddart), and proposed skyscrapers featuring traditional architecture.

A former member of the board of editors of Fortune, Magnet has written about a wide variety of topics, from American society and social policy, economics, and corporate management to intellectual history, literature, architecture, and the country’s founding. In addition to his many City Journal and Fortune articles, Magnet has written for The Wall Street Journal, New Criterion, and New York Times, among others. He has appeared on numerous TV and radio programs.

Among Magnet's most recent books is The Founders at Home: The Building of America, 1735-1817, which examines how the homes of the Founding Fathers reflect their values and ideals, as well as their aspirations for the new nation.

Magnet holds B.A.s from Columbia University and the University of Cambridge, as well as an M.A. from Cambridge and a Ph.D. from Columbia, where he taught for several years.

In 2008, President George W. Bush awarded Magnet the National Humanities Medal.

National Civic Art Society Elects Richard Hough as New Chairman

The National Civic Art Society is proud to announce that its Board of Directors has elected Richard R. Hough III as its new Chairman. A longtime member of the NCAS Board, Hough is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Silvercrest Asset Management Group, a New York-based registered investment advisor firm with nearly $30 billion in assets under management.

Hough is a former member of the Board of Governors and executive committee of the Investment Adviser Association. Hough also serves as Chairman of Board of the Institute for Family Studies, and he serves on the boards of the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation; The Tunison Foundation; Christendom College; and the advisory council of The New Criterion. Hough received a B.A. in politics and philosophy from Princeton University.

Hough replaces Marion Smith, President of the Common Sense Society, who stepped down as chairman of NCAS after serving in that role for 10 momentous years.

According to Hough, “I am honored to serve as chairman of NCAS. Under Marion Smith’s visionary leadership, NCAS made history with its victories and achievements. I look forward to building on Marion’s success and stewarding the organization in a new era of promoting beautiful, meaningful public art and architecture that embodies America’s highest ideals.”

According to Smith, “It’s been an honor to serve as chairman of NCAS for the last 10 years. Much good work has been done in that time due to the courageous leadership of our Directors, the generosity of our many members and supporters, and the tenacious work of our President Justin Shubow. We are fortunate to have Rick Hough as our new chairman and I look forward to remaining on the board of NCAS as we continue to advocate for classical architecture in Washington, D.C., for enduring civic art around the country, and for a sounder process in Federal building design which is funded by taxpayers and intended to benefit the American public.”

Panel Discussion on "The Golden City"

The National Civic Art Society and The American Conservative cordially invite you to attend a panel discussion on the re-issue of Henry Hope Reed's book The Golden City, a 1959 manifesto on the need for classical principles in contemporary architecture. The event will take place on November 30, 2022 at the University Club in Washington, D.C.

The Golden City was a seminal, critical document that developed one of the earliest and most compelling arguments against the then-dominant hegemony of modernism by reawakening interest in the value of our country’s built patrimony, particularly with respect to its notable classical architecture, classical sculpture, and ornament in the built environment. The book’s argument remains vital today.

The Golden City was recently re-published with new essays by critic Catesby Leigh and architect Alvin Holm. Join us as Leigh and Holm participate in a discussion about the book moderated by Reed disciple Seth Weine, an architectural and graphic designer.

The event, which will be followed by a reception, is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Click HERE to register. 

Date: Wednesday November 30, 2022

Reception: 5:00 PM

Panel: 6:00 PM

Location: University Club, 1135 16th St NW, Washington, D.C. 20036

Cost: Free

Using NCAS Materials, Scientific Study Shows Preference for Traditional Architecture in Federal Buildings

Heat maps from theHapi study. Left: U.S. Courthouse in Toledo, Ohio. Right: Hansen Federal Building in Ogden, Utah. 

In 2020 the National Civic Art Society conducted a survey by the Harris Poll of Americans’ preferred architecture for federal buildings and U.S. courthouses. We carefully paired photos of existing government buildings—a Modernist one versus a traditional one in each pair—and asked participants which building they preferred.

Recently, NCAS funded a scientific study by the Human Architecture + Planning Institute (theHapi) that used eye-tracking technology to study how participants experienced the photos used in our survey. Data was collected and aggregated to form "heat maps" that glow reddest where people look most, and fade to yellow, then green, and finally, no color at all, in areas ignored. Such heat maps indicate viewers' conscious and subconscious interest.

TheHapi published the study’s results, which demonstrated the public’s preference for classical and traditional designs: “the remarkable, and remarkably consistent, finding this eye-tracking pilot-study revealed: no matter where the buildings were in the U.S., traditional civic architecture consistently drew viewer attention and focus while modern-style counterparts did not.”

For the full study results, click HERE.

Announcing the 2022 National Civic Art Society Tour Series

The National Civic Art Society cordially invites you to take part in our 2022 walking tour series of architecture and public art in Washington, D.C. Local historian Jeanne Fogle will bring Washington’s past alive through stories of residents and government officials, the background of lesser known monuments, and insight into the city’s distinctive architectural development, both public and private.

