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 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 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. . . .

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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

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.”

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.

National Civic Art Society Mourns the Passing of Benefactor Richard Driehaus

Richard Driehaus outside the Driehaus Museum in Chicago

The National Civic Art Society mourns the sudden passing of Chicago-based philanthropist Richard Driehaus, who created and funded the Driehaus Architecture Prize, the premier classical alternative to the predominantly modernist Pritzker Prize. He is also responsible for the Henry Hope Reed Award, which is given to an individual working outside the practice of architecture who has supported the cultivation of traditional architecture and art through writing, planning, or promotion.

Driehaus’ contributions to humanistic architecture, design, and the built environment exceeded $50 million.

He was a generous benefactor of the National Civic Art Society, and he played a momentous role in getting the organization off the ground. His support and enthusiasm for NCAS continued to his passing.

A man of exquisite taste, Driehaus also restored significant historic buildings, including the 1883 Gilded Age Samuel Mayo Nickerson Mansion, which now serves as The Richard H. Driehaus Museum in Chicago; the 1886 Richardsonian Romanesque Ransom Cable Mansion, which served as headquarters for his business; and the 1906 Georgian-style estate built by Norman W. Harris in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

“Through his extraordinary visionary generosity, Richard Driehaus transformed the field of architecture,” said National Civic Art Society President Justin Shubow. “His prizes and related philanthropy invigorated contemporary classical architecture, which he rightfully believed was a worthy endeavor that brought beauty and delight into the lives of ordinary people. He is also to be remembered for his leadership in and financial backing of the opposition to Frank Gehry’s gargantuan deconstructivist design for the National Eisenhower Memorial—a campaign that improved the final design."

"Driehaus' support of the National Civic Art Society in our early years was crucial in putting us on a firm footing, and allowed us to grow by leaps and bounds. We are proud he said that supporting us was one of the best things he ever did. He will be sorely missed.”

National Civic Art Society Appoints Michael Curtis Research Fellow

The National Civic Art Society is proud to announce the appointment of Michael Curtis as the organization's Research Fellow. A sculptor, painter, historian, architectural designer, and poet, Curtis has taught and lectured at widely, including at The Institute of Classical Architecture, The Center for Creative Studies, and The National Gallery of Art. His pictures and statues are housed in over 400 private and public collections, including the Library of Congress, National Portrait Gallery, and U.S. Supreme Court.

Curtis has made statues and medals of presidents, generals, Supreme Court justices, captains of industry, and national heroes, including Davey Crockett, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Justice Thurgood Marshall. Curtis' History of Texas, located at the Texas Rangers ballpark in Arlington, Texas, is the largest American frieze of the 20th century.

Curtis' plays, essays, verse, and translations have been published in over 30 journals. His most recent nonfiction books include The Classical Architecture and Monuments of Washington, D.C. You can find information on some of his other books at the Studio Press.

Curtis studied classical architecture at the University of Michigan, and painting, sculpture, and engraving at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence, Italy.

Michael Curtis with bust of Justice Thurgood Marshall

Epoch Times Interview of NCAS President Justin Shubow

The February 2, 2021 issue of The Epoch Times features an extensive interview of National Civic Art Society president Justin Shubow. It is titled “Making America’s Civic Architecture Great Again,” and you can read it here HERE. The interview begins:

“Whenever it is proposed to prepare plans for the Capitol, I should prefer the adoption of some one of the models of antiquity which have had the approbation of thousands of years,” Thomas Jefferson wrote to French engineer Pierre Charles L’Enfant on April 10, 1791.

But why did Jefferson and America’s Founding Fathers admire classical architecture so much as to emulate it in federal buildings and U.S. courthouses? And why is classical and traditional architecture still relevant to Americans today? National Civic Art Society (NCAS) President Justin Shubow helps answer these questions, and more.

Shubow is also the chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency of seven presidential appointees who are the aesthetic guardians of Washington. Shubow’s architectural critical essays have been published widely in top national publications, and he’s a noted speaker at academic institutions and the U.S. State Department. Shubow explained by phone the importance of honoring America’s historic architecture, and the significance of President Trump’s recently signed executive order “Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture,” which the NCAS (a nonprofit organization promoting public art and architecture worthy of the American Republic) championed.

National Civic Art Society Op-Ed in the New York Post: Trump’s Right: Americans Deserve Nice Public Buildings — Even if Elites Sneer

On October 24, 2020, the New York Post published the following op-ed by National Civic Art Society president Justin Shubow:

Trump’s Right: Americans Deserve Nice Public Buildings — Even if Elites Sneer

Government architecture is not a subject that typically gets much public attention. That changed in February with the leaking of a draft presidential executive order that would re-orient federal architecture in a traditional direction, including a requirement that new office buildings in Washington be classical in design.

