Why Classical Architecture Matters
City Journal Audio
Manhattan Institute
4.8 • 615 Ratings
🗓️ 12 February 2020
⏱️ 26 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
Catesby Leigh joins Seth Barron to discuss President Trump's draft executive order to give priority to classical-style architecture in the design of federal courthouses, agency headquarters, and other federal office buildings.
The classical style has inspired the most revered and popular buildings in the country—the U.S. Capitol, the White House, and the Supreme Court. But as Leigh reports, new federal rules after World War II enabled modernist styles of design, such as Brutalism and Deconstructivism, to set the tone for federal architecture. If adopted, the Trump administration's order would designate the classical and other traditional architectural styles as "preferred" for all federal buildings.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome back to the Ten Blocks podcast. This is Seth Barron, associate editor of City Journal, |
| 0:05.5 | filling in for Brian Anderson this week. Coming up on the show today, I'm going to talk with |
| 0:10.1 | Catesby Lee. He's a past founding chair and research fellow of the National Civic Art Society, |
| 0:16.7 | an organization which supports a new executive order from the Trump administration that establishes a |
| 0:22.6 | classical style of design for all federal buildings. The order has stirred up some negative responses |
| 0:29.0 | from other architect groups, so we're excited to chat with Catesby to find out what's behind |
| 0:34.6 | the executive order and the controversy. He's written about this issue for City Journal in the past, |
| 0:40.3 | and we'll link to some of his essays in the description. |
| 0:43.3 | One note for our listeners before we get started. |
| 0:46.3 | We had some technical issues in the studio this week, |
| 0:50.3 | so we decided to call Catesby over the phone and record our conversation that way. |
| 0:55.4 | The audio isn't ideal, but I think our listeners will enjoy it. |
| 0:59.6 | That's it for the introduction. |
| 1:01.3 | My interview with Catesby Lee begins after the music. Welcome back to Ten Block, the podcast of City Journal. |
| 1:21.1 | This is your host for today, Seth Barron, associate editor of City Journal. |
| 1:25.7 | I'm joined by Catesby Lee, a widely published critic on art and architecture, |
| 1:31.1 | whose article for City Journal, Why America Needs Classical Architecture, |
| 1:36.7 | has apparently inspired a guideline from the Trump administration |
| 1:40.4 | on classical standards for all new federal buildings. |
| 1:45.3 | This news has caused panic among the architectural elite who decry the fetishization of classical |
| 1:52.1 | forms as incipient fascism. |
| 1:55.7 | Tatesby, thanks for joining us on Ten Blocks. |
... |
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