About the tour guide: Jeanne Fogle is a Washington, D.C., historian who was born in the nation’s capital, where her family has lived for more than 150 years. She has authored three books on Washington, D.C.’s social and architectural history: Two Hundred Years: Stories of the Nation’s Capital, Proximity to Power, Neighbors to the Presidents Near Lafayette Square, and Washington, D.C., a Pictorial Celebration. Fogle serves as an adjunct professor of Washington History and Regional Tour Guiding and Tour Managing at NOVA. Her great-grandfather George F. W. Strieby was an accomplished fresco artist whose work adorns the U.S. Capitol.

Tours are limited to two hours in length and begin at 10:00am at the location indicated. The cost per tour is $10. NCAS members, students, interns, and Hill staffers may obtain free tickets by e-mailing info@civicart.org. If you have any questions, please e-mail info@civicart.org or call (202) 670-1776.

Tour 1. Embassy Row Architecture on Massachusetts Ave. – May 8, 10:00am-Noon

The Embassy Row architecture along Massachusetts Ave. evolved in the past century, when large diplomatic delegations came to Washington and began to occupy the city’s older magnificent mansions, originally commissioned by wealthy owners, designed by the leading architects of the day. Later, foreign governments built embassies near these grand mansions, respecting their grandeur, but adding a sense of utility. This tour will cover 2-3 miles.

Meet at the intersection of Massachusetts Ave. and 17th St. NW (SW corner / Peruvian Embassy).

Tour 2. 16th Street Architecture Above Florida Ave. – May 15, 10:00am-Noon

Sixteenth Street north of Florida Avenue offers a glimpse of diverse architectural styles reflecting many different uses and purposes of the structures from mansions built private residences or as Embassies, to early 19th century luxury apartment buildings, impressive churches, and a grand public Garden Park “fit for an Aristocrat.” This tour will cover 2-3 miles.

Meet at the intersection of 16th St. and Florida Ave. NW (NW corner / Henderson Castle Wall).

Tour 3. Monumental Architecture of Capitol Hill – May 22, 10:00am-Noon

The monumental buildings of Capitol Hill form a unique cluster Federal and privately built structures of diverse architectural styles that include the marble-clad congressional and judiciary office buildings, federal and private library buildings, and the Roman-inspired train station and neoclassical post office. Many of the buildings are adorned with wonderful sculptures and works of art. This tour will cover 2-3 miles.

Meet at the U.S. Botanic Gardens (Maryland Ave. SW side).

Tour 4. Apartment Architecture of the Kalorama Triangle – June 12, 10:00am-Noon

The Kalorama Triangle neighborhood boasts of some of the finest apartment buildings in Washington, designed by the best-known architects of the time. There are also a number of eye-catching apartment buildings built for those of more modest means. Together, these grand residential buildings showcase imaginative architectural styles to accommodate a diverse population. This tour will cover about 2 miles.

Meet at the intersection of Connecticut Ave. NW and Columbia Rd. NW (above the Hilton hotel)

Tour 5. Outdoor Sculpture West of the U.S. Capitol – June 19, 10:000am-Noon

A multitude of unusual sculptural art fills nearly every large and small park and adorns many buildings within a mile radius of the west front of the Capitol. There are presidential memorials, military memorials, classical and art deco relief sculptures, and a multitude of monuments to commemorate major and minor historical figures and events. This tour will cover about 2-3 miles.

Meet at the intersection of First St. SW and Maryland Ave. SW (near the Garfield Statue).

NCAS Publishes "Modern Art" Book of Poems

The National Civic Art Society is proud to announce its publication of Modern Art: An Exhibition in Criticism, a book of witty and amusing poems by NCAS Research Fellow Michael Curtis.

The poems are intended to be employed like a rusty-nailed fencepost by which you may beat pretentious Modernist artists and architects about the head, repeatedly. The author leaves out no cheap trick of meter or rhyme to achieve his ends. He employs adolescent sing-song, doggerel, slanting rhyme--in short, every mischief-making device he can borrow or invent is used in a manner that would shame lesser poets. Yes, he stoops to conquer. Indeed, conquest is his aim; his tactic, wit; his weapons, mudslinging, ridicule, name-calling, and other dirty tricks of antique pedigree.

According to a review from the Society of Classical Poets, Modern Art is a “bitingly brilliant book.” Curtis “offers a way forward in the sheer pluckiness of this book and his complete comfort in defaulting to traditional forms in his writing. There is something great worth living and creating for, and while he never comes out and says it, we get the sense that Curtis knows it well.”

You can purchase the book HERE.

Video of Panel on "Authenticity, Beauty, and Human Well-being"

On September 14, 2021, the National Civic Art Society and The American Conservative co-hosted a panel discussion on “Authenticity, Beauty, and Human Well-being: Why There Cannot Be Good Urbanism Without Good Architecture” at the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C.

The speakers and individual topics were:

Architect Nir Buras -- Neuroaesthetics, Technology, and a City of Makers

NCAS Research Fellow Michael Curtis -- a Mid-Career Portfolio

Ann Sussman -- How New Understandings in Psychology and Neuroscience Change How We “See” Architecture and Ourselves

Watch the video HERE.