Controversy erupted. The American Institute of Architects wailed: “President Trump, this draft order is antithetical to giving the ‘people’ a voice and would set an extremely harmful precedent.” Then came the media pile-on, with The New York Times sneering about “fake Roman temples,” and Wired fretting about the “new architects of fear.” Numerous other outlets rushed to make comparisons to Hitler.

In reality, an order like this would respect longstanding precedent and properly return federal architecture to its origins. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson conceived that classical architecture — harkening back to democratic Greece and republican Rome — best embodied the new nation’s ideals.

Seeing classical architecture as unsurpassed in beauty and grandeur, not to mention its reflection of reason and order, these two founders personally oversaw the design of the White House and Capitol, and ensured that the capital city was planned along classical lines. Such features as columns, pediments, pillars and domes came to visually symbolize American democracy and set the precedent for nearly 150 years. Indeed, in 1901, the Treasury Department codified existing practice by making classicism the official style.

In 1962, however, the White House’s “Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture” rejected official classicism in favor of Modernism — the austere, functionalist aesthetic, which, together with its post-modernist progeny, dominates federal architecture to this day. Since 1994, only six of the 78 federal buildings constructed under the current design program have been classical or traditional.

What do the American people have to show for all the post-war construction done in their name? Much of it would have looked more at home in the dreary cities of our Soviet rivals: buildings like the Brutalist J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building, famously loathed by President Trump. The hulking concrete pile that is home to the Department of Housing and Urban Development has received bipartisan condemnation from its various occupants. Republican HUD Secretary Jack Kemp called it “10 floors of basement,” whereas a later Democratic successor, Shaun Donovan, said the building was “among the most reviled in all of Washington — and with good reason.”

The General Services Administration, the agency overseeing the design and construction of government buildings, insists on calling the HUD headquarters an “outstanding Modern achievement.” More recent GSA buildings, some of them avant-garde, have been variously derided as a “Borg cube,” “hulking, aggressive tower” and having a “sinister dimension.”

Is this really what American citizens actually want in their federal architecture? The opposition to Trump’s purportedly “undemocratic” order completely ignored that key democratic question.

Thanks to a Harris Poll survey (available at civicart.org) on behalf of the National Civic Art Society, the organization I lead, we now have the answer: Nearly three-quarters of Americans (72 percent) prefer classical and traditional architecture for US courthouses and federal office buildings. The poll found a widespread preference for traditional style among all demographic groups: women and men (77 and 67 percent respectively); African-Americans, whites and Hispanics (62, 75 and 65 percent); even across generations and income levels. The survey results were also strongly bipartisan, with 70 percent of Democrats and 73 percent of Republicans favoring the traditional option.

Our survey comports with prior studies. As The Wall Street Journal reported, a 2007 Harris poll commissioned by the AIA showed “Americans preferred older buildings that evoke ancient architectural styles such as Gothic, Greek and Roman traditions. Of the top 50 [buildings], only 12 can be described as ‘modern-looking.’ ” Numerous peer-reviewed academic studies have found a great disconnect between the aesthetic preferences of contemporary architects and ordinary people.

The architectural establishment has been trying to quash democratic preferences for years. But unlike the tiny minority of elites howling over the executive order, when normal people see a classical courthouse, they don’t see a “fake Roman temple” — they see a temple of justice. Nothing could be more democratic than an executive order that gives the American people what they want.

Video of NCAS President Justin Shubow Calling for An Executive Order to Re-orient Federal Architecture in a Classical and Traditional Direction

At an October 19, 2020 web event sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute, National Civic Art Society president Justin Shubow called for an Executive Order that would re-orient federal architecture in a classical and traditional direction.

National Civic Art Society/Harris Survey Shows Americans Overwhelmingly Prefer Traditional Architecture for Federal Buildings

The National Civic Art Society today released a new survey finding that nearly three-quarters of Americans (72%) – including majorities across political, racial/ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic lines – prefer traditional architecture for U.S. courthouses and federal office buildings.The poll of over 2,000 U.S. adults was conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of NCAS.
 
These findings come in light of the possibility of a Trump administration Executive Order that would re-orient federal architecture in a traditional direction, including by requiring that new office buildings in Washington, D.C. be classical in design. Among other things, the Order would revise the 1962 “Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture,” which cemented Modernism as the dominant government style. Despite proposed legislation – entitled the “Democracy in Design Act” – in the House of Representatives to overturn this anticipated Executive Order, this poll shows that large bipartisan majorities support the order’s intent.

The survey was conducted in August by the non-partisan polling firm The Harris Poll. The survey comprised seven pairs of images of existing U.S. courthouses and federal office buildings in D.C. and around the country. The seven pairs of images, which were not identified in any way, were carefully selected and edited to ensure fair comparisons. Each pair comprised one building in a traditional style and one building in a modern style. For each pair, the survey question was: “Which of these two buildings would you prefer for a U.S. courthouse or federal office building?”
 
According to the poll’s results:

• An overwhelming majority of Americans – more than 7 in 10 (72%) – prefer traditional architecture for U.S. courthouses and federal office buildings.

• Democrats (70%), Republicans (73%), and Independents (73%) all agree on their preference for traditional architecture.

• Preference for traditional architecture unites majorities of Baby Boomers (age 65+) and Gen-Z (age 18-34). Traditional styles are the choice of 77% of those aged 65 or older, and 68% of those aged 18-34. 

• Women are more likely than men to prefer traditional architecture for a U.S. courthouse or federal office building – 77% vs. 67%, respectively.

• Majorities of black (62%), Hispanic (65%), and white (75%) Americans prefer traditional architecture.

• A preference for traditional architecture bridges regional divides: 73% prefer it in the Northeast, 73% in the South, 74% in the Midwest, and 69% in the West.

• The typical markers of “elite” status – higher earning and education levels – do not diminish a preference for traditional architecture. It is the clear choice of Americans making a household income under $50,000 (73%) and those making a household income over $100,000 (70%); those with a high school degree or less (72%); and those with a bachelor’s degree or greater (72%).

• Among the most preferred buildings were those with a neoclassical design. Among the least preferred were Brutalist structures. The traditional buildings that Americans prefer most among those shown are: National Archives Building (83%), Gene Snyder U.S. Courthouse and Custom House (81%), and William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building - EPA HQ (81%). The three modern style buildings that were at the bottom of the list of those Americans preferred are: Robert C. Weaver Federal Building - HUD HQ (19%), Hammond Federal Courthouse (19%), and Hubert H. Humphrey Building - HHS HQ (17%). 

These insights comport with academic research. Jack L. Nasar, Academy Professor of City & Regional Planning at Ohio State University, recently published a study concluding that Americans prefer neoclassical designs for courthouses.
 
The findings of the NCAS/The Harris poll are especially significant since under the government’s current program for choosing architects, only 6 of the 78 federal buildings constructed have been classical or traditional – or just 8%.
 
“At a time when Americans are deeply divided across so many areas, it’s heartening to see that the vast majority of us can at least agree on federal architecture,” says NCAS President Justin Shubow. “The results of this poll should hardly come as a surprise. Americans have long cherished classical and traditional architecture for their federal buildings both for their beauty and because they are widely accepted symbols of our democracy. Such dignified buildings connect us to our heritage, and are associated with continuity, equality, openness, and precedent. They are courthouses that look like courthouses, and public buildings that look public. The design of federal buildings should reflect the aesthetic and symbolic preferences of the people they are built to serve. Nonetheless, for over 60 years architectural elites, Modernist mandarins, and a coterie of critics have foisted their antithetical preferences on federal design.”
 
Full poll results can be found at https://www.civicart.org/americans-preferred-architecture-for-federal-buildings.
 
Methodology: This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of the National Civic Art Society between August 17-19 among 2,039 adults ages 18+. Results were weighted for age within gender, region, race/ethnicity, household income, education, and size of household where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

Video of "The New National WWI Memorial: Classical and Magnificent"

On November 15, 2019. the National Civic Art Society sponsored this talk by sculptor Sabin Howard, who presented his magnificent classical design for the forthcoming National World War I Memorial. The Memorial is to be located in Pershing Park in Washington, D.C.

Howard's design is a monumental 58-foot-long by 8-foot-high bronze sculpture titled "A Soldier's Journey." Flowing from left-to-right, the 38-figure composition allegorically tells the story of a soldier who leaves his family for the front, endures the ordeal of battle, and returns home. The ideals of heroism, family, and caring are juxtaposed with the violence, terror, and aggression of battle. The sculpture simultaneously tells a second story--namely, America's coming of age during the Great War.

Introductions by Justin Shubow, President of the National Civic Art Society, and Edwin Fountain, Vice Chair of the U.S. World War I Centennial Foundation 

Watch the video HERE.

Video of "A Celebration of Bruce Cole and His Book 'Art from the Swamp'"

The National Civic Art Society, along with the Ethics and Public Policy Center and Encounter Books, co-sponsored this panel discussion in celebration of Bruce Cole and his posthumously published book Art from the Swamp: How Washington Bureaucrats Squander Millions on Awful Art. Cole was chairman of the National Endowment of the Humanities from 2001 to 2009, and he was a member of NCAS's Board of Advisors.

Panelists:

Roger Kimball, publisher of Encounter Books and editor of The New Criterion
Catesby Leigh, National Civic Art Society Research Fellow
Justin Shubow, President of the National Civic Art Society

Moderator: Ed Whelan, President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center

Date: January 14, 2019
Location: Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